Thai schools juggle hot potato of new literacy-based curriculum
Some 4,400 state schools are preparing to introduce a new literacy-based curriculum when they open for the new semester later this month.
However, the Education Ministry’s policy shift has sparked controversy among experts.
“We only learned about this new curriculum two months ago,” said Athapol Anunthavorasakul, a lecturer at the Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education.
“This literacy-based curriculum is a new concept in Thailand and the Education Ministry wants schools to experiment with it,” Athapol said of the shift from the existing basic education curriculum.
Although education experts have discussed introducing a competency- or skills-based curriculum for the past several years, news of the literacy-based curriculum is only now reaching teachers, he said.
“This is all quite confusing.”
Instead, the new curriculum should have been planned openly, so the public – especially parents – would know what is going on, Athapol said.
He added that curriculum changes are normally announced several years in advance, citing Vietnam’s decision to introduce English as the second language in schools in 2035.
He said Hanoi had recently announced that schools had until 2030 to deliver a new curriculum that places stronger emphasis on English.
“We also need advance notice so we can prepare properly.”
However, Thai schools were only notified about the new curriculum in March, with teacher training held just last month. The new curriculum will be piloted in about 15% of Thailand’s 20,000 state schools.
“I just can’t see where we are headed,” Athapol lamented.
What’s new?
The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) wants schools to introduce the new curriculum at two levels – preschool (3-6 years) and Prathom 1-3 (6-9 years).
“Our preschool curriculum focuses on age-appropriate development, while the Prathom curriculum covers reading, writing, maths and other basic skills for lifelong learning and boosting student potential,” explained Thanu Wongchinda, Obec’s secretary-general.
He said the new curricula for both levels have been extensively researched and prepared based on academic principles, foreign case studies and best practices, while taking the Thai context into account.
Thanu added that Obec has also created online resources for schools and teachers, and set up an academic clinic to guide those who may be struggling to implement the new courses.
“We have held workshops and provided AI tools to help teachers design the course syllabus and class plans, as well as evaluate students,” he said.
Under the new curriculum, students in Prathom 1-3 will no longer be evaluated with the 0-4 grade point average (GPA) system, but instead on their reading, writing and maths skills. The new evaluation has four categories: beginner, developing, proficient, and expert.
Meanwhile, classes will no longer focus directly on the eight core subjects traditionally taught in Thai schools, namely Thai language, maths, science, social studies, health and physical education, arts, occupation and technology, and foreign language.
Instead, the subjects will be blended into classes that focus on basic skills. The teachers will work more as coaches and promote active learning among the students.
“We expect the new curriculum to serve as a milestone in upgrading Thailand’s educational quality,” Thanu said.
The new curriculum was prepared in response to a resolution issued last October by the Basic Education Commission, said Jaroonsri Jabthaisong, deputy director of Obec’s Bureau of Academic Affairs and Educational Standards.
“We are focusing on the new objectives of reading, writing, numeracy and functional literacy, which covers understanding of nature, healthcare, selfcare, society, art and music,” she said.
Will it work?
Athapol says Obec has rushed to introduce the new learning blueprint simply because Thai school curriculums have not been updated for some time. The current curriculum has been in use since 2017 and is very similar to its predecessor, introduced in 2008.
The radical change to the status quo has sparked anger among teachers, who have posted online complaints about the burden of training, studying new learning materials, and providing explanations to students’ parents.
“From reports I’ve heard, teachers feel like the Education Ministry has handed schools a hot potato and left them to struggle with it on their own,” Athapol said.
He also pointed out that some teachers oversee junior primary classes as well as Prathom 4-6 students, meaning they are now required to prepare separate sets of lessons following two different teaching methods.
Many teachers also have no idea what a literacy-based curriculum entails, and feel they have been given too little time to prepare for the new system, he added.
Meanwhile, trainee teachers are dreading the possibility of being employed at one of the 4,400 schools that are implementing the new curriculum, because they have only been trained in another type of curriculum.
“Teachers and students at schools experimenting with the new curriculum will become guinea pigs,” Athapol warned, adding that although Obec insists the change is voluntary, the 4,400 schools will obviously feel obliged to jump on the bandwagon.
Athapol also highlighted another potential issue for students: Prathom 3 students taught under the new curriculum this year may have to revert to the old system when they move to Prathom 4 next year.
He also wondered why Obec had not opted for the competency-based curriculum, which is already being tested, instead preferring something completely different.
“The competency-based curriculum has been tested at 184 schools in eight provinces at the primary education level, with trials due to conclude next year,” he pointed out.
What’s next?
Obec chief Thanu said that if the new curriculum proves effective at the junior primary level, then similar education blueprints will be designed for higher levels, including senior primary (Prathom 4-6) and secondary (Mathayom 1-6).
“Our goal is to develop the potential of Thai children and ensure they are ready to meet challenges of the fast-changing world,” he said.
Thanu also assured that students would not have a problem transferring credits between schools that use different curricula.
“We will ensure that any change goes smoothly,” he said.
Thai schools juggle hot potato of new literacy-based curricu
