Thailand’s education system is going through a major shift. From digital tablets to talks of whether or not the smaller schools in rural areas should be shut down, Permanent Secretary for Education of Thailand Dr. Chinnapat Bhumirat has been a large part of mediating the arguments surrounding these issues.

Why was there such a disparity between IQs in different regions of Thailand? Students in the Northeast and South regions scored a 95.99 and 96.85, respectively, whereas students in the Bangkok region scored over 104 and Nonthaburi scored as high as over 108.
The problem is impossible to put in simple terms, but it may stem from the Northeast and the South’s financial situation. Their lack of funding could be behind a lack of iodine in their diets, which according to our information has an impact on student IQs. Also, the quality of education is affected. Schools in the North and along the border lack qualified and experienced teachers. There’s not enough of them to fill the high number of small schools.
What are the small schools like?
Small schools with less than 60 students represent more than 50% of Thai primary and secondary schools. These small schools are why we lack experienced teachers. In some schools, one teacher has to teach classes from kindergarten to grade six, where there should be seven or eight teachers in that school. We can’t provide that luxury because it would be a big burden on the budget to fill those schools with teachers. Instead, we have to use teachers more efficiently.
What’s the solution?
The simplest solution is to cut down the number of small schools to increase efficiency. There have to be fewer students per teacher, but the problem is not that straightforward. When we look at the social dimension, schools represent a social institution in the village. There’s a close tie between the school, people and the village. Shutting down schools may improve efficiency, but it might break up the harmony of the village.
How do you move forward?
We cannot move forward immediately. Our office, the Basic Education Commission, is stuck in the middle: on one side we are forced by committees responsible for personnel management to close down small schools because of their inefficiency; on the other side, we have to face the pressure of NGOs and villages to maintain the small schools.
With tablets in the mix, will teachers be able to keep up digital learning?
The conventional textbook is getting less important, and perhaps in three or four years it will seldom be used. Right now, this is a transition period. We first have to judge the capability of our teachers. How can teachers cope with this technology? Will the roll of teachers change?
What does the future hold for education?
We have to make the most out of technological advancements. Technology is moving very fast, IT equipment is widely available and costs are going down. Some of the things we are trying to achieve are to promote self-learning, where students can find and analyze information, then reach their own conclusions. Teachers would be facilitators of this process. This is a new chapter for education.