Thai students score poor marks for maths and science

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 (TIMSS-2007) assessed students in 59 countries, including Thailand.

Some 5,412 Grade-8 students from 150 Thais schools were involved in the assessment.

Thai students scored just 441 points in mathematics and 471 points in science on average, in tests in which world-class scores were 500 for both subjects.

"The results are not satisfactory. Thai children's performance is lower than the previous assessment," Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST) deputy director Pornpan Vitayangkorn said at a press conference on the TIMSS-2007 findingsyesterday.

Thai children were ranked in 29th place for maths, while students from Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan were among the top 10.

In science, Thai students were ranked 21st. In the top 10 were students from Singapore, Taipei, Japan, South Korea and Japan.

IPST assistant director Dr Precharn Dechsri said his agency would try to boost Thai children's science and maths achievements.

"We hope Thai students' average scores will be above the world-class benchmark within 10 years," he said.

Pornpan personally believed the country's shortage of teachers had taken a toll on Thai children's performance.

"Many good teachers took part in the early-retirement programme," she pointed out.

Pornpan said the findings from TIMSS-2007 would count when relevant officials drew up a plan to improve how maths and science is taught at Thai schools.

According to TIMSS-2007, Thai students from demonstration schools outperformed ordinary Thai students.

The demonstration schools are supervised by the Higher Education Commission.

Many other authorities run other schools. These include the Basic Education Commission, Office of Private Education, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and local administrative organisations.