Education in Thailand

Education in Thailand
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation
Minister of Education
Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation		Permpoon Chidchob[1]

Supamas Isarabhakdi
National education budget (FY2019)
Budget487,646.4 million baht
General details
Primary languages
System typeNational
Formal establishment1892
Literacy (2012)
Total93.5%[2]
Enrollment
Total13,157,103 (2010)
Primary3,651,613 (2010)
Secondary1,695,223 (2010)
Post secondary663,150 (2010)

Education in Thailand is provided mainly by the Thai government through the Ministry of Education from pre-school to senior high school. A free basic education to fifteen years is guaranteed by the Thai constitution.[3] This basic education comprises six years of elementary school and three years of lower secondary school. In addition, three years of pre-school and three years of upper-secondary education is available free of charge, but are non-compulsory.

Children aged 6–12 will go to elementary school (prathom (Thai: ประถม)). From the age of 12, they attend secondary school (matthayom (Thai: มัธยม)). While secondary school also lasts six years, only the first three years are mandatory. After grade 9 (Matthayom 3), pupils can pursue upper-secondary education in a university-preparatory track, or continue their studies in vocational school programs.[4]

Homeschooling is legal in Thailand. Thailand's constitution and education law explicitly recognize alternative education and considers the family to be an educational institution. A homeschool law passed in 2004, Ministerial Regulation No. 3 on the right to basic education by the family, governs homeschooling. Families must submit an application to homeschool and students are assessed annually.[5]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative[6] finds that Thailand fulfills 69.5% of what they should be able to fulfill for the right to education, based on their level of income.[7]

  1. ^ "Office of the Minister of Education". Ministry of Education Thailand (MOE). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Thailand, Statistics". UNICEF. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 31 Mar 2015.
  3. ^ "Thailand Education Overview". Unicef. Archived from the original on 2017-11-14. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  4. ^ Michael, Rachel; Trines, Stephan (2018-02-06). "Education in Thailand". World Education News + Reviews (WENR). World Education Services (WES). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. ^ Engchun, Rudjanee; Sungtong, Ekkarin; Haruthaithanasan, Theera (6 September 2017). "Homeschooling in Southern Thailand: Status and proposed guidelines for learning process management". Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences. 39 (3): 502–508. doi:10.1016/j.kjss.2017.08.003.
  6. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  7. ^ "Thailand - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. 2020. Retrieved 2023-01-15.