The Ministry of Education plans to suggest that UNESCO adds the Thai tradition of showing respect to teachers, called the “Wai Khru” ceremony, to the intangible cultural heritage list.
Permpoon Chidchob, the Education Minister, announced today that it will take about six months for the ministry to sort out all the details to support the proposal before submitting it to UNESCO.
The “Wai Khru” ceremony has been a long-standing tradition in Thailand for students to express their thanks and admiration for their teachers. It takes place yearly on the second Thursday of June, which marks the start of the first semester of the academic year.
The minister also mentioned his efforts to enhance the performance of Thai students in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and he is confident that Thai students will perform much better next year.
The minister stated that two factors contributing to Thai students’ poor performance in PISA tests are their lack of test-taking skills and the limitations of several schools in preparing the students for the tests.
