Re-learn education

Re: “Mathayom 3 students fail all five O-Net subjects”, ( BP, March 26).

Thai students as a whole have been consistently failing for many years, so it’s not news that Mathayom 3 (Grade 9) students fail all five subjects of the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-Net). Our standard reaction has been to throw money — but not brainpower — at the problem.

But the university demonstration ( sathit) schools have consistently outperformed other public schools. The universities should chair a joint committee with the Office of the Basic Education Commission to find the causes of their excellence and how to duplicate it elsewhere. Uplifting the Obec schools’ performance will be costly, so I suggest floating school fees to whatever the market will bear — with the proviso that fees be enough to cover full financial aid for half of each entering class, if needed.

Average school scores in O-Net and other achievement tests should be posted on the internet so parents know what they’re paying for. There should be extensive recognition of improved performance by each school on an overall basis plus a subject and a teacher basis, and the focus should be on sustained, inclusive improvement rather than on developing a few stars.

Also, upgrade the Education Ministry to be an “A” ministry. If we don’t have enough manpower with the needed skills, we’ll never get to “Thailand 4.0”. As it is, our GDP growth is the lowest in Asean and half of Vietnam’s. BURIN KANTABUTRA