October 25, 20187 yr Cabinet pushes through three new bills on education By The Nayion File photo: Science and Technology Minister Suvit Maesincee THREE MAJOR education bills have recently sailed through the Cabinet, raising the possibility of big changes to the country’s education sector. Among the imminent changes is the establishment of a new Higher Education, Research and Development Ministry, a ban on entrance exams for young children and greater flexibility for state-school executives. Science and Technology Minister Suvit Maesincee said yesterday that he expected the new ministry to be set up before the end of this year once the bill, which was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday, is legislated. The new ministry will be comprised of four existing agencies, namely the Science and Technology Ministry, Office of Higher Education Commission, the National Research Council of Thailand and the Thailand Research Fund. “This is a concrete move for reforming the bureaucratic system,” Suvit said. According to him, the new ministry will support the improvement of higher education institutes’ academic capabilities, make the spending of research budgets more efficient and promote the development of technology and innovations. The new ministry will also provide support for the government’s Thailand 4.0 policy. A “super board” chaired by the prime minister will oversee the new ministry and provide policies and directions for higher education, research and development as well as innovation policies. It will also help prepare Thai human resources for the 21st century, he said. “Once this new ministry is established, the annual budget for R&D – Bt120 billion to Bt130 billion – will be used more efficiently in line with the country’s reforms and technology development plans,” the minister explained. The two other education bills that sailed through the Cabinet earlier this week were Early Childhood Development Bill and National Education Bill. Dr Daranee Uthairatanakit, vice president of the Independent Committee for Education Reform, said the Early Childhood Development Bill sought to ban entrance exams for enrolling in kindergarten and primary school. “If any school makes children sit for entrance exams, it will be fined Bt500,000,” she said. In response to criticism that the proposed fine was too hefty, Daranee said the bill could still be adjusted while being reviewed by the Council of State or the National Legislative Assembly. As for the National Education Bill, Daranee described it as a key draft legislation for education reform. She said the bill will promote lifelong learning, create educational systems that will serve people at every stage of their life and respond to their needs. She added that once this law is introduced, a fund will be established to upgrade the quality of teachers and teacher-training institutes. According to Daranee, the bill also aims at giving greater autonomy to state schools so they can operate more independently. When school executives enjoy greater management flexibility, their school operations can be expected to respond better in the local context. “The bill, when enforced, will also require that the country draw up a comprehensive national education plan that relevant authorities can comply with,” she added. Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30357187 -- © Copyright The Nation 2018-10-26
October 25, 20187 yr Popular Post "...This is a concrete move for reforming the bureaucratic system,” Suvit said..." The concrete move utilizing concrete would be to wrap senior MoE officials in it and toss them into the sea; if the same people that created the current monstrosity (and their acolytes) are still there in power, this is a waste of time. "...According to him, the new ministry will support the improvement of higher education institutes’ academic capabilities, make the spending of research budgets more efficient and promote the development of technology and innovations. The new ministry will also provide support for the government’s Thailand 4.0 policy. A “super board” chaired by the prime minister will oversee the new ministry and provide policies and directions for higher education, research and development as well as innovation policies. It will also help prepare Thai human resources for the 21st century, he said..." More Bureaucracy. The involvement of the PM. A 'Super Board'. This is going in exactly the wrong direction; another layer of bureaucracