Managerial Problems in Early Childhood Development Centres in Thailand

Abstract

Early childhood development centres (ECDC) are vitally important government units responsible for taking care of preschool children age 3-6. However, ECDCs throughout the country are facing the problem in management that affects the development of children. In order to investigate the managerial problems, the researcher collected the data from 3,966 ECDCs nationwide. The four aspects of problem are standards problem, evaluation problem, leadership problem, and caretakers’ problem. The research found that the standards and administration guidelines should be immediately improved. The evaluation process is still flawed and parent reporting is a useful indicator. The leadership is not perfect; the problem is higher in Subdistrict Administrative Organisations (SAO) than in municipalities. The caretakers’ problem can be relieved if there are more caretakers looking after the children. And finally, the level of aggregated managerial problem in ECDCs is strikingly high in the ones in the Northeastern region and the ones with low annual budget.