Education

In the early days of Thai history, education primarily revolved around two institutions, one religious and the other royal. Buddhist monks gave basic education to boys in classes set within the compounds of monasteries, while children of the royal household and from families of the nobility were educated in order to serve in the court and govern in the provinces. The mass of society was made up of farmers, who saw little need for literacy. Village history, lore, and local philosophy were transmitted orally.

During the reign of King Rama V (1863-1910 A.D.) there was increased recognition of the need for educated people to staff the growing bureaucracy. As a result, the Thai education system was modernized and made more accessible to the general public. This began with the 1898 Education Proclamation, which was strongly influenced by the British system and in which two educational paths were stipulated: the academic and the vocational.

In the 2002 academic year, the total number of students was more than 14 millions. The average years of education attainment for the population aged over 15 years was 7.8 in 2002, almost one year increasing from 6.9 in 1996. The number of enrolments in primary school in 2002 was more than 6 millions, or 104.8% of the total population aged between 6-11 years old. The enrolment rate in secondary school was 68.6% of the total population aged between 12-17 years old and the university enrolment rate was 27.4% of the population aged between 18-24 years old.

At present, Education Reform is one of the priorities among government policies. The 1997 constitution and the National Educational Act can be seen as principles and guidelines for the provision and development of Thai education with an aim to prepare Thai people for a learning society in a knowledge-based economy.

Education in Thailand

This is provided mainly by the government through the Thai Ministry of Education. divided into two major levels with 6 years of elementary/primary school ( Prothomsuksa) and 6 years of high/secondary school (Mattayomsuksa). After 2001, the Ministry changed the system of education into 'Children Centre,' and divided into four levels: the first three years in elementary school is the first level, the second level is the other half, the third level is the first three years in high school, and the last is the other half of high school. After each level, students need to pass the NET (National Educational Test)to graduate. Children are required only to attend six years of elementary school and at least the first three years of high school. But, if they have graduated the sixth year of high school, there are two important tests following: O-NET (Ordinary National Educational Test) and A-NET (Advanced National Educational Test). After graduating from high school, lots of students in the major cities like to continue their education in bachelor level, so they need to pass CUAS (Central University Admission System) which contains 50% of O-NET and A-NET results and the other half of the forth level GPA (Grade Point Average). Since 2001, Thai Education has changed its face. Lots of students in the major cities don't like the CUAS system and protest it, because there is no standard of GPA result from each school, but there is opposite situation in country area. So, some university boards decided to avoid the problems by receiving students before the CUAS.

There are Public and Private schools. Some local schools have only elementary school and 3 years of high school.