Free scheme 'didn't better' performance

[Admin]

Free scheme 'didn't better' performance
Published: 5/07/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News
 
The Democrat-led government's 15-year free education scheme must be revised because it has failed to improve student performance, a new study by the Office of the Ombudsman has found.

Sriracha Charoenpanich, an ombudsman overseeing the study, said the study found the education scheme also was not truly free and it did not boost the performance of students because it failed to focus on improving educators' teaching skills. Student performance was based on results on the General Aptitude Test, Professional Aptitude Test, Ordinary National Educational Test, and the Programme for International Student Assessment.

The Office of the Ombudsman conducted the study into the scheme, which was launched in 2008, to see if it really benefitted students, Mr Sriracha said.

Under the study, the office interviewed education experts and stakeholders, such as 33 school executives and teachers, former members of the constitution drafting committee, and representatives of the business sector. The office also scrutinised student performance based on the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment and the National Institute of Educational Testing Service's records.

The government has earmarked 80 billion baht for the scheme in 2011.

Mr Sriracha said the policy was designed without considering how much it would cost and failed to respond to the needs of schools. The name of the scheme was also misleading.

The office received several complaints from parents, who said they still had to pay for educational-related activities and equipment for their children.

"The scheme is a mere populist policy," Mr Sriracha said. "It also creates the habit among the Thai population of waiting for state help. This policy must be reconsidered while truly free education must be provided."

The ombudsman suggested the government reduce the period covered under the scheme from 15 to nine years to ease the financial burden on state coffers.

The nine years should cover the period most beneficial to children and their parents, he said. After the nine years, the government should support students by providing more scholarships and access to student loans, he said.

[isanbirder]

Nothing free will ever improve performance;  that was not really what the scheme was about.  It was intended to give every child the chance of a full education, which previously many of the poorest did not have.  Improving standards of teaching is quite another thing.