School assessment in Thailand: roles and achievement of ONESQA

The 1999 National Education Act emphasizes the importance of quality assurance and national education standards. The main principle of educational provision of high standard lies in recognition of the importance of assessment for enhancing educational quality and raising the standard. Such recognition has led to establishment in Thailand of the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA). The office is an independent body set up to develop the criteria, methods for external assessment and assessment of educational institutions at each level of education as stipulated in the national education law. The ONESQA became operational in November 2000 and it must appraise every school at least once every 5-year cycle. In this paper, the unique and the roles of the ONESQA will be described. The achievement of the ONESQA concerning the first round assessment of 35,134 schools at the basic education level will be reported and recommendations for quality improvements and lessons learned for the second round assessment will be explored.