PROMOTING THE EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT SUCCESS OF NON-FORMAL AND INFORMAL EDUCATION PROVISION IN THAILAND

Abstract

Promoting the educational management success of non-formal and informal education provision in Thailand is an alternative for adult learners and those who fail to receive education in the formal education system and expect to get an equal chance to receive education. The Office of Non-Formal and Informal Education has used this point as a major goal to mobilize the development consistently in order to support lifelong learning for learners that leads to gaining quality employment thoroughly and equally, which is the upgrading of educational level, learning and problem solving competencies, career development, and life and social quality development. The implementation is applied with all educational institutions under the Office of Non-Formal and Informal Education including 877 district non-formal and informal education centers (NFE District) and 50 district non-formal and informal education centers in Bangkok metropolitan area. As for the operation at the instructional or classroom level, the 8,672 sub-district non-formal and informal education centers perform as the learning centers at the sub-district level. They perform the functions of providing non-formal education, promoting, supporting and coordinating with partnership networks in provision of education with the use of participatory management so that all sectors of society and people have a participatory role in educational management. From documentary study and in-depth interviews, it was found that the factors affecting the educational management success of non-formal and informal education should comprise six factors at the educational institution level: (1) the potential to implement the policy, (2) the management process, (3) leadership of the administrators, (4) cooperation in the workplace, (5) effectiveness of curriculum management, and (6) the assessment of educational quality of the institution; nine factors at the instructional level: (1) the efficiency of instructional management, (2) the promotion of opportunity for lifelong learning, (3) the teacher’s expectations for learners, (4) the assessment and monitoring of learners, (5) teaching ability of the teachers, (6) characteristics of the teachers, (7) instructional media, (8) empowerment, and (9)the learning facilitating climate; and five factors at the learner level: (1) knowledge background of the learners, (2) motivation of the learners, (3) responsibility of the learners, (4) readiness of the learners, and (5) learning skills of the learners.