Secretary-General Dr Chaiyapruek Serirak said his office would collect and compile data about children who had followed their immigrant parents to work in Thailand.
“We need to carry out a survey because a lot of migrants have moved to Thailand and we don’t have clear figures. We need the figures so that all migrant children can receive a quality education,” Chaiyapruek said.
“They are all children of the world and need to receive an education in accordance with the convention on children’s rights that says all children in Thailand shall receive the same education rights as Thais.”
Chaiyapruek said the survey would be part of the government’s mission to collect information about migrant workers in ten border provinces that had the potential to be gateways to trade.
He said he had recently visited Mae Sot district in Tak and found two groups of non-Thai children studying in both public and private schools.
The first group were stateless children living in Thailand; the second were Myanmar children who crossed the Moei River to study and returned home every day.
He said he also found that a lot of migrant children had not been enrolled in the schools.
Chiayapruek said the Education Ministry had a policy to provide free education for foreign children both living in the country and crossing the border to study.
He said the policy would benefit the children and their families and Thailand in the long run because the kingdom would eventually get a quality workforce.
Source: The Nation
Date: 26 February 2018