Thailand outdone by Vietnam in latest education rankings

[webfact]

Thailand outdone by Vietnam in latest education rankings
The Nation

In terms of quality of schooling, kingdom sits at 47, far lower than neighbour's number 12

BANGKOK: -- THAILAND trails far behind two other Southeast Asian countries in the biggest-ever global grading of education quality.

Thailand sits down at 47th, while Singapore emerged as best brain in the world and Vietnam did nicely at 12th in the latest league table from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), based on the performance of 15-year-olds on math and science tests.

Its ranking covers more than a third of the world's nations. With 76 countries, it presents a much wider map of education standards than the OECD's previous rankings based on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, which focus on more affluent industrialised countries.

"This is the first time we have a truly global scale of the quality of education," Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's education director, said yesterday.

The OECD economic think tank says the comparisons show the link between education and economic growth.

"The idea is to give more countries, rich and poor, access to comparing themselves against the world's education leaders, to discover their relative strengths and weaknesses, and to see what the long-term economic gains from improved quality in schooling could be for them," he said.

Asian countries swept the first five rungs. Singapore was followed by Hong Kong and South Korea. Japan and Taiwan were tied at fourth. The US could only manage 28th.

Finland, which has long been famous for educational quality, ended up sixth this time.

Thailand emerging at 47th does not come as a surprise since it was 50th in the last PISA test in 2012, which polled 65 countries and regions.

However, Thailand outdid Malaysia and Indonesia, which were 52nd and 69th.

Lagging behind Indonesia were only seven countries - Botswana, Peru, Oman, Morocco, Honduras, South Africa and Ghana bringing up the rear.

The findings related to this ranking would be formally presented at the World Education Forum in South Korea next week, where the United Nations will convene a conference on targets for raising global education by 2030.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thailand-outdone-by-Vietnam-in-latest-education-ra-30260034.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-14

[selftaopath]

What opportunities in Thailand. Be a teacher - appear educated - teach poorly or not at all and

GET PAID all while strutting around like a "big shot." One great example is English teachers in Thailand. lol lol lol

I met one new English teacher - 5 years at Thai University - she can not speak a word of English. ???????

[NongKhaiKid]

i would have thought the headline would exclaim that LoS has climbed up the world ranking since now 47th from the previous 50th place.

Anyway the quality of education in Thainess is beyond compare as students can recite the 12 core values from memory and the 7 road safety values.

The value of learning by rote is that there's no need to understand what's being said as long as you are word perfect and therefore sound good.

[trogers]

Poor Thailand. Spending all those money on education but with nothing to show.

While they can hide their inefficiency behind the 'No Fail' policy, they forgot comparisons would be made by the International community.

[ExPratt]

Should hand the reigns to TAT , Be Number 1 by the end of next week

[canuckamuck]

I would like to know the selection criteria for the students. Picked at random, or the best and brightest?

[SoilSpoil]

47th is not that bad actually. Better than Malaysia.

The good old USA takes place 28. That's shocking, weapons of mass destruction instead of education.

[samsensam]

given the state of the education system here i'd say 47th was a pretty good rating

[steelepulse]

I would like to know the selection criteria for the students. Picked at random, or the best and brightest?

Sure appears to be all the students taking a standardised test. No way you could come out with data saying " our smartest students are smarter than your smarter students". I also can't recall taking tests in class that only a few students took, then the rest being allowed to not take the test.

>>based on the performance of 15-year-olds on math and science tests.

I lived in Singapore for a few years and would find just about every child having tuition in their homes at night, most nights of the week, so that system puts an emphasis on grades and tests, but not sure how happy they are doing three hours of tuition every night,

[trogers]

I would like to know the selection criteria for the students. Picked at random, or the best and brightest?

Sure appears to be all the students taking a standardised test. No way you could come out with data saying " our smartest students are smarter than your smarter students". I also can't recall taking tests in class that only a few students took, then the rest being allowed to not take the test.

>>based on the performance of 15-year-olds on math and science tests.

