Thai students are consistently performing below the international average in core subjects, according to the results of the international 2018 PISA examinations.
Published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday, the results show Thai students underperforming in reading, mathematics and science compared to most countries participating in the evaluation.
The PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) examinations, which take place every three years, evaluate education systems worldwide by measuring basic skills and knowledge of 15-year-old pupils, and their readiness for the challenges of adult life.
Approximately 600,000 pupils from 79 countries completed the latest test, which focused on their reading skills.
According to the survey, Thailand ranked 56th for maths, 66th for reading, and 52nd for sciences.
Thailand’s reading performance in PISA 2018 was lower than in any previous test. In mathematics and science, performance remained stable.
Thai girls scored higher than boys in mathematics. Across OECD countries, boys outperformed girls by five points. While girls slightly outperformed boys in science on average across OECD countries, in Thailand girls outperformed boys in science by 20 points.
When asked about their desired professions, about one in five boys in Thailand want to work as an engineer or science professional at the age of 30, while one in seven girls want to do so.
In addition, about three in seven high-performing girls expect to work in health-related professions, while one in five high-performing boys expect to do so. Only some 3% of boys and 1% of girls in Thailand expect to work in ICT (information and communications technology) -related professions.
While Thailand underperformed, other Asian school systems -- such as those in China, Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong -- scored highly in the PISA tests.
