Social Monitor 2007: Youth in Thailand– Challenges Facing a New Generation

1. Social Monitor 2007: Youth in Thailand– Challenges Facing a New Generation March 2007

2. Introduction This presentation follows the structure of the WDR 2007 in the analysis of youth issues in Thailand: The three policy-lenses approach: Expanding opportunities Enhancing capacity Providing second chances • Three key transitions: • Growing up healthy • Learning for work and life • Moving from school to work Diagnosis: what makes youth vulnerable

3. I. Growing up healthyWhat makes youth vulnerable? Thai youth tend to incur in risky behaviors that: • Expose them to the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other STDs • Increase their likelihood to engage in traffic accidents • Introduce them to unhealthy lifestyles and lifelong habits that can have severe consequences later on

4. I. Growing up healthyWhat makes youth vulnerable? HIV/AIDS is the main cause of death of young adults in Thailand Source: UNDP 2004

5. I. Growing up healthyWhat makes youth vulnerable? Number and percentage of youth dead in transportation accidents

6. I. Growing up healthyWhat makes youth vulnerable? Changes in smoking rates among youth in Thailand Alcohol drinking prevalence among youth in Thailand

7. I. Growing up healthyExpanding opportunities, enhancing capacity and providing second chances • Strengthening youth capacity to engage in healthy lifestyles through education and information: • Expanding school-based life-skills training programs, starting in elementary education • Using the media and peer-education programs to inform preferences and behavior • Promoting HIV-AIDS prevention campaigns reaching youth before they are sexually active

8. I.Growing up healthyExpanding opportunities, enhancing capacity and providing second chances • Expanding opportunities to make healthy choices through: • Adequately providing services and means to practice healthy behaviors—e.g. family planning, provision of cheap condoms • Taxing alcohol and tobacco

9. I.Growing up healthyExpanding opportunities, enhancing capacity and providing second chances • Helping young people deal with adverse consequences of poor health behavior or misfortune: • Provision of services helping youth to overcome addictions • Improving access to services for reproductive health and treatment of sexually transmitted infections

10. II. Learning for work and lifeWhat makes youth vulnerable? Youth face schooling decisions that can have relevant consequences for their lives, including: • Dropping out of school • Missing out of in-school opportunities due to poor effort or out-of-school demands (e.g. child labor) • Opting between vocational and academic streams

11. II. Learning for work and lifeWhat makes youth vulnerable?

12. II. Learning for work and lifeWhat makes youth vulnerable? School Participation Rates, Gross Enrollment Rates and Net Enrollment Rates by Sex and Gains, Secondary Education, 1994-2002

13. II. Learning for work and lifeWhy do youth make these decisions? Demand-side constraints: • Direct education costs as a share of per capita household expenditure increase sharply at higher levels of education and limit access to secondary and tertiary schooling • Opportunity costs deter poor households from sending children to school • The gap between expenditure on secondary and tertiary education between rich and poor is widening

14. II. Learning for work and lifeWhy do youth make these decisions? Supply-side constraints: • While secondary schools seats have grown over time, there may still be room for expansion • Principals report shortage/inadequacy of teachers and teachers consider themselves not adequately prepared in mathematics and science • There is room for a more efficient and progressive utilization of public spending on education

15. II. Learning for work and lifeExpanding opportunities, enhancing capacity and providing second chances • Raising overall quality of secondary education and performance of students: • Strengthening education quality assurance mechanisms • Providing adequate school resources • Enhancing teacher professional development opportunities

16. II. Learning for work and lifeExpanding opportunities, enhancing capacity and providing second chances • Opening opportunities for young people out of the formal education system • Fostering inclusiveness—e.g. for children with disabilities and migrants • Better targeting of financial assistance to poor students • Invigorating existing equivalency and re-entry non-formal education programs

17. III. Moving from school to work What makes youth vulnerable? Youth account for half of total unemployment in Thailand and a large share works in mid-low skilled sectors and occupations Youth lack of adequate skills might be a barrier to entering the labor market Youth lack access to effective job search and employment services Disadvantaged youth lack opportunities to work in the formal higher wage sectors

18. III. Moving from school to workWhat makes youth vulnerable? Unemployment rates and share of youth unemployed to the total, 2005

19. III. Moving from school to workWhat makes youth vulnerable? According to international standards, Thai students perform well relative to countries at similar income levels, but a high proportion of children scores below a minimum competency level. PISA Test score results for mathematics 2003

20. III. Moving from school to workWhat makes youth vulnerable? High wage premiums go to tertiary education graduates Time to fill vacancies for professionals/skilled production workers in last two years, weeks

21. III. Moving from school to workExpanding opportunities, enhancing capacity and providing second chances • Expanding youth employment opportunities: • Enhancing job search counseling for youth • Facilitating transition to work through training: public-private partnerships • Expanding rural employment opportunities for youth • Tackling financial constraints to youth entrepreneurship

22. III. Moving from school to workExpanding opportunities, enhancing capacity and providing second chances • Overall improvement of skills that match labor market demands—particularly English and IT skills • Expanding options, enhancing quality as well as better targeting and monitoring of second chances education programs and services