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7.2 Quality and Efficiency of Education
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Current development in quality and efficiency of education can be presented in terms of improvement in quality and efficiency and equity in educational quality as follows.
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A. Improvement in Quality and Efficiency
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The expansion of educational enrolments in recent decades has strained the qualitative foundation of the education system in Thailand. There have also been pressures on educational management and administration, on the physical infrastructure of education and on the availability of instructional materials affecting the standards of educational quality.
Recent studies showed that student performances at all levels were not satisfactory. Academic achievements of primary and secondary school students were still low, particularly in mathematics and science, partly due to a lack of qualified teachers in these subjects. The performance of Thai students in mathematics and science was lower than those of some countries in Asia like Singapore, Japan and Korea as revealed by the tests administered as part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) undertaken by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) as shown on Chart 7.13.
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Chart 7.13 Mathematics and Science Achievement for students in the 8th Grade : 1995
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Source : IMD. The World Competitiveness Yearbook 1997.
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