Psychosocial impact on public school enrollment in armed conflict of southern Thailand

Abstract

Public schools in southern Thailand have witnessed a sharp decline in school enrollment and have struggled to remain open due to an ongoing separatist insurgency since 2004. The purpose of this sequential exploratory mixed methods research is to examine the current situation and the psychosocial factors impacting public school enrollment in southern Thailand. This collective case study took place in seven school sites in the complex socio-cultural context amid armed conflict. The qualitative design was integrated into a questionnaire survey with three hundred pupils to further explore a hypothesis model with larger samples. The quantitative analysis supported the causal relationships between family background, educational management, social support, resilience, and public school enrollment. This paper offers some policy recommendations to promote public school enrollment in southern Thailand.