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(1) Ministry of Education is the main force for reforming the education system at all levels, both in quantity and quality
We have strengthened the quality of education at all levels for many terms. The Ministry of Education (Youth and Sports – MEYS) has been an active force in reforming the education system at all levels. This effort has been done regularly, both in quantity and quality […] teachers must produce students with quality […] the Royal Government of the 7th legislative term of the National Assembly has set sx priorities plus five key rules, one of which is strengthening basic education […] we must devote special forces, special energy, special resources to intervene in the new phase […] I set a goal for the first 12 years from primary to high school to be completed and strong […] by focusing on three points […] (1) strengthening governance and management, and teaching work; (2) strengthening the curriculum through additional hours; and (3) strengthening community participation […]
(2) Management team, educational staff, and teachers are playing the main roles
Regarding strengthening governance and leadership […] I would like to talk about the role of the actors. It comes from human […] since the primary level, there are three main roles […] firstly, the management team which includes the principal; secondly, the educational staff, and thirdly, the teachers. Of these, the two main actors are the principal and the teacher […] the principal is the head of the institution, the one who holds the steering wheel, plays the role of coordinating and leading the implementation of programs that the ministry/department has put in place, coordinating internal affairs, and the general affairs to make the work perform smoothly […]
For education, choosing a wrong person for the job is having a negative impact on school and thousands of students […] therefore, the first direct executive leader is the school principal […]; the second role is the district (education) office, which is the front-line expert staff that needs to be considered in leading, supervising, and monitoring implementation, which acts as the staff for the department […] in this, there is a priority skill strengthening that the Ministry of Public Services must continue to do this work, strengthen the capacity and capabilities of the education office, and assist the education department. (while) decentralizing rights, we must decentralize responsibility, decentralize capacity, budget, and some resources […]
(3) Qualification and quantity are challenging matters
The teachers is the one actor with many challenges. We are talking about quantity and quality. We are talking about (1) quality, which means there must be qualifications in accordance with the regulations set by the ministry. The selection of teachers, in this case, is important […] I am calling on the provincial governors to give the authority to the District Education Office (DEO) to implement the regulations in selecting teachers […] the DEO is the commander, but the district governor should not be the one who selects teachers or the principal […] (2) quantity is a very challenging task […] in this regard, we (give) priority to selecting teachers […] through (a) increase (the number of teachers) by various principles such as promoting and considering the livelihood, which, also from here, on October 5, 2023, I announced an increase of the allowance for student teachers […]; (b) fill in the number of teachers […] through contract teachers, most of whom are at the primary level, who make one-year contracts […]; and (c) enroll in the framework teachers who have taught for six or seven years proving to have clear qualifications […] especially those who reside in the target area […]
(4) The population growth is faster than what we can produce
As for the transfer of teachers, please make the conditions clear and a little stricter. I would not be so strict regarding transferring academic staff, educational staff, deputy school directors, and/or school directors, sometimes. I am asking, however, for clear criteria and conditions when it comes to transferring teachers […] because losing one teacher means losing the quality of hundreds of thousands of students in the long run […] the population growth is faster than what we can produce. What we have, we must use to the fullest extent possible. Don’t wait for the new teacher framework to be filled. What we have, we must do our best with. If the teacher is willing to stay because his house is in the target area, or s/he is just starting out and doesn’t have the qualifications yet, find a way to integrate her/him […] we must do it quickly. I want it this year so that we can implement it in 2026 […] it would even be better if we could do it faster […]
(5) Life, health, knowledge are first priorities, infrastructure can wait
As for strengthening the curriculum by adding extra study/teaching hours […] we have implemented a lot. We have encouraged more than 140 schools and some schools have done it themselves […] some schools have implemented equity programs that parents have helped […] we want to add hours for math, literature, life skills, behavior, and where possible, we add computers […] another issue of interest is health […] the use of energy drinks by children in and outside school, (prone to having diabetes) is growing at an alarming rate […] we need to work on that. We have to be creative. Budget needs to be place on target and between infrastructure and people’s lives, health and knowledge, we have to put life, health, knowledge as our first priorities. Infrastructure can wait a little […] it is not that we don’t do it, but we have to prioritize what do we need first […]
(6) Joining NCPE directly to coordinate special and rapid interventions
Five key measures have been established to help with additional interventions in priority sectors, namely health and education […] which (as the Prime Minister, I have taken the lead in the National Committee to Promote the Implementation of Key Measures in the Education Sector, abbreviated as (NCPE) to (1) obtain additional funds to help. If there is no such budget (the task would put a burden on the ministry’s operating budget). The budget for the ministry is already available annually, but if we need to add a pillar to primary education […] another special force is needed. In order to avoid difficulties, the Prime Minister leads (in the NCPE program) directly. It is not to lead directly, but as a mechanism for the Minister of Education (Youth and Sports) and the working committee to carry the tasks through […] (2) be able to intervene quickly. If you wait for a meeting, you are busy asking for procedures up and down until you reach me, […] therefore, this is about priorities. It is not only about drawing up policies or roadmaps, but the important thing is to do it through mechanisms that increase cooperation and help support the pillars in a timely manner […]
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(7) Renouncing MLC to ensure state ownership and avoid creating two systems
About community and guardian participation, we are looking at issue related to the MEYS’s exploration of methods in creating, organizing mechanisms and formulas for schools, both primary and secondary. We have new generation schools, equity formula schools, modern learning centers (MLC), and we have model schools […] (1) the new generation schools with parental participation has now registered in 14 schools nationwide and we have the policy to promote this module. (2) Equity schools are the one with parental participation, voluntarily at some level. (3) the modern learning center (MLC) schools – the other day I asked to renounce (this type of school). It is an arrangement based on a partnership between the state and the private sector, but it cannot work. I would like to provide additional principles and instructions to MEYS that whatever mechanism is used (it must), (1) ensure 100% state ownership in its local management […] and (2) don’t create two systems or two standards in one school […]
(8) Medel school’s parents-teachers communication group – a blossoming flower approach to positive changes
Where the state needs to intervene, we do. Parents do not need to contribute financially, but they are a determining factor in participating as a source of motivation and support for the education of their children. The schools we have tested for 42 years have been successful because parents have seen that the program help change their children’s (behaviors positively) […] the (model) school mechanism has created a parents and teachers (social media) group. Should the students not go to school, the teachers know immediately […] and once the teachers know, the parents also know. That way, trust is created. No need to spend money, only participation is needed, and the most important thing is to get results […] we call (this method) the blossoming flower approach […] to build schools, encourage parents and teachers to cooperate n educating our children and grandchildren to make them good resources for the nation. That is the blossoming flower approach to development in peace […]
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(9) Issue an appropriate number of reality-responding policies
There is no need to issue too many principles/policies. We just need an appropriate number policies issued to respond to reality and pay attention to implementation. There are guidelines for organizing schools, but for schools to do what is instructed, there must be mechanisms to help show them the way, monitor implementation and evaluate (the outcome). The senior level may issue only a certain number of (principles), but it is important to make sure that people who implement those policies (understand and) know how to do it […] there is no need to have policies of hundreds of pages but the key to making that policy work is just a few steps. Make it target oriented […] especially we must be certain of any policy that is sensitive and affecting the citizens. The officials who implement it must clearly understand and know the limit to its implementation. This is a task that must be (done) in a simple way, to the point, and not too long. This is not an instruction just for the MEYS, and every institutions […]./.