Education System in Thailand:

A Comparative Analysis with

Malaysian Education System

NORAZIDA AZNI BT ALZAHARI

DURRANI NADIRA BT HAZLAN
NORSHARIZA BT MOHAMAD @
DERAMAN

1.0 Introduction
The Kingdom of Thailand is situated in the center of Southeast Asia,
bordering Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.
The official national language, spoken by a large majority of the
population, is Thai. Lao, Chinese, Malay and Khmer are also
spoken in Thailand. English, a mandatory subject in secondary
schools, is widely used in commerce and government, particularly in
Bangkok and other major cities.
Buddhism, the national religion of Thailand, is the professed faith of
95 percent of the population. The rest of the population embraces
other religions, such as Islam, Christianity and Hinduism.

Education In Thailand
The education system in Thailand is divided into
three, namely formal education, non-formal
education and informal education system.
For the formal education system consists of
basic education and higher education. It consists
of 12 year free basic education: 6 years of
Prathom (primary education, P1 to P6) and 6
years of Mattayom (secondary education, M1
to M6).

Thailand Education System

(Structure)

2.0 Education System in Thailand

Early Year Education Pre Primary ( Anuban 3- 5 )

Majority of Early Year Education is provided by government primary

schools. Malaysia: Pre-School at SK
The kindergarten or pre-kindergarten study is to prepare children before
they enter elementary school.
In the kindergartens, children will be trained to practice fundamental skills,
particularly manual ones, learn how to live by rules and principles, stay
peacefully with other persons, and talk nicely. Moreover they will be trained
to eat by themselves, know good hygiene, practice manual skills to do
artworks, e.g., painting, drawing, exercising, dancing, singing, including
writing Thai alphabets and figures.
The kindergarten studying takes 3 years. Malaysia: 2 years

Primary School ( Prathom 1- 6)

THAILAND

The primary level takes 6 years of

studying.
The primary school curriculum is
made up of 5 learning experience
groupings as follows:

Tool Subjects.

Life Experiences

Character Development

Work-oriented Experiences

Special Experience

MALAYSIA

The primary level also takes 6 years

of studying.
Curriculum design based on 6 Code :
Communication
Spirituality, Attitude & Values
Humanitarian
Development of Physical &
Aesthetics
Science and Technology
Personal Skills

Primary School ( Prathom 1- 6)

Free basic education

Parents may be asked to contribute towards some costs, and there are
likely to be additional fees for essentials such as school uniforms, books and
meals. Malaysia: PIBG
Some schools however do provide a free lunch and other items such as
school bags.

At the end of Prathom 6, they will sit for government achievement test
Malaysia: UPSR

Time Allotment
The total time is not less than 40 weeks for each
academic year and not less than 25 hours or 75 periods
per week.
The time allotted for each period is 20 minutes. Thus
altogether the learning periods should not be less than
200 days or 1,000 hours. 1500 minutes per week
Malaysia: 1380 minutes per weeks

Grading System
THAILAND

MALAYSIA

Grade

Meaning

Percentage

Meaning

Percentage

Excellent

80-100

80- 100

3.5

Very Good

75-79

60 - 79

Good

70-74

40 - 59

2.5

Quite Well

65-69

20 39

Satisfactory

60-64

01 19

1.5

Fair

55-59

ABSENT

Pass

50-54

Failure

0-49

Secondary School (Matayom 1-6)

Divided into two parts which is lower
secondary education and upper secondary
education.
THAILAND

AGE

MALAYSIA

MATAYOM 1

12

YEAR 6 (Primary School)

MATAYOM 2

13

FORM 1

MATAYOM 3

14

FORM 2

MATAYOM 4

15

FORM 3

MATAYOM 5

16

FORM 4

MATAYOM 6

17

FORM 5

Comparison Malaysia-Thailand
Secondary School Level
COMPARISONS/

MALAYSIA

THAILAND

COUNTRY

Age of

13-17 years old (5

12-17 years old (6

Secondary

years)

years)

13-15 Lower

12-14 Lower

Secondary School

Secondary School

16-17 Upper

15-17 Upper

Secondary School

Secondary School

School
Level

Subject

Lower :

Lower: Thai, English,

BM English, Mathematics,

mathematics, science,

Science, Religious/Moral,
History, Geography, KH

social studies,

Upper :

Buddhism, health

Compulsory:

education, physical

BM, History,

education and art.

Mathematics, English,

Elective:

Religious/Moral, Civics
Elective:

Science-Maths, Art-

Science, Physics,

Maths, and Art-

Biology, Chemistry, Art,

Language

Commerce, Economy,
Account, Literature

Vocational

1.To deliver access,

equity and quality
education to who have
interests, abilities, and
talents. to boost
students' achievement
of this group of early
stage.
2. Will receive the Sijil
Kemahiran Malaysia
(SKM) Tahap Satu and
until Form 5, they will
receive SKM.

1. knowledge

and
skills useful for
working, also
short-course such
as sports, dance,
music
2. After
graduation, they
will receive a
vocational
certificate (Po Wo
Cho) and if 6-year,
receive a high
vocational
diploma (Po Wo
So)).

Academic Year

First week of January First semester

ends : Second week

Registration : First

of May

week of June

Second Semester-

Ends : Second

Registration : June

week of October

Ends : December

Second SemesterRegistration : Last

week of October
Ends : Second

week of March
March

3.0 Teacher Preparation

THAILAND
To assess to basic teacher training program,
must complete the upper secondary
education (Mattayom 6).
An entrance examination is required for all
pre-service teacher education programs.
Since 2005, all teachers must obtain a
teaching license signifying profession
training.

 Who has a bachelors degree in fields

other than education must complete a
one-year post-baccalaureate in teaching
training in obtain a teaching license.

TEACHER TRAINING
Primary and lower secondary school
COURSE - teaching methodology, school
administration, special education, optional
specialization, practical, and the general
subjects of language and communication,
humanities, social science, mathematics, and
technology.

Upper secondary school teachers

The minimum requirement is a four-year
Bachelor of Education degree through
government program
provided either at a teachers training college
or in a university faculty of education.

Foreign Teacher
Foreigners who want to apply for a teaching license
shall have the following qualifications:
1. Be at least 20 years of age
2. Hold a degree in Education or an equivalent or
in other related fields accredited by the Teachers
Council of Thailand
3. Not Possess any of the prohibited
characteristics pursuant to section 44 of the
Teachers and Educational Personnel Council Act
B.E. 2003
4. Possess the professional standards of
knowledge and experience.

MALAYSIA
Basic SPM
KPLSPM after SPM, need to further study
for 5 years and 6 month
KPLI - as a teaching license, 1 year, teach
primary school
DPLI same with KPLI
Open Degree In Education UPSI, UKM
etc.

4.0 Strengths
1.Vocational education level
2.Non-formal education
3.Primary education level

4.0 Weaknessess
1) Equality of Education
2) Quality of Education
3) Education for Ethics Promotion
4)Education for Economic Development

5) Health Education

THANK YOU