Thailand - Preprimary & Primary Education

Preprimary education is neither required nor guaranteed by the government for all students. With the rapid growth of the Thai economy, though, the high level of female participation in the labor force, and intense competition for entry to quality primary schools, the demand for preschool education has grown steadily. In 1995, approximately 73.7 percent of the three to five age group was enrolled in preschools, but by 1999 this percent had risen to an impressive 96.9 percent. The Eighth National Education Development Plan (1997-2001) calls for all preschool children to have access to at least one year of a school readiness program before 2001 and that no less than 90 percent of children aged three to five will have access to preprimary education in the year 2001. Reflecting the importance of this level of education, a special National Institute for Early Childhood Education (NECE) was established.

There are three basic types of preprimary education: Child development centers; Preschool classes offered by private schools, and public schools; and Formal kindergarten education offered by private and public schools.

The primary school curriculum is for six years. For each school year, there are 40 weeks of instruction with 25 hours per week resulting in a total of 1,000 hours of instruction per year. The curriculum is focused on five key competency areas rather than specific individual courses. The five areas are: Basic skills group (Thai language and mathematics); Life experiences; Character development; Work-oriented experiences; and Special experiences (grades 5 and 6 only).

Most students study at this level in public schools (88 percent). Though primary education is compulsory, it is still not universally attained as there are significant numbers of children from the ages of 6 through 11 not in primary school. These are children primarily in remote rural areas or urban slums. The overall enrollment percentage for primary schools in 1999 of 103.6 percent is misleading and is higher than 100 because of repeaters and those enrolled who are either under or overage (younger than 6 or older than 11). Thailand's net primary school attendance rate for 1997 was 88 percent, even lower than Vietnam's.