Back to school: Thailand targets 1m dropouts for 1.7% GDP boost
Equitable Education Fund launches govt initiative to bust out of poverty cycle and middle-income trap
Thailand has launched an initiative to get the 1 million children missing from school back into education in a push to eradicate poverty and lift itself out of the middle-income trap.
The “Thailand Zero Dropout” project led by the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) aims to reduce the 1 million-plus out-of-school to 200,000 in the next five years as the country seeks to escape the economic doldrums.
According to the Education Ministry, Thailand has around 11 million school-aged children but 1.02 million were not in education last year.
More than a third of out-of-school kids (394,039) have no record of attendance at all while over 94,000 are not even registered in education. The majority of these are either children with migrant labourer parents or undocumented kids living in remote border areas. A third group missing from education is unregistered disabled children. Over half of Thailand’s disabled citizens (57.4%) were not registered for state welfare in 2022, according to the National Statistical Office.
The pandemic spurred a sharp rise in the dropout rate, threatening various aspects of economic development.
As a result, the EEF said, hundreds of thousands of families across Thailand are stuck in poverty because their children will go no further in education than their parents did.
This generational cycle of poverty could keep Thailand in the middle-income trap for several more decades, it added.
Meanwhile, the country’s economy has the lowest growth rate in Southeast Asia and rising financial burdens from an ageing society whose annual birth rate has fallen below 500,000.
The government estimates that meeting the zero-dropouts goal would jolt up GDP by 1.7%. The increase would stem from higher lifetime earnings of educated children, as well as prevention of social problems associated with poverty.
An EEF study found that poverty was the main reason for school non-attendance, accounting for 46.7% of dropouts. Next came family issues (16.14%) followed by expulsion (12.03%), lack of educational welfare benefits (8.88%), health problems (5.91%), injustice (4.93%), and violence or bullying (3.63%).
The study also found out-of-school children are vulnerable to three dangerous cycles:
– Child labour, which poses dangers to their lives and health.
– Trafficking, especially of girls.
– Involvement in criminal activities, including drug abuse and theft.
The Cabinet responded on May 28 by adopting four measures to drive Thailand towards zero dropouts.
The first measure is to locate out-of-school children through integrated efforts of government agencies.
The second is to offer out-of-school children holistic support that covers education, health, development, living conditions, and social aspects.
Meanwhile, flexible education will be implemented to fit the different circumstances of children and encourage full their developmental potential.
Finally, the private sector will help boost education through initiatives like "Learn to Earn", which will teach in-demand skills to youngsters aged 15-18.
The EEF will hold the first Zero Dropout meeting with 11 government agencies – including the ministries of Education, Digital Economy and Society, Interior, and Social Development and Human Security – on June 14.
