In a nationwide effort to reimagine education through the lens of morality and sustainability, key stakeholders came together to share transformative practices shaping the future of Thai schools. In March 2025, the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) Thailand, in collaboration with the Teachers’ Council of Thailand and the Society of Young Social Innovators (SYSI), hosted the “Inspiring Moral Symposium: From Inspiration to Transformation,” an academic forum rooted in the ethos of the “Homegrown Teacher” initiative. Centered on the “4 + 6” model for advancing moral education, the symposium brought together 30 pilot schools from across the country to exchange insights and strategies for embedding ethical values into school culture, leadership, and learning. The event aimed to promote sustainable school development and foster moral integrity among students, teachers, school leaders, and communities, attuned to the demands of a rapidly changing era.
“Teachers are like second parents to their students. It’s not just about teaching the curriculum; they need to nurture every aspect of a child’s growth,” shared Dr. Siripong Angkasakulkiat, Assistant Minister of Education, as he opened the symposium. He emphasized the MOE’s efforts to foster a positive attitude among teachers by easing administrative burdens and promoting more creative, student-focused instruction. This includes updating evaluation standards, adjusting salaries for teachers in remote areas, and offering extra allowances to lift morale. “This conversation is a chance to reflect on what’s working, share ideas, and create a model for other teachers to follow.” Angkasakulkiat advocates a systemic reform that shifts from rigid content delivery to holistic, student-centered learning, aligning policy support with pedagogical freedom to foster joyful, inclusive, and morally grounded education.
Building on this vision, Dr. Kraiyos Patrawart, the EEF’s Managing Director, turned the focus from policy to people. “The EEF’s goal is to enhance teacher quality and reduce educational disparities. Over the past six years, we’ve cultivated Homegrown Teachers, with 327 now deployed in 285 schools nationwide. By partnering with the Teachers Council and SYSI, we’re fostering ethical development through the participatory ‘4+6’ model. If successful in 30 pilot schools, we’ll expand this initiative, creating a lasting impact on education and communities.” The managing director, drawing on his experience in developing educators in underserved areas, emphasized that true transformation blends professional competence with ethical grounding, as seen in the EEF’s Homegrown Teacher initiative and its adaptive, locally rooted 4+6 model.
Echoing this emphasis on ethics, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Montri Yaemkasikorn, advisor to the Secretariat Office of the Teachers Council of Thailand, spoke to the role of values in professional teaching. “Teachers must be more than transmitters of knowledge; they must embody the values they wish to impart. The Teachers’ Council of Thailand has consistently advanced policies promoting ethics and professional conduct, encouraging schools to see teachers as role models for students, peers, and society.” Yaemkasikorn underscores ethical practice as the cornerstone of professional learning, advocating Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as spaces where educators collaboratively refine their craft, embody values-based professionalism, and uplift the educational ecosystem.
“If students are only in school for 17% of the year—just 40 hours a week across two semesters—we can’t expect schools alone to transform them; we must turn the other 83% of their lives into learning spaces, ones that connect homes, communities, and hearts,” stated Dr. Krissanapong Kirtikara, advisor to the EEF Executive Board. His insight reframed education through a sociological lens, arguing that learning must be seen not as the sole responsibility of schools, but as a collective, community-wide undertaking. Kirtikara emphasized that educational transformation begins by restoring schools as trusted institutions rooted in local knowledge, with the Homegrown Teacher reconnecting them to community histories, strengths, and everyday relevance.
The “Inspiring Moral Symposium: From Inspiration to Transformation” spotlighted homegrown teachers as central to Thailand’s education reform, rooted in morality, sustainability, and equity. These teachers, often from remote and ethnolinguistic minority communities, embody local culture and collective identity, essential to the reform’s success. Through the lens of the ‘4+6’ model of moral education, the symposium highlighted how these teachers, committed to values-based professionalism, create student-centred, joyful learning environments while addressing systemic challenges.
At the core of this movement is the Equitable Education Fund’s (EEF) EEF’s Homegrown Teacher initiative, providing scholarships, culturally responsive training, and guaranteed teaching placements in home regions. In 2024 alone, 327 graduates were placed in remote schools across 44 provinces, with a goal to expand to over 1,200 schools nationwide. By grounding education in local knowledge and lived experience, the initiative re-establishes trust in schools as community institutions and offers a scalable, sustainable model for moral, inclusive, community-anchored education. Recently endorsed by UNESCO for its contribution to linguistic equity through mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE), the initiative also builds capacity in Thai as a Second Language, ensuring that future educators are well-prepared to serve diverse classrooms.
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