1. EDUCATING THE UNREACHED
SELECTED CASES IN THAILAND
Dr. Prapatpong Senarith

2. SELECTED CASES Education for the disabled
Education for the disadvantaged
Opportunity for street children
Reaching out for the stateless children
Education for the migrants

3. LEGAL MANDATES
National Education Act 1999 mandates “equal rights and opportunities for all to receive quality basic education free of charge.”
UNESCO’s Education for All Commitment
UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989.

4. EDUCATION FOR THE DISABLED
Enacted the Promotion of Education for People with Disabilities Act 2008
The disabled have right to education free of charge since birth or first detection of disabilities
Choose school and type of services of their choice
Promotion of inclusive education
Encourage development of individualized education plans (IEP) for the disabled
Promote research in education for the disabled
Set up permanent Committee—chaired by MOE’s Minister
Set up promoting funds

5. EXPANSION/REVISION OF EXISTING PROGRAMS
To cover more target groups
To improve relevancy and efficiency
Examples:
Inclusive education
Incentive for teachers
Program management templates/guidelines
Etc.

6. EDUCATION FOR DISADVANTAGES
COVERAGE
Abandoned and Neglected
Physically or Sexually Abused
Learning Deficiencies
Socially Deprived
HIV/AIDS Affected
NATIONAL POLICY: Disadvantaged children are entitled to equitable/universal access to education through a variety of suitable models
STRATEGIES: Flexible, Innovative, IEP, Capacity building

7. EDUCATION FOR STREET CHILDREN
Mercy School System—NGO
Objectives
Educate illiterate street children/love of learning; support bright poor children to higher levels of education
Curriculum/Activities
Individualized instruction, English-based, accelerated
Enrollment
-- Ages 10-17: currently 17 students
-- Exceptionally bright and motivated poor children,
currently enrolled in secondary schools who have
potential to excel at university level: currently 5 students

8. STATELESS CHILDREN
Stateless normally includes those living along border, ethnic minorities, asylum seekers, illegal migrants, foreign workers, but no official identification of nationality
No complete and accurate data available
In 2006 there were 44,590 registered students, and 26,949 (60%) received ID Cards
Many government agencies, NGOs, private sector involved

9. GUIDELENES FOR EDUCATION
National policy approved by the Cabinet in 2005 to provide equal opportunity to get access to education for stateless children
MOE announced related Ministerial rules in 2005
In 2007, MOE has developed guidelines for schools in providing education for the stateless
There are, at least, 12 government agencies and NGOs involve

10. EDUCATION FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN
Government policy
Encourage school, community, NGOs
Mode of provision
Schools
Community learning centers
NGOs and private provision
Some research findings
Key factors: Thai nationality policy, community, educational policy, teacher motivation and attitude