Early childhood care and education targets children aged 0-5 years in Thailand. There are three types of pre-primary education depending on the local conditions: preschool classes, kindergartens and childcare centers. Private schools usually offer a three-year kindergarten programme. Two-year kindergarten and one-year pre-school classes are available at public primary schools in rural areas (IBE 2011). Pre-school education is not compulsory and it is free from 2009 after introduction of 15-year free education policy which recognized the importance of pre-school education (UNESCO 2011). The government’s policy on pre-school education has clear direction to expand and improve the provision of pre-school education in state schools in rural areas on a nationwide scale in order to give better education opportunities for economically disadvantaged children in rural areas (IBE 2011).
The access to pre-primary education in Thailand is moderately high. The gross enrollment ratio in 2010 is about 95 % (UIS n.d.). This is an outcome of free education policy especially implemented in rural areas. Still a significant proportion of children from lower socio-economic background and/or from remote rural areas has no access to pre-primary education. As part of the decentralization process and according to the statistics of the Department of Local Administration, the number of child development centers established by LAOs increased from 1,782 in 2006 to 2,774 in 2007 (UNESCO 2011).
An assessment of the quality of pre-school education indicated that only 40 % of 3 to 5 year old children received adequate preparation for readiness in learning before attending primary school. Although Thailand has a very high percentage of young children attending child development centers, the massive transfer of child development centers under the authority of LAOs could impose potential issues. If such centers are not supported properly through strengthening capacity and management, the quality of early childhood development and young children’s preparation for primary schooling can be seriously affected (UNESCO 2011, IBE 2011).
Most children attend formal pre-primary institutions administered by the Ministry of Education and about half of these children enroll in learning childcare/development centers of the non-formal pre-primary education system, mainly administered the Department of Local Administration. The Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC) prepares the core early childhood curriculum and disseminates it to all Educational Service Area (ESA) Offices to distribute it to parents, guardians and teachers in order to ensure that all key stakeholders combine efforts to provide pre-school children with quality education (IBE 2011).
Pre-primary education is heavily subsidized by government. The block grant which is called “general subsidies for per-student expenditure” is expanded from 12 to 14 years for each student to include pre-primary education (UNESCO 2011).
The 10-Year Plan and Policy for Early Childhood Development (2006-2015) provides a blueprint for achieving universal early childhood education for all Thai children. The 10-Year Plan and Policy gives priority to three main strategies: (1) to support early childhood development; (2) to support parents and other stakeholders; and (3) to promote an environment that facilitates early childhood development.
The 10-Year Plan and Policy focuses on the 0-5 age group.Its objectives are:
- to formulate a common concept and guidelines for early childhood development at the national level;
- to prepare concrete operational plans for effective mobilization, management, and resource utilization;
- to provide guidelines for data and information collection, research, follow-up, and evaluation;
- to incorporate early childhood development as an integral part of educational reform.
It is expected that this 10-Year Plan and Policy will provide all children under five years of age with the opportunity for balanced development, strengthen cooperation among responsible agencies, and increase stakeholders participation. Adequacy of funds to deliver quality pre-primary education services and access of disadvantaged groups are the key issues for the development of this sub-sector (UNESCO 2011).
