On September 30, 2025, Dr. Kraiyos Patrawart, Managing Director of the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) Thailand, joined a high-level strategic debate on “Reducing the Teacher Gap and Planning for Equitable Teaching” at the 2025 IIEP Strategic Debates convened by UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). A global authority shaping national and international educational policies, IIEP gathered distinguished experts, including Gregory Elacqua, Education Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Hellen Inyega, Foundational Learning Specialist from the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA); Dhir Jhingran, Director of the Language and Learning Foundation (LLF); and Barbara Tournier from UNESCO’s IIEP. The session was moderated by Martín Benavides, director of IIEP-UNESCO.
The debate centered on addressing both the quantity and quality gaps in the global teacher workforce. These challenges, in turn, framed the discussion on how educational systems can be designed to reduce inequalities and strengthen the teaching profession worldwide. Within this forum, Dr. Kraiyos Patrawart highlighted Thailand’s determination to tackle chronic teacher shortages in remote areas, presenting opportunities arising from over a decade of integrated planning with universities and partner institutions. By aligning teacher preparation with local community needs, Thailand seeks to ensure that qualified educators are available where they are most urgently required.
The EEF’s commitment has already translated into action through university partnerships, funding programs, and scholarships to prepare young teachers who, in turn, return to their home communities to teach the next generation. Central to this approach is “Homegrown Teacher”—a national initiative designed to address teacher shortages in remote schools, elevate instructional quality, and reduce systemic inequities. Across Thailand’s 28,000 schools, 1,183 are small, isolated institutions located on islands, in mountains, or far from urban centers.
Children in such schools consistently score lowest on both international assessments like PISA and Thailand’s own standardized tests. The root cause is stark: fewer than one teacher per classroom, a shortage that has reached crisis proportions. Dr. Kraiyos Patrawart stressed, “When we speak of the teacher shortage, most of the affected schools are located in remote areas, in border regions, or in places facing security risks. Very often, these schools also grapple with language barriers. They need education that embraces local dialects, and they need access to stronger infrastructure and better resources. Teachers who return to serve their home communities speak the local languages, and they know their own histories. That is why this approach is the best way to ensure that schools not only gain more teachers, but also secure genuine participation from the community.”
The Homegrown Teacher initiative is designed as a long-term reform to transform community-based education and break the cycle of generational poverty. Today, many children from families living on less than two dollars—or 65 Thai Baht—a day face exclusion from the educational system. Yet those who persist through schooling, join the program, and become teachers themselves, not only escape poverty but also uplift their communities. Over the past five years, the EEF has granted more than 1,500 scholarships under this initiative. Phase two, beginning in the next five years, will expand to include primary schools, special education institutions, and non-formal learning centers. Its success rests on five key pillars:
The Homegrown Teacher initiative stands as a model of integrated collaboration—uniting public, private, local, and civil society sectors. It demonstrates how collective effort can reduce educational disparities and cultivate teachers who truly understand and belong to their communities. For Dr. Kraiyos Patrawart, the most vital lesson is clear: the ability to anticipate how many teachers small, remote schools will require a decade from now—and to nurture a generation of educators ready to meet that demand through sustained university partnerships—is essential to transforming Thailand’s education landscape.
