The Office of the Basic Education Commision (Obec) plans to launch a two-week teacher-training programme to educate its preschool, kindergarten and elementary school teachers on an approach that focuses on reducing the gap between rich and poor students in terms of their academic achievements.
Dubbed HighScope, it focuses on "active participatory learning" as opposed to rote learning. It is based on the logic that young kids learn better by working with objects, people and ideas, not to mention highly knowledgeable educators.
The method was invented in the US in 1970 to support research gathered through the Perry Preschool Project (1962-1967). This programme was designed to provide early childhood education to children born in poverty to yield better results at school.
"The HighScope method gives children direct, hands-on experiences of everything around them. They make their own choices about what they want to do and how they want to do it," said Weerachat Kilenthong, president of the Reducing Inequality through Early Childhood Education Project (RIECE Thailand).
"Educators select the appropriate material, nurture interactions and encourage children to adopt an active, problem-solving approach to learning," he added.
Mr Weerachart said the HighScope Perry Preschool Study, which tracks participants into adulthood, found that children who took part in programmes based on the HighScope approach were more likely to graduate from high school. They were also more likely to find jobs, less likely to commit crimes and generally earned a higher wage.
"The research suggests we can improve children's futures by providing better-quality early childcare," said Mr Weerachart. "HighScope provides the framework to provide that quality."
He said a recent study by RIECE Thailand found that high quality early childhood programmes can yield a return equivalent to 7 baht from every baht invested.
However, he said the HighScope approach cannot yet be widely applied to the Thai educational system due to the quality of teachers.
"As a result, RIECE Thailand is now working with Obec to launch a two-week teacher-training programme to educate teachers about the Highscope approach. This will increase the number of teachers who can apply the method in class," he said.
Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin said he supported the project and has ordered Obec to work closely with RIECE Thailand.
"Teachers won't be forced to attend the programme. Everything is voluntary," he said.
RIECE Thailand has 40 training centres nationwide.
