The Independent Committee for Education Reform (ICER) has wrapped up its study on how to address problems faced by small schools and will forward its proposals to the government for consideration in two weeks.
Charas Suwanwela, head of the reform panel, said on Wednesday the objective of small schools has changed from providing education opportunities to guaranteeing quality education to children, so urgent changes are needed in several areas.
Wattanaporn Ra-ngubtook, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Education Council, said one of the key elements in the committee's proposals calls for small schools to be managed separately.
She said that while small and large schools follow the same curriculum, the former often have to deal with a wide range of issues, which include a shortage of teachers, teaching materials and equipment.
"As such, small schools need to be supervised by a separate agency or a group of people," Ms Wattanaporn said. "But this isn't about setting up a new unit. Existing agencies should be brought in to help."
She also said that all small schools across the country must be catalogued in order to help concerned agencies look at the big picture and create action plans that suit the schools' needs.
Another element of the proposals calls on the government to accord greater flexibility for such schools to manage their own problems, she said, before adding that the private sector should be invited to play a bigger role in the development and promotion of small schools.
According to Ms Wattanaporn, the committee's proposals will be applied to all small schools regardless of what agency they fall under, to improve education management and education quality.
Last year, the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) announced a plan to close down small schools -- defined as those with less than 120 enrolled students -- and merge them with larger schools nearby within three years to help address the issue of staff and teaching material shortages.
About 14,000 out of around 30,000 Obec schools nationwide have less than 120 students, and about 10,000 have fewer than 60 pupils, according to figures released by Obec.
