Improving Secondary Education

1. Improving Secondary Education Preparation for the Implementation of the 10th National Economic and Social Development Plan October 27, 2006 Bangkok, Thailand

2. Overview • Access and Equity • Quality • Efficiency • Addressing Next Generation of Challenges

3. Overview Secondary Education: Potential Roles • Bridging basic education, tertiary education and labor market • A key tool for alleviating poverty in Thailand, bringing broader income equality and social equity • Contributing to higher social returns (e.g. in health) • Contributing to non-market public benefits (e.g. voting rates, association with crime)

4. Overview Historical Background • 1999 NEA “Equal right to receive 12 years of basic education of quality without charge” • Major reforms in all aspects, especially • learning reform  learner-centered, curriculum • teacher reform  teacher training, professional standardization • education quality assurance  internal and external quality monitoring mechanisms • 1997 Constitution • Local administration organization participation in provision of education

5. Overview Education Transition Patterns

6. Access Education Attainment • Consistent gradual rise of average years of education attainment overtime • For population ages 15-21, average years of education attainment is nearly 10 years, suggesting successful compulsory education

7. Access Education Attainment • 95% of 16-19 population completed primary education and 80% completed secondary education in 2002 • In 1994, only 50% of 16-19 population had completed secondary education • Repetition is slight (1-2%) and most dropout occurs between levels

8. Access Gender Equity • Gender gap has grown larger, and to the benefit of girls • In 1994, NER for girls was 63% and 61% for boys • In 2002, NER for girls was 72% and 64% for boys

9. Access Rural-Urban Equity • Coverage expanded to rural areas. • Urban-rural gap for grade completion has decreased from 25% in 1994 to 8% in 2002.

10. Access GER: International Comparison

11. Access Reaching out to the Excluded • Limited information on out-of-school children • Migrants, children with disabilities and ethnic minorities are under-represented in secondary education • In 2004, 175,000 children with disabilities enrolled in pre-primary to upper secondary level (1.27% of population ages 3-17). • Financial constraints are often identified as the main obstacle keeping students out of schools

12. Quality Measuring Quality Comparatively… • Thailand trails significantly behind Japan, Hong Kong SAR and Korea on international assessments. • Compared to other lower middle income countries, Thailand performs better than its peers both in terms of mean test scores and proficiency level distribution. • However, very few Thai children score in top proficiency levels (e.g. 40% at or below PISA level one in literacy and over 50% in Mathematics)

13. Quality Factors Affecting Student Achievement Teacher • 87% of OBEC secondary school teachers earned a bachelor’s degree. • Higher levels of teacher confidence associated with superior student scores (TIMSS 1999) … 55% of students taught by instructors who felt less than adequately prepared in math and 58% in science. • Front-style lecture format. Limited opportunities to apply knowledge to new situations or exercise creative thinking during school days.

14. Quality Factors Affecting Student Achievement School • Class sizes in Asia tend to be large, but do not appear to have a negative impact on student test scores in Thailand. • However, the relationship between class size and student achievement is difficult to extricate. • Quality of school physical infrastructure rated around OECD country mean, but availability of educational resources is rated much lower (-0.82) and inequitably distributed. • Less than 40% of students have access to a calculator.

15. Quality Factors Affecting Student Achievement Household/ Individual • The distribution of knowledge across income groups is fairly equitable. • Socioeconomic status is not influential in shaping student aspirations for tertiary education. • Higher income families willing to pay more for children’s education (Q5: 7,878 Bht vs Q1: 840 Bht per year)

16. Efficiency Public Spending on Education • 20% of total Government budget allocated to education (4% of GDP) • Secondary education received 28% of total education budget (1.13% of GDP)

17. Efficiency Public Spending across Income Quintile • Pro-poor allocation of resources at primary level • Quintile distribution for secondary education is relatively equitable • Spending for tertiary education is clearly regressive

18. Efficiency Public Spending on Secondary Education • Comparatively, Thailand under-spends in secondary education (1.13% of GDP): • OECD countries spend 2.1% of GDP • Lower middle income countries spend 1.86% of GDP • Per student public spending on secondary education is 24% lower than for primary education • EAP: Unit cost for 2ry education was 74% greater than for 1ry education • OECD: Unit cost for 2ry education was 39% greater than for 1ry education • Share of local government resources spent on education still low. Much reliance on central government

19. Efficiency Household Education Expenditure • Only 5% share of private resources in secondary education. • Average household spending varies significantly across regions and income quintiles.

20. Efficiency Raising Efficiency of Secondary Education Financing • Does financing make a difference in schooling outcomes? • “The greater the socio-economic advantage, the greater the advantage it has in terms of student performance” (OECD 2004) • Quality improvements are costlier at secondary level than at primary level. • Need to assess inter-sectoral allocative efficiency and benefit-incidence of public investments • Could there be savings from rationalizing student-teacher ratio/school merging?  delicate balance • Teachers/student and time spent at school analysis suggests inefficiencies in teacher deployment • Lowering cost VS individualized attention to students • School location within a reasonable distance

21. Challenges Increasing Access and Equity • Improving data collection and analysis to better target the currently excluded. • Alternative education service modalities can be strengthened. Greater flexibility in terms of learning sites, class schedule and curriculum. • Financial disparities between provinces and income groups could be minimized through the use of a funding formula that factors in conditions and different needs across provinces and income groups.

22. Challenges Improving Quality • Enhancing pre-service and in-service teacher development • Developing criteria and methods to upgrade teacher standards and quality. Capacity building for both teachers and principals • Further strengthening quality assurance mechanisms. Relevance and follow up need to be guaranteed • Strengthening accountability of schools to communities as an incentive to improve educational quality • Reinforcing step-by-step implementation plan for decentralization of education provision and management

23. Challenges Assuring Efficiency • Explore reallocation of resources from other educational levels to secondary schooling • Careful review of student-teacher ratio/class size • Encourage higher level of private spending on education