The State of Thailand's Educational System and Its Effects on Students’ Mental Health
Written by Chindanai Pornsing | Edited by David Bang, Wasinee Siriboonlamom (Dow) | Designed by Nada Rodanant (Neat)
The future of any nation is its students. The next generation of students are the people who will soon be our country’s doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, and politicians. It is therefore of the utmost importance that we ensure that every mechanism is in place to support their mental and physical health. Our future is based upon the wellbeing of our students. The future of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship rests upon the fact that there will be young people with the knowledge and will to take up the mantle of innovation. But is our current educational system hindering this?
Reports suggest that suicide rates among students in Thailand are rising at a shocking rate. The Department of Mental Health said, “Thailand’s young people now have an increased risk of depression and suicide.” Of the 40,635 calls made to the Department’s hotline, a whopping 13,658 were from individuals aged between 11 and 25 years old.
The suicide rate of vulnerable individuals, such as students under copious amounts of stress, has only continued to rise. This is detrimental to the nation as a whole because we need our students to be happy, fulfilled, and ready to take on the problems that they will inevitably face. Our system needs to change in order to give them the support they need to keep mental and physical health in a healthy state.
Perhaps it is time to ask ourselves if this is a systemic problem. Is the deteriorating mental health of students a result of the current system’s weaknesses? Are today’s students being put under too much pressure by teachers and parents? Is it possible to change our system to better support our students? To find out, we first need to objectively analyze our current system and pinpoint any inherent strengths and weaknesses.
The current educational system is wholly focused on the rote memorization of facts. Studying and memorizing content, often without context, forms the basis of education in Thailand. Students are fed knowledge and must spew them out in regular tests to form a grade that is given to each individual.
Their worth as a student is then judged by this arbitrary grade, without taking into account factors beyond the students’ control. Low grades can lead to increased levels of stress. Combine this with pressure from parents and society to get good grades, and you’re left with a recipe for the proliferation of unstable mental health amongst our brightest students.
According to the Department of Mental Health, “Stress and anxiety may affect a student’s ability to concentrate and perform well at school, and they may show several warning signs, such as lack of attention, loss of interest in daily activities, lethargy, sadness, and sleeping issues.”
Conditions such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and eating disorders can all arise as a result of unmanaged stress. Mental conditions such as these can compound on themselves by isolating the victim from the outside world and further worsening the problem.
An extreme example of the deteriorating mental health of students was when 12 university students took their own lives in the span of only 4 months.
It is arguable that the current system contributes at least partially to mental health issues by putting an immense amount of pressure on students to achieve perfect grades and to complete an absurd number of tasks in an unreasonable amount of time.
This problem is exacerbated by the fact that awareness about mental health issues in Thai society is simply lacking. Most people consider the topic of mental health taboo and usually avoid talking about it. This isn’t the best way to solve the problem. Ignoring a problem won’t solve it. What will, however, is open, healthy discussion about the issue. Making sure that students undergoing difficult periods in their life know that they aren’t alone and that there are people ready to support them.
So what can we do to support our students and make sure they stay happy and healthy? First, we must consider the root cause of the problem to begin solving it.
Our current system, educational and societal as a whole, is a product of the values and culture of the people that made it. The generation responsible for our current system valued respect, tradition, and deference.
Thailand’s past is full of veneration and respect towards elders, which is an important part of our culture. This, however, may be detrimental to students when applied incorrectly to the educational system. Students in the 21st century should have the right and the duty to argue and discuss topics with teachers in order to foster an environment that promotes thoughtful and productive discussions.
In reality, teachers’ words are often regarded as the only truth, and dissidents are often silenced. Students’ inability to argue points when they disagree with teachers may lead to an internal build-up of resentment and anger towards the system. Perhaps integrating an environment that encourages discussion with healthy respect towards teachers is the direction that is best suited for Thailand.
Our system has served us well for many generations. But this generation is one in which change and innovation continues to happen at a rapid pace. It is extremely important for our students to have sound minds in order to be able to keep up with the immense changes happening in our society. It is time we modernize this education system to accept new ideas and develop a new ethos of learning.
Sources:
https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thai-attempted-suicide-rates-are-on-the-increase
https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thailand-leads-asean-nations-in-annual-suicide-rate
https://prachatai.com/english/node/8100
https://www.bbc.com/thai/thailand-47944055
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stress
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/symptoms-causes/syc-20374968