Once again there are more applicants than spaces available in recent admission examinations for secondary schools, so class sizes are on the increase. Bangkok Education Service Area Office 2 has allowed the schools under its control to increase class sizes from a maximum of 40 to 50 students to cope with increased numbers.

Whilst it was pleasing to see that recent admission examinations went without a hitch in our troubled metropolis, the subject of class size has raised its ugly head again with statistics clearly showing that action is needed to stop this easy solution to the ever increasing demand for education.

More than double the amount of students sat examinations for the Mathayom 1 seats available around the country putting further strain on our already depleted resources. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has encouraged more outdoor education activities in order to improve the learning skills of students; his wish may be granted as students will soon be learning in the corridors if class sizes are allowed to increase any further.

Having written off the initial education reform from 2000 to 2009 as a waste of time and resources, our prime Minister has called on officials to ensure that the next attempt does not repeat the mistakes from before. After all, it was Einstein who stated that insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

What could work in our favour this time is that this reform scheme has gathered input from across the country from the general public, so hopefully the information that has been gleaned may help address the nation’s educational woes. Only time will tell; however, it is normally the implementation of these new policies that fail due to a lack of understanding and the collective will to succeed.

Rural schools where the majority of Thailand’s children attend classes are having their own problems when it comes to class sizes. Some are under populated resulting in mergers or closure due to the number of students.

My niece has the benefit of being in a class of six, which has a total of about fifty in the whole school. To put this into perspective, my daughter has nearly fifty in her class. You have to ask yourself how long small schools will last until they are closed and students sent further afield.

In contrast, there are many rural schools that already have large sized classes depending on the catchment area and the location of other schools in the immediate vicinity. Some schools have decided to take matters into their own hands. 

On a recent visit to Chumchon Ban Wang School, a rural school in Ban Phue district, Udon Thani province, I was surprised to find out that there were four classes for grades one to three. Prathoms one and two had one class each and Prathom three had two classes.

Apparently, the director of the school wanted to split the class as he thought there were too many students for one class, resulting in there being two classes of eighteen students each. He could have made savings by keeping the class at thirty six students but made a decision that was best for his students.

I am sure that decisions like this are not made very frequently; however, it does show that there are people with an understanding of what has to be done to improve our education system in Thailand and are prepared to stand up and be counted.

Smaller class sizes lead to more teacher contact allowing students to express themselves more often.
(Unedited article published in the Bangkok Post 13th July 2010)