Education Ministry Opens Classrooms In Prisons To Build Credentials
Thailand's Education Ministry signed an agreement with the Department of Corrections to offer classroom learning programs in prisons, allowing inmates to earn credentials from basic to university levels and develop vocational skills for eve
On July 1, 2025, Education Minister Akkranon Kankirttinant presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Office of the Non-Formal and Informal Education Commission and the Department of Corrections to promote and support three forms of learning: lifelong learning, self-development learning, and credential-based learning. Senior officials from both agencies attended the ceremony at the Science Learning Promotion Center in Bangkok to jointly announce their commitment to expanding educational opportunities to prisons and detention facilities.
Akkranon stated that the agreement represents more than ceremonial procedure—it is a joint declaration to use education as a tool for restoring opportunity and developing human potential. He emphasized that while prison walls may restrict physical space, they must not limit intellectual opportunity or hope for a new beginning. The Education Ministry aims to reduce educational inequality and ensure all people have access to quality, equitable learning that complies with the 2023 Lifelong Learning Promotion Act.
Inmates and former prisoners deserve equal learning opportunities to rebuild their capabilities, develop life and vocational skills, and gain confidence before reintegrating into families and society, Akkranon added. The collaboration between the two agencies links education concretely with behavioral rehabilitation.
The Office of the Non-Formal and Informal Education Commission will implement flexible learning systems suited to the prison context, enabling incarcerated learners to complete education from basic to university levels. Success will be measured not by activity numbers or participation counts, but by real changes in learners' lives and Thai society, based on equality and human dignity.
Akkranon concluded by pledging the Education Ministry's support for a three-year implementation period, aiming to produce quality individuals who are mentally and educationally stable, ready to return to society and become vital contributors to the nation's development.
