Thailand education in the rural areas during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since Thailand has locked down for round 4. There are many cases which Thai government cannot solve owing to their failed management of the situation. The number of patients with COVID-19 is increasing and many of them have died. This is the situation Thai people find themselves in due to COVID-19.
I would like to share some educational stories from Thai students during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will share one example where Thai students had faced an issue from COVID-19, it is a terrible story that happened to them and myself. It is the story of indigenous children who have Thai citizenship.
In Thailand, there are 56 indigenous groups, living in 67 provinces in Thailand. Most of them are living in the rural areas of Thailand and they are living in the four main regions; north, west, central, and east of Thailand.
All of them have own cultures, languages, customs, and traditions. But their lives have changed since the Thai government began to support their education in rural communities. We can’t reject that this education has influenced their live to the present.
Many of the indigenous children must move to live in towns to get a better education which they believe can help improve their lives. Nowadays, many of them have graduated from the university but their lives haven’t changed like in the past.
There is inequality and a lot of competition in Thai society. Although many of the newer generation of indigenous people have received more opportunities from the Thai government, their family are still poor and have greater debt than non-indigenous people.
During the lockdown in many places in Thailand, many schools had to be closed. Many students had to study on Zoom and submit their homework online due to COVID -19.
However, for the students studying in rural areas, many faced poor internet signal and could not study through online programs which were provided by the government.
Many of them could not study and could not sent through an applications. This is a troubling concern. Their parents tried to inquire with the local government department to resolve this issue but they never responded.
In Thailand, 80 percent live in poverty and 20 percent live in riches. Most of these poor work in agriculture. These inequality is reflected in the government who do not have enough power to solve this issue from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lack of internet access, poverty, bureaucracy, and corruption are the reasons which are having an effect on Thai education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The students who are in the rural areas, they are worried for their education as they may not graduate if the school doesn’t open.
Recently, the Thai government announced they will support 2,ooo bath for students who cannot go to school. For students who are studying at the university, they will get a payment from their university. Those are the government policies which are helping Thai students.
The authorities have said, “During COVID-19, we believe that our government didn’t have enough capacity to solve education issues in Thailand. Especially the rural areas the government has announced, they will be helped through this income. Our government is not ready to solve this trouble.”
It isn’t only the education for students which is an issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the economy is also a problem for Thai society.