I lived in Singapore for a few years and would find just about every child having tuition in their homes at night, most nights of the week, so that system puts an emphasis on grades and tests, but not sure how happy they are doing three hours of tuition every night,

They would have playtime long before the sun sets. Students from grade 1 to 10 only attend schools half a day. School buildings are used by two sessions of students.

[Lupatria]

What opportunities in Thailand. Be a teacher - appear educated - teach poorly or not at all and

GET PAID all while strutting around like a "big shot." One great example is English teachers in Thailand. lol lol lol

I met one new English teacher - 5 years at Thai University - she can not speak a word of English. ???????

It's probably a colleague of the Lady I met. Lecturer at a Thai University who brought a 17 year old US born Thai as personal interpreter to a dinner due to inability to follow a small talk conversation in basic English...

Being far behind Vietnam is not the end of the story. In no time the members of the 50-something education reform committees will have to confess they dropped behind PNG, Bhutan, and the Amazon region.

Amazing Thailand - (don't) pick me up on your way down.

[konying]

Do not panick. Now that Thailand knows the next would be a statement by one of the ministers to become education hub

[Suffinator]

THAILAND trails far behind two other Southeast Asian countries in the biggest-ever global grading of education quality.

Is anyone actually surprised I wonder? How do you control a population? The answer is keep them as dumb as possible for it's impossible to control and educated populace. The ruling elite like it this way; it effectively allows them to rule with impunity and financially rape the country.

[Thaddeus]

I would like to know the selection criteria for the students. Picked at random, or the best and brightest?

As long as the selection criteria was the same for all countries involved, that shouldn't make any difference.

[marko kok prong]

Go out and about on any given day,and you will see heaps of kids walking around the streets and malls in school uniform.why are they not in school?

[janpharma]

Not surprised at all!...

[Seastallion]

I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that someone very high up reads the entire study and how it goes on to correlate a country's economic growth with it's education standards.

I hope he or she reads it, understands it, and moves heaven and hell to get things changed.

Aiming for good students through good education to score higher on the international scale will not prompt any good measures, but the country's financial status being in jeopardy just might.

My wife being a teacher, I have a lot of exposure to first-hand anecdotes, and to actual students.....Thailand's education system, from bottom to top, from primary to university, is a travesty, and often scandalous in it's falseness, and if it continues like this, thailand will utterly fail on the world economic stage.

[winstonc]

the unborn are brighter than most thais

[Srikcir]

Summary of Rankings:

[bangon04]

given the state of the education system here i'd say 47th was a pretty good rating

most of Africa and middle east was not represented in the rankings.......

[trogers]

given the state of the education system here i'd say 47th was a pretty good rating

most of Africa and middle east was not represented in the rankings.......

No common test papers can be made for Islamic studies...

[lovelomsak]

Summary of Rankings:

PISA2015Rankings.jpg

being Canadian I look at this and it appears Canada is ahead of Finland but not sure of placement. We speak english clearly and appear to score well here makes me proud.

[Prbkk]

Maths nerds shall inherit the earth

[harryfrompattaya]

47th is not that bad actually. Better than Malaysia.

The good old USA takes place 28. That's shocking, weapons of mass destruction instead of education.

In the good old USA to many bums go to school so their family game the system

Education world wide is a industry it has nothing to do with learning

Remember if you number one you can get more money from the Government

I have many relatives milking the system as teachers and they will get money when the students in America drop to 50

[Thakkar]

The government may not admit it, but this is exactly the result the system, as set up, is meant to achieve: a small elite of smart, well-connected, highly educate to rule over a mass of poorly educated drones.

So, congratulations?

T

[trogers]

47th is not that bad actually. Better than Malaysia.

The good old USA takes place 28. That's shocking, weapons of mass destruction instead of education.

In the good old USA to many bums go to school so their family game the system

Education world wide is a industry it has nothing to do with learning

Remember if you number one you can get more money from the Government

I have many relatives milking the system as teachers and they will get money when the students in America drop to 50

Singapore never provides free education to its people, subsidised yes, free no.

