The Guidelines for Developing a Student Support System to Address the Challenges of Stateless Students in Special Educational Zones of Tak Province

บทคัดย่อ

This study aimed to (1) examine the problems and challenges faced by stateless students in schools located in special educational zones of Tak Province and (2) develop practical guidelines for strengthening a student support system to address those challenges. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was applied to ensure comprehensive analysis and actionable outcomes. In Phase 1, quantitative data were collected from a representative sample of 136 primary schools selected from 231 special-zone schools. Three key informants from each school an administrator or deputy administrator, a teacher responsible for the student support system, and a homeroom teacher participated, yielding 693 respondents. A structured questionnaire was used to measure perceived challenges across multiple dimensions, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. Phase 2 consisted of semi-structured interviews with nine expert practitioners who had direct experience supporting stateless or marginalized learners in border-area schools. Qualitative findings were analyzed thematically and integrated with quantitative results to clarify underlying causes and implementation constraints. Results indicated that stateless students faced a high overall level of challenges, particularly in relation to remote residence and travel hardship, delayed enrollment and dropout risk, limited opportunities for progression to higher education, inadequate access to basic learning resources, and insufficient parental support driven by economic pressures. Based on integrated findings, the study generated eight guidelines for strengthening student support systems: enhancing awareness and capacity building, promoting collaborative community engagement, implementing targeted supplementary programs for language development and remediation, fostering inclusive school culture, improving comprehensive record-keeping, strengthening continuous professional development, establishing systematic referral procedures, and formalizing external partnerships. Collectively, these recommendations support coordinated, multi-level interventions to improve educational equity and continuity for stateless students in special educational zones.