Thailand Launches Literacy Program for Ethnic Minority Children
Thailand's education agency is launching a community-based literacy program targeting ethnic minority and remote-area children, using localized learning materials developed by universities to address dropout rates and educational inequality
The Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA) is advancing efforts to reduce educational inequality and address the crisis of children dropping out of school by shifting from traditional assessment toward "assessment for development" and piloting the Smart Local Literacy (SLC) model, which brings community-based learning innovations to promote literacy among ethnic minority children and those in remote areas.
ONESQA Director Prof. Dr. Ongard Naipadbhan stated that raising education quality and standards across all dimensions requires narrowing educational gaps, particularly addressing illiteracy, which serves as a fundamental foundation for continued learning. Illiteracy is also a significant factor that discourages children from continuing school and drives them out of the education system.
ONESQA is accelerating implementation of participation strategies and collaborative networks to build "intellectual capital" systematically by partnering with domestic and international networks, working directly with local communities, and using external assessment results to organize concrete educational promotion activities. The agency plans to apply policy recommendations to improve education quality nationwide.
Prof. Dr. Ongard noted that ONESQA's quality assessments have found that small schools in remote areas, particularly those serving ethnic minority children, face significant literacy challenges. ONESQA has therefore developed partnerships with higher education institutions possessing unique strengths, such as Rajabhat Universities distributed nationwide, which have deep understanding of local contexts and social geography.
"ONESQA is leveraging universities' potential through the Smart Local Literacy (SLC) model, or community-rooted learning, by transforming university knowledge into learning innovations suited to local contexts," Prof. Dr. Ongard explained. "This allows students in remote areas to learn reading and writing through teaching materials connected to local lifestyles and identities, making learning easier to understand, faster to absorb, and more enjoyable."
The Smart Local Literacy model emerged from ONESQA's shift from evaluative assessment to assessment for development, drawing lessons from a network of 13 schools under the Thaesao–Wangkrajeae Educational Network in Kanchanaburi Primary Educational Service Area 3. The innovation was developed to support Thai language learning for grades 1–6 at Buddhavimutti School in Thai Mueang District, serving as a prototype for network schools to build upon, with guidance from Kanchanaburi Rajabhat University.
"ONESQA plans to compile and summarize results to propose policy recommendations to the Ministry of Education for expanding local media innovations in partnership with educational networks nationwide," Prof. Dr. Ongard concluded. "This will ensure literacy and reading become key drivers for education development, reduce the number of children and youth outside the education system, and build sustainable human capital."
