It comes as little surprise that teenagers in Singapore lead the world in science, mathematics and reading skills. The results of the most recent triennial survey by the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) released in December 2016 confirm this fact.
The authoritative international survey of 15-year-olds showed that Singaporean teens are the best students globally, despite having hairstyles that are not all the same.
Forgive me if I sound facetious. I'm just trying to make the point that it's time Thai educational authorities applied the same energy to raising the country's dismal Pisa standings that they devote to enforcing stupid haircut rules -- the crew cut for boys and earlobe-length bob for girls -- in public schools.
In the 72 countries where the Pisa test was administered to 28 million 15-year-olds, Thai students were 54th overall. They ranked 54th in science, 54th in mathematics and 57th in reading. The scores -- 421 points for science, 415 for mathematics and 409 for reading -- were well below the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development averages of 493, 490 and 493 respectively. The only participating Asian country with lower scores was Indonesia.
The global table was led by Singapore, with Japan second, Taiwan fourth, China sixth and Vietnam eighth. None of these countries enforce crew cuts and earlobe-length bobs.
If the argument in favour of regulated hair lengths is discipline, then what is the point of discipline if a youngster can't understand photosynthesis, the Pythagorean theorem, or has trouble reading? With all the technological tools at our disposal now, why do we even have a reading problem?
Some educators claim outlandish hairstyles are a distraction in the classroom. But if Nop or Noi show up in class with a huge mass of purple spikes, why should the teacher have to deal with it? It's the parents who gave their teens the money for the designer hairdo.
The sad fact is, Thai schools have long been known for military-style rules and authoritarian values, to the point of humiliating those who don't conform. Tales of sadistic teachers whipping out electric clippers to shear hirsute boys are sadly commonplace.
The reading problem is also something that should not be left to teachers. They can't follow your children home after school to find out if they're doing their assignments. Reading culture can start at an early age by simply reading to or with your children if they are young, and asking them about what they have read lately if they are older. Simply discussing plots and characters can give you insights into what interests your children. Then you can engage with them by buying them books they like instead of superfluous haircuts.
The horrors of untamed hair aside, another debate that has emerged lately is the push for condom dispensers in schools to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy. Some parents say it's unnecessary and simply puts the idea of sex into children's minds, but they forget that Thailand's teenage pregnancy rate is the highest in Southeast Asia after Laos.
Out of every 1,000 live births in Thailand, 54 were to mothers aged 15-19, which is 10 times the rate in Singapore, according to a 2013 report by the Bureau of Reproductive Health. This tells me that Thai teens are already thinking about sex, with or without condom dispensers. But at least if there were condom dispensers, teens too shy to buy their protection at 7-Eleven might use them and get into the healthy habit of prevention.
Another point to be made is that if condom dispensers actually put the idea of sex into people's heads, then what about no-smoking signs? Oxford University researchers in 2011 reported that no-smoking signs may in fact drive people to light up because the message has the ironic effect of triggering a craving in smokers. If this is true -- and using the logic of the anti-condom dispenser lobby -- shouldn't we ban no-smoking signs in schools too?
To my mind, the people in charge of public schools in Thailand should be thinking less about children's haircuts and what they might be doing in bed and concentrate on improving their science, maths and reading skills in collaboration with help from the private sector and especially with parents themselves. The Education Ministry should also outlaw military-style rules for children.
These efforts should not and cannot be left to teachers alone as these children are our future workers and leaders. There will be no Thailand 4.0 if they are not ready for it.
