The book-offering ceremony was in line with His Majesty the King’s support for non-traditional education. There were 38 educational institutions in the vicinity of Suvarnabhumi Airport participated in the event. More than 3,000 books with contents specifically chosen for young learners have been distributed to schools and education centers in the vicinity of Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The book campaign was first launched in 2008, and the AoT has since been purchasing educational books and wooden bookshelves for local schools. So far 15,000 books have already been given out to support young students’ learning experience.

This was discussed during the Education Minister’s visit to a small school in the province, a branch of Pha Khwang Witthaya School. This school only has 39 students. Despite having only 39 students, the school will not be merged as it serves students in an isolated mountainous area. The school’s administrators revealed that they lacked the resources, but stressed it was crucial to keep it open for the students. The Education Ministry will provide the school with more resources for the sake of the students. The school will be equipped with a satellite for distance learning and temporary teachers will be assigned to teach subjects with which local teachers are not so familiar. Locals will also take part in teaching the students in weaving and basketry.

Responding to the opposition against the school-merging policy, Phongthep insisted that it was to improve the quality of education and was not just aimed at closing down small and inefficient schools. However, those schools that could not be merged due to their isolation, would receive assistance from the ministry in the form of educational planning and temporary teachers, who would travel to the schools to teach subjects like mathematics and English.

Instead, pupils will be moved between 1,000 schools to get more efficient use of facilities. The Education Ministry will gather and find more solutions to aid the small and alternative schools in Thailand.

There were 200 parents and students who were rallying under the banner of the Association for Thai Alternative Education Council and the Community School Network outside the Education Ministry. They were obviously upset at the news of some directors of schools with less than 60 pupils had been removed from their posts by educational zone offices. They called for a stopping of the policy of closing and merging of small schools, pending proper consultation between education authorities and the public.

The 178 of the 182 primary education zones outside Bangkok had submitted plans to Obec to develop some 3,500 schools with less than 60 pupils. These would be condensed into a master plan for small school development to be proposed to the ministry today. No small schools would be closed down, apart from schools that had no fresh intake of students in three primary education zones. The closed schools’ facilities would be used to create nurseries or non-formal education centers instead. The other schools will be divided into two groups: 2,200 small schools, including 300 located in “special and necessary” areas such as islands, would undergo intensive learning-teaching development, while the other 1,000 would rotate students between their schools.

A resident from Roi Et’s Pathumrat district was worried that Ban Som Hong School, which had 49 students and three teachers, where her youngest child attends kindergarten, would be closed because the school director was removed. If schools in the mountains were closed villagers wouldn’t send their kids to city the schools because they couldn’t afford the transportation expenses. So the kids would suffer a lack of access to education, which would lead to problems such as drugs and human trafficking. The education assessment should be flexible and should include cultural and vocational skills from the community’s participation in education management.

In Thai schools, military dictatorships of the past, discipline and enforced deference prevail. At public school in Samut Prakan in the suburb of Bangkok, teachers are often seen carrying bamboo canes reprimanding students for long hair and cutting it off on the spot if it did not meet the required length. Everything is inspected, from dirty fingernails, colored socks to any other violation of the school’s dress code. Thai students have the same appearance. And as the legacy of the military rule is fading, some students are now rising up and challenging the system. The students have a receptive ally in the Government that is helping in reducing the military’s role in the student’s life and they are proposing changes to the education system.

Nethiwit Chotpatpaisan is a freethinking Thai high school student who is also known as Frank, started a campaign on Facebook calling for the abolition of the “mechanistic” education system in Thailand. He started the group, the Thailand Educational Revolution Alliance with his friends. He spoke out on a prime-time television show last January which gained him national prominence. Frank described his school as a factory that manufactures identical people and teachers as “dictators” who orders their students to be obedient, and to never contradict them.

Phongthep Thepkanjana, a United States-trained Education Minister vowed to allow Thai school children to let their hair down and has proposed changes to reduce the emphasis on rote memorization and to promote critical thinking. He has proposed less homework and fewer hours in the classroom, and a curriculum that would focus on the essentials of language, math and science. The students should voice their opinions in class to exercise their freedom of expression in the society. He announced that he would change the rule on hair length. The rule requires that girls have their hair cut just below the ear, and that boys buzz the sides of their heads like cadets.

Advocates for change say the current curriculum, packed with subjects to memorize, does not allow time for Thai students to think for themselves. According to Phongthep, the main resistance to change has come from the civil servants for whom revising the curriculum would be a gargantuan task. After that, a new curriculum would face a series of public hearings before it could be approved.

And with regards to the dress code, there are already signs that administrators might balk. The vice principal and a strict disciplinarian, Mr. Arun, say that maintaining discipline is essential to combat the social ills convulsing young people in Thailand — drugs, teenage pregnancy and gang fights. He defined discipline the way the military needs a gun while the teachers need sticks.

