Early Childhood Education in Thailand

Thailand has a long history of concern both for the development and well-being of young children and for the provision of early childhood care and education (ECCE). As a result, there has been remarkable progress in expanding its ECCE services based on an increase in both demand and supply in recent years. Many strategies in support of ECCE have been implemented at lower levels of the system; systematic attempts to advocate for the importance of early childhood development and enhance the visibility and public awareness of ECCE services have been implemented, and strategies to overcome cultural and contextual constraints have also been designed. Despite these achievements, many challenges remain in further promoting access to, and the quality of, ECCE. These include a lack of understanding of the importance of comprehensive, multisectoral, and integrated approaches to achieving holistic child development outcomes; limitations in the conditions of work of the ECCE workforce (e.g., training, remuneration, and qualifications); the persistence of disparities in ECCE provision, with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children continuing to face exclusion; a quality assessment mechanism which implicitly stresses the largely quantitative indicators and the review of documents rather than an assessment of child outcomes; and the lack of attention given to establishing a seamless transition – in pedagogy, school climate, and curriculum content – across ECCE programs and across age groups, including into primary school. The COVID-19 pandemic has only blunted some of the past achievements in ECCE in Thailand and introduced new challenges for the future.