Creating Educational Opportunities for Children with Special Needs: Inclusive Education in Thailand Samart Ratanasakorn Ph.D. Bureau of Special Education Office of Basic Education Commission Ministry of Education Thailand Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand What do we have today? ⌂ Legislative & Policy ⌂ Educational Services for SEN in Thailand ⌂ Inclusive Education in Thailand ⌂ Challenges & The Next Step of Inclusive Ed. ⌂ Q & A

LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK “A person shall enjoy an equal right to receive education for the duration of not less than twelve years which shall be provided by the State thoroughly, up to the quality, and without charge.” ”The …disabled … shall be accorded the right under paragraph one and entitled to such support from the State as to enable them to receive education comparable to that received by other persons …” “A person shall enjoy an equal right to receive education for the duration of not less than twelve years which shall be provided by the State thoroughly, up to the quality, and without charge.” ”The …disabled … shall be accorded the right under paragraph one and entitled to such support from the State as to enable them to receive education comparable to that received by other persons …” THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ACT B.E (Amendment B.E. 2002) CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND 2007 THE EDUCATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES ACT 2008 All Individual have equal rights and opportunities to free, quality basic education The Acts are considered not only to be a civil rights law which aims to protect the rights of persons with disabilities to education but also embedded ‘Inclusive Education’ for diverse students in public schools Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

THE OFFICE OF THE BASIC EDUCATION COMMISSION: OBEC ALL CHILDREN MUST HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO FULFIL THEIR RIGHTS TO QUALITY EDUCATION Right to Ed. for All: Free Ed. 15 Years Typical Children (Boy & Girls ) Children with Disabilities Disadvantaged Children: Poverty, Marginalized, Ethnic Minorities, HIV Non-Thai Children etc. Goal 1,2 & 6: Provide an early intervention and free quality primary e ducation for all Educational Institution: 'School' Flexible, Safe, Friendly and Enhanced Learning Environment Teacher (Knowledge/Skills/ Attitude/ICT) Student (Literacy,Numeracy,Thinking, ICT, DL & Employability Skills) Good Quality Education Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

Who are Children with Special Education Needs? CWDs 141,784 (age 0-21) Visual Impairment Hearing Impaired Physical and Health Impairment Intellectual Impairment Autism Specific Learning Disability Speech and Language Impairment Emotional Impairment Multiple Disabilities DACs > 5 M. Age 0-18 (4,892,063 in School) Ethnic Minority Street Children HIV/AIDPoverty Needing to work Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes Drug- Addicted Children Orphan Children as Victims of Violence Judged to be troubled children Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

Drop-Out 2014 (8,814), 2013 (12,165), 2012 (32,799) Drop-Out 2014 (8,814), 2013 (12,165), 2012 (32,799) Live far from school Resource : Human; Knowledge Skills & Attitude Finance &Techno. Resource : Human; Knowledge Skills & Attitude Finance &Techno. Child labor (189,633) Human Trafficking (25,000 ) Child labor (189,633) Human Trafficking (25,000 ) Health Problem less access to health care services Prevention & support System? Teen Mom (113,027) Age < 20 Teen Mom (113,027) Age < 20 Inaccessible to any form of Ed. (243,883) (2015) Inaccessible to any form of Ed. (243,883) (2015) Lack of accommodation & teaching strategies Age 0-20 Years ( M.) (15’) Age 0-20 Years ( M.) (15’) Child Poverty (4,585,207) < ฿ 40,000:Years Stateless Child (300,000) (2014’) OOSC ≥ 0.1 M. Disabled (141,784) (SLD 311,713) Tramp/Street Child (30,000) Child Maltreatment (39,400) Child Maltreatment (39,400) Chronic Disease / HIV (> 50,000) Political Conflict (5,000) Drug- Addicted Child (77,588) Drug- Addicted Child (77,588) Young Criminal (34,276) Age Out of School Children Analysis in Thailand : Who? Where? Why? Migrant Labor’s Child (250,000) Orphan (88,730) 14,563 in Ed. Remote Area Children (160,000) The problems in the educational system Samart Ratanasakorn, Ph.D. Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

