Thai students’ strong results boost hopes

RESILIENT STUDENTS, defined as financially poor but academically excellent, have provided a glimmer hope for Thailand’s future. 
“We can now identify factors that allow these students to overcome obstacles and do well in international tests,” Dr Pumsaran Tongliemnak, a researcher at the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Education, said yesterday.
He was referring to the fact that there were up to 30,300 Thai resilient students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015. Despite unfortunate economic and social circumstances, the students ranked among the top 25 per cent of the PISA participants. 
“Their scientific thinking is nearly three years more advanced than average students in the same PISA test,” Pumsaran said.
According to the review, the parents of these students have had just six years of formal education on average. But although financially poor, parents were offering essential emotional support. 
“But teachers are the most important factor. Their teachers have a growth mindset,” Pumsaran said. 
Charts presented at a press conference also highlighted that teachers had relied on applied teaching techniques and given feedback to their students. 
The Quality Learning Foundation (QLF) and the World Bank co-organised yesterday’s event to highlight hopes Thailand has in such underprivileged children. 
Speakers at the event emphasised that if these children continued to receive educational opportunities, they would become quality human resources for Thailand’s development, and not just unskilled labourers.
More than half a million 15-year-olds took part in the latest PISA. The number of resilient students is estimated based on their percentage in actual test takers. 
Dr Kraiyos Patrawat, QLF assistant manager for research and policy, said if the government reached out to these students, the country would have a labour force with greater analytical and scientific thinking skills. 
“If the government also develops other children from poor families, the country will have more qualified human resources to drive the Thailand 4.0 policy,” he said. 
He said Thailand had suffered labour problems because it did not have enough human resources with high skills and potential.
Kraiyos emphasised that the country should reduce its educational gaps and boost opportunities for learning among the poor “or else we will lose opportunities from the hidden potential among this population group”.
Dr Dilaka Lathapipat, an economist at the World Bank, said Thailand should invest more in human resources and research. “During the past three to four decades, all countries that have become significantly richer have invested in these fields,” he said. 
Dilaka said leading countries in innovation and IT had up to 8,000 highly qualified people working in research and development per million of population. 
“But in Thailand, the current ratio is 1,000 per million,” Dilaka said.