Rethinking Thai Secondary Education

Abstract

This chapter presents both the current situation and future perspectives on the Thai secondary education system. As the system has only been fully developed for just over half a century, it is still coping with shortcomings in many respects. As the system embraces quite a variety of schools, from top science schools and international schools in Bangkok and some major cities to small and under-subsidized schools in rural areas, it is quite challenging to transform our wide range of schools into a more equitable and relevant system. With the government’s ambitious plan to prepare Thailand to become an innovation-driven economy and a knowledge-based society, it is imperative that secondary education must respond to future needs of the country. The notion of a career-oriented curriculum for employability and entrepreneurship, the area approach for reform particularly in special economic zones, the new competencies required for teachers and administrators, and reinvesting in our secondary schools are some of the key issues discussed in the chapter.