Because Lee Kuan Yew understood human nature - that which is free carries no value.

Now free education in the US needs monetary rewards to be attractive?

[harryfrompattaya]

47th is not that bad actually. Better than Malaysia.

The good old USA takes place 28. That's shocking, weapons of mass destruction instead of education.

In the good old USA to many bums go to school so their family game the system

Education world wide is a industry it has nothing to do with learning

Remember if you number one you can get more money from the Government

I have many relatives milking the system as teachers and they will get money when the students in America drop to 50

Singapore never provides free education to its people, subsidised yes, free no.

Because Lee Kuan Yew understood human nature - that which is free carries no value.

Now free education in the US needs monetary rewards to be attractive?

So you agree I say parents can raise good student like cattle and make money

Still their will be no jobs except teaching and being a student will be a job

Maybe to many people are in School now that do not belong in School

[trogers]

47th is not that bad actually. Better than Malaysia.

The good old USA takes place 28. That's shocking, weapons of mass destruction instead of education.

In the good old USA to many bums go to school so their family game the system

Education world wide is a industry it has nothing to do with learning

Remember if you number one you can get more money from the Government

I have many relatives milking the system as teachers and they will get money when the students in America drop to 50

Singapore never provides free education to its people, subsidised yes, free no.

Because Lee Kuan Yew understood human nature - that which is free carries no value.

Now free education in the US needs monetary rewards to be attractive?

So you agree I say parents can raise good student like cattle and make money

Still their will be no jobs except teaching and being a student will be a job

Maybe to many people are in School now that do not belong in School

I disagreed by saying, parents need to pay to school their kids, not make money from it.

[sawadee1947]

What opportunities in Thailand. Be a teacher - appear educated - teach poorly or not at all and

GET PAID all while strutting around like a "big shot." One great example is English teachers in Thailand. lol lol lol

I met one new English teacher - 5 years at Thai University - she can not speak a word of English. ???????

maybe she is good in FRENCH? Did you try her?

[webfact]

Thailand ranks 47th place among 76 countries in global education standard survey



BANGKOK: -- Thailand was ranked the 47th place in the latest global school ranking by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Singapore came out the lead among 76 countries surveyed in mathematics and science scores touted as the “most comprehensive picture possible” of countries’ current skill levels.

The country that was in last place was Ghana.

The ranking, which put more than a third of the world’s nations, pulls together the latest test scores from the Programme for International Student Assessment for 15-year-olds and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study for 14-year-olds, in 2012 and 2011 respectively.

The end result put Asia on top. Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan’s Taipei city ranked right after Singapore.

Finland was sixth, while African nations Ghana and South Africa took the last two spots.

Vietnam was the next highest ranked Asean country at 12th place, ahead of Germany and Australia.

Among ASEAN countries, Singapore came the 1st place, Vietnam 12th, Thailand 47th, Malaysia 52th, and Indonesia 69th.

The United Kingdom was ranked 20th, while the United States was ranked 28th.

The rankings are based on a combination of international tests taken in different regions, putting developed and developing countries on a single scale.

OECD stated in its report released this week that the standard of education is a “powerful predictor of the wealth that countries will produce in the long run”.

It also said “Poor education policies and practices leave many countries in what amounts to a permanent state of economic recession.”

This latest findings will be formally presented at the World Education Forum in South Korea next week, where the United Nations is to convene a conference on targets for raising global education by 2030.

In other findings, OECD said countries that had poor test scores had the largest share of students without basic skills. Hong Kong had the smallest share, while Singapore had the fourth smallest (10 per cent of pupils without basic skills).

Being a high-income country, however, does not mean having zero underperformance in education. The United States, for example, was placed 28th for its test scores, and close to a quarter of its students failed to attain basic skills, it said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/thailand-ranks-47th-place-among-76-countries-in-global-education-standard-survey


-- Thai PBS 2015-05-14