The group consists of precocious students who love to debate. One of them trolls scientific sites on the Internet for comments questioning the theory of evolution, and ridicules the posters as being unscientific. Another member hacked into the Ministry of Education Web site, confessed, and was hired by the ministry to beef up cyber security.

The “White School” Anti-drug Campaign was joined by the Phuket Governor with other 850 participants including the Education Officials throughout the Andaman Provinces.

The ministry gave high priority in tackling drugs in schools and for them to achieve such goal it required the cooperation from every section of the school system, which includes homeroom teachers who are closest to the students. There are practical action plans and assessments that was set to be carried out all throughout the school year. Every school needs to report to the ministry after seven days after each semester, the number of students found or believed to have been involved with drugs. That includes users, dealers and potential drug users or dealers. All the information will be kept confidential to protect the students and the school itself. When found affected by drugs, the goal is to rehabilitate with the local Provincial Public Health Office’s treatment programs for students.

This coming June 15, all the Provincial Health Offices all over the country will launch their Rehabilitation Programs. The schools are to set up their own plans in helping their affected students. The ministry will sent out inspectors to evaluate all the schools and if the school is indeed free of drugs or “White”, they will receive a White pennant, declaring that the school is 100 percent Drug-free.

Scientists could lay a foundation for future growth and development. Thailand has very few patents compared to other countries during the opening of the Science Scholarship Program. It is important that the country produces its own original items instead of building on someone else’s idea, adding that the sales of counterfeit or knockoff merchandise will not be sustainable over a long period.

He emphasized that an original invention would potentially reap benefits for the country. The Education Minister further stated that he hoped the scholarship recipients would apply their knowledge to benefit the country and people around him as well as inspire other students to choose science subjects as their core curriculum.

Both parents and students expressed mixed opinions over the supposed new regulations that allows all students to have a layered haircut. There are some concerns circulating that students might become more preoccupied with their looks. They are supposed to focus on their education and not on fashion and hairstyles.

The Director  of Satriwithaya School, Chamnong Chamchantha-rawong said that the school will not oppose the new rule even though it has conserved a Short Hair culture for a very long time now. The school committee and alumni association had discussed the issue with the school. They will allow the students to wear long hair but are not allowed to get them layered and colored as well.

While the Chairman of Ban Khao Niwet Municipality School’s committee in Ranong province, Nit Ouytekkeng said that the Ministry of Education did not understand what’s really happening in the schools. They don’t have a proper idea about whether the Thai society is ready for such a change or not. Students were given many rights but they ignore the rules and this would cause a problem in the future.

The Secretary-General of the Office of the Basic Education Commission, Chinnapat Bhumirat said that the new regulations provided general outlines on the student haircuts. A decision should be made together with the schools, students, and other stakeholders on which hairstyles are suitable for the students.

However, Phongthep said that he doesn’t think a layered hairstyle will be a problem. He is afraid that haircuts without layers are seen as abnormal looking compared to hairstyles that people actually have.

In line with this, Phongthep had approved the new regulations last Tuesday and would propose them to the Cabinet next Tuesday. And once it gets an approval, it will be implemented during the 2013 academic year. Phongthep had removed the ban on students getting layered hairstyles and lifted the schools’ authority to get their students to flaunt a specific hairstyle.

As elaborated, they are going to merge some schools that are located close to each other and would also provide a budget for the transportation. The transportation allowance is budgeted in buying vans for the students. They were also clear in saying that if there are no enrolled students at any of the schools, after merging, they will close it down automatically.

OBEC had instructed 182 educational service area offices in every province except Bangkok to create their own development plans to improve the quality of small schools under their supervision and hand in the plans to OBEC by May 24. They are going to look for updated information about the small schools before proceeding with the process of merging and closures. There are 182 Educational Service Area Offices in all provinces except Bangkok to make their own development plans to improve the quality of the small schools in their supervision. The offices are urged to follow the important steps in closing down a school before deciding to do so. They should as well help in improving the quality of education and effectiveness of the management, which includes in sharing their educational resources to those who have none. The Information and Communication Technology resources should also be provided to the students while the discussion of any plans in closing down a school with the local residents is still ongoing.

The OBEC Channel, an educational satellite television channel, should be used by those small schools that do not have enough teachers for every grade and subject. And lastly, the Local Administrative Organizations and Informal Education Centers should also be permitted to use the closed school buildings and facilities.

The campaign, according to Panita, is aiming to combine each of the teacher’s debts into one lump sum that would simplify the paying method, also adding the yearly interest rate at around 5%, which is lower than nay other loans available. However, this scheme will be offered only to those teachers who loans in default. The welfare office is going to pay off the loans on behalf of those teachers and will be obliged to pay it back with a lower interest rate.

This long-term solution to the problems of our dear teachers should help them generate more income. The Ministry of Education will soon provide an occupational training for the teachers and the Office of The Non-Formal Education Commission will be responsible for this.

This earning channel is a better solution to the debt issue because it is difficult for the teachers to reduce their expenses.