Thailand has more than 5 million
underprivileged children facing problems in bettering their quality of life and
who lack opportunities to develop themselves, researchers said at a seminar
last week.
Of the
close to 6 million, around 3 million live in poverty, 1.7 million are
handicapped, 300,000 are stateless, 100,000 are pregnant, 90,000 are orphans,
50,000 are in the restive southernmost provinces, and 40,000 are cared for by
the Juvenile Observation and Protection Department, according to Quality
Learning Foundation.
Although
the Cabinet approved policies providing education for underprivileged children
in 2004, targeted to provide education to all underprivileged children by 2011,
many still lag behind, according to the researchers.
"It's
a pity there is no action plan pointing out what each relevant organisation
should do after the Cabinet resolution was issued," said Rungroung
Sukapirom, former chief inspectorgeneral of the Education Ministry.
'No effective implementation'
As a
result, policies have not been implemented effectively to suit children with
different problems and needs in order to provide them with educational
opportunities, according to Rungroung.
Rungroung
leads a team of researchers from different agencies that conducted research to
evaluate the policies. Last week this team revealed the evaluation results and
made recommendations to agencies to encourage them to adjust their working
programmes. The seminar was held at Office of the Education Council.
HIV/Aids
infection, physical disability, learning disability, poverty, undocumented
status, unwanted pregnancy, delinquent behaviour, human trafficking, violence
in the southernmost provinces, drug and family problems have led millions of
children to a poorer quality of life as they are unable to enter education.
Problems
affecting different underprivileged children are varied and they need special
care. But the main curriculum for basic education students created by the
Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) was not flexible enough to provide
education that suited these different needs, said Rungroung.
She
added that practitioners had not adjusted their perspectives and methods of
working to suit current situations. For example, when Nongchumsaengwittaya
School in Phetchaburi offered a chance for pregnant students and those with
delinquent behaviour to enrol and study with it, the school was seen as
strange.
"So,
the practitioners should adjust their perspectives and the way they work,"
she urged.
Her
team also pointed out that teachers with responsibility to teach
underprivileged students were lacking in terms of quantity and quality.
'Big problem'
"This
is a big problem. Thailand has produced very few teachers for unprivileged
children, while many current teachers don't have enough knowledge and
understanding to help children with problems with life skills. These skills are
really crucial to help them live a better life so they will not cause more
problems to society when they grow up. The nation should produce more qualified
teachers, psychologists, social workers and those in other related careers who
understand how these children are different and how to deal with them,"
she added.
Some
participants at the seminar lamented that with different curricula, credit
transfers could not be offered between Obec and the Office of NonFormal and
Informal Education (ONIE) for students who had dropped out from schools. This
had pushed them away from education.
Rungroung
added there was no system transferring youngsters' working experience to
educational credits.
A
representative from ONIE responded she would propose the credit transfer
problems to its executives so as to find resolutions.
This
group of researchers also urged agencies to discuss and adjust their data
collection so they could provide the same and credible statistics and
information on underprivileged children.
"The
recommendations are useful," said Payom Chinnawong, director at the Bureau
of Special Education Administration under Obec who listened to the evaluation
report and recommendations, adding he would try to put them into practice.
Wannapa
Khaopa
The
Nation
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