The government's policy to provide 12 years of free education to children of alien workers and non-citizen ethnic tribal people has cut the number of school dropouts and child labour abuse cases by half, research has found. The study, by the Office of the Education Council, covered 250 children of alien workers studying at 29 schools and non-formal education centres in Samut Sakhon province. The findings were released yesterday.

Nongram Setthapanich, adviser to the council, said the study found the policy on 12-year free education for children of alien workers and tribespeople, in place for almost a year now, has resulted in a 46% decline in the number of school dropouts and child labour abuse cases in this group.

The policy was helping solve social problems and cut national security risks.Another welcome finding was that 47% of children in this group said they were determined to pursue tertiary studies.The study also found the children paid more attention to classroom learning and performed better than Thai children. Most received an average grade point of 3.01.Mrs Nongram said most alien children who received education through the formal system, held a positive attitude toward Thailand and absorbed Thai culture.

The study also found that 62.5% of them could speak, write and understand the Thai language, while those being educated in the non-formal system fared poorly in Thai-language skills.She urged the government to follow up its 12-year free education policy for this particular group. Nearly half the schools which were providing free education for alien children had not yet received state subsidies.Some schools had no idea about how to seek the subsidies, she said.The study also found that some school executives held negative attitudes toward children without nationality and children of alien workers.

Mrs Nongram said the government should do something to make those executives change their attitude.Panadda Boonpala, a senior child labour specialist at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said providing basic education to children of any nation would help solve child labour abuse problems.In Latin American countries, this measure had reduced child labour abuse cases. However, the problem had been ignored in Asian and African countries, she said, which resulted in high numbers of school dropouts.In Thailand, high levels of investment in education for Thai children aged below 15 had helped reduce the number of child labourers.However, some children of immigrant workers and those without nationality ended up in the child labour force.