Thousands of schools 'should go'

Thousands of schools 'should go'

The Education Ministry is proposing to close almost 6,000 small schools nationwide to save money on upkeep and provide more efficiency in teaching, minister Phongthep Thepkanchana said Tuesday.

Students at some small schools must be transferred to larger schools.

Current statistics list 5,962 schools with fewer than 60 students. Of these, 709 have fewer than 20 students, 2,090 schools have 21-40 students and 3,163 schools have 41-60 students.

The ministry also is considering a second proposal to shutter schools with fewer than 120 students, of which there are 14,816 throughout the country.

Mr Phongthep said smaller schools generally have poor quality of teaching, and students stand to gain by being absorbed in larger schools nearby.

"For example one small school at my own hometown in Samut Sakhon has only 20 foreign students," Mr Phongthep said. "Should this school be open? Because the (teaching) quality is not good, yet there is a quality school situated just one kilometre away.

"If we dissolve this small school and move students to the better school, it will benefit both students and the overall education system," he said. 

Chinnapat Phumirat, secretary-general of the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec), said the commission has set a target of closing schools with fewer than 60 students. It is conducting a survey to determine which could be closed immediately.  

Mr Phongthep said the ministry has to discuss the issue with the affected communities, and explain that the government does not have the budget to maintain all schools equally, so some schools must close.

He said developed countries such as the United States also close schools in areas such as Washington D.C. - even schools with as many as 300 students.

The ministry will try to ensure that closing small school will have the least impact possible on students. Obec has already prepared a budget to buy up to 1.000 vans to accommodate the transportation of students to schools that are farther away from their homes.

Some small schools likely will remain open, but will be required to restructure administration to all "cluster teaching" systems to increase efficiency.

Schools reopen next week, and the minister suggested school administrators should reform instruction systems to increase the efficiency of each 50-minute class.

He recommended that students be relieved of memorising unnecessary material, but instead spend time on thinking and analysis. At the same time, schools should also teach ethics and moral issues.

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