Experts call for plan to help pupils published : 29 Jan 2021 at 09:33 8 Teachers spray a disinfectant agent inside a classroom at Ban Bang Kapi School in Bangkok on Thursday ahead of the re-opening of 437 schools under the supervision of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration next week. Photo by SOMCHAI POOMLARD Urgent measures are needed to help students in provinces under maximum Covid-19 controls catch up on their studies, academics say. Sompong Jitradub, a lecturer with Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Education, urged the government to come up with a plan to help these students. "Since the Covid-19 outbreak, schools in Thailand have been forced to stop providing in-person education for about 90 days, or about 40%, of the academic year. As a result, the quality of education for many students has deteriorated," he said.