Mild-- Degree of Disability – Severe Educational Services for SEN in Thailand Mainstream Education: Special Education School: 65 Special Ed. Schools: 47 State Schs. 13,266 Stds. 18 Private Schs. 1,777 studs. 77 Special Education Centers Throughout the Country; Birth to Lifetime (Early Intervention, Inclusive Education Support Services, Hospital and Home-based Programs, Informal Ed. & CBR) 0-3 Pre-Primary Elementary Lower secondary Upper Secondary 3 (6) (3) ( 3 ) ( Nine-year compulsory education) Regular Classes with Special Support Services in Resource Rooms (383,196 student with special needs) in 23,877 schools Special Classes for Autism: 197 Classes within 167 Schools. (1,384 students) (4,892,063 Disadvantage Children in mainstream Ed., 2015) (51 Boarding schools for 36,897 Disadvantaged Children) Less Inclusion Partially Inclusion Most Inclusion Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

Creating Educational Opportunities for SEN To Meet All Needs: Learning and Improving Quality of Life for SEN Pararell Classroom for Autism Boarding Schools (CwDs & DACs) Accelerate Education (Informal Ed.) Age > 17 Home within School (Transition Programss) Inclusive Education Hospital Based Education Program Children with health condition Paahsai School Judged to be troubled children TVET program in Special School (Transition Programs) Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

Inclusive Education *** articles/scoop/259 Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION BACKGROUND (UNESCO, 2007) Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

The Aims of Thailand Inclusive Education Access, Participate & Progress in… School Curriculum/ National Cur. Expanded Core Cur. Activities Non-Academic Activities Least Restrictive Environment Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

The number of students with disabilities in the inclusive education settings Student EFA Goals 8,67033,33069, ,365168, ,783211,891242,417242,554238, ,182383,196 School ,000 2,700 5,000 3,770 15,530 16,910 17,932 18,352 18,467 19,07223, , pioneer of VI integrated into the mainstream school. Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand Including 4,892,063 Disadvantage children (2015) Visual Impairment Hearing Impairment Intellectual Disability Physical impairment Specific Learning Disability Speech and Language Impairment Emotional Impairment Autistic Multiple Disabilities Total GMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMFMF No. 1,5561, ,4818,7065,5073,983237,57578,6832,2211,0674, ,3781,3538,1493,906383,196 There are 41,xxx migrant schildren with disabilities are in IE programs

…not about trying to change the learner so that he/she can fit more conveniently into an unchanged education system …about changing the education system so that it is flexible enough to accommodate any learner What we have Learned… Inclusive Ed. Is… Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand (***EENET, 1998)

Challenges: Teacher Teacher Lack of experience in an inclusive setting Lack of experience dealing with severe and profound disabilities Including all students in all activities. Shortage of teacher aides Teaching compassion (pity) to students. Dealing with parents Coordinating therapies. Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailand

SEN Typical Children Next Step: Identifying & Removing Barriers to Change… Bureau of Special Education, Office of Basic Education Commission, MOE Thailan d Education System Innovation/Flexible Barriers: Attitude & Knowledg e Transition to Education Knowledge Collaboration; SSS, SENCO Attitude Education System: True Inclusive Education/Society Transition to Education Out of School Children Barrier Free (Law Enforcement) Physical Barriers Cur. & Instruction Policy Implementation! = Cw/SEN = Typical Child Drop out Lack of support system Full of support system for All

THE END Full inclusion for everyone, as policy, would require overhauling the entire structure, designing it to accommodate everyone from the beginning – not just pushing the child in the wheelchair into a classroom environment that hasn’t hope of retro-fitting itself, socially, programmatically or physically. Until then, individualized placement in self-contained classes or modified programming makes the most sense. Jeenifer,2012