Education System in Thailand

Primary Education: 

Education in Thailand is largely a government responsibility provided through the Ministry of Education as per the directions of the constitution. Two to three years of kindergarten begins this process, followed by 6 years of primary school. The Thai school year is from May to March for primary and middle school, while secondary schools begin one month later. Uniforms are also compulsory during tertiary education. Allocation to the education sector is 4% of GDP in Thailand.

Middle Education:

Three years of middle school follow, where students continue with core subjects including Thai language, arts and music, math, physical and social science, technology and foreign languages. From here though, vocational students follow a different path.

Secondary Education:

At high school, students who wish to continue academic education move on to elective courses. Of these, the science and math / English programs are most popular – other choices include foreign languages and social science. In this way, they are already preparing for tertiary education that may follow,

Vocational Education:

Thai vocational education system is grounded in high school where students may choose to adopt this more practical form of education. Here they may aspire to two levels of qualification too. These are a certificate in vocational education, and a higher diploma that opens to the door to a university degree. After reaching school-leaving age, a Thai may also enroll for a technical diploma.

Tertiary Education:

Both private and public colleges of higher education and universities are regulated by the Ministry of Education. They offer excellent study programs in arts, medicine, humanities and information technology. However many young Thai citizens still prefer to study subjects like law and business abroad. The oldest and most prestigious university in Thailand is Chulalongkorn founded in 1917. It attracts many of the nation’s best students and enjoys a fine international reputation. 

However, the total education system in Thailand is divided into 5 stages like primary is of 2 steps i.e. primary (prothom-elementary) from 6 to 8 years, primary (prothomelementary) from 9 to 11 years belonging to the same structure with different age groups; vocational from (dual vocational training-DVT) from 12 to 14 years; secondary (modhom-secondary) from 15 to 17 years followed by Tertiary education belonging to the Bachelor degree for 4 years, Bachelor’s pharmacy and agriculture for 5 years, Bachelor’s doctor of dental surgery, medicine and veterinary medicine for 6 years while masters degree and doctoral degree for 2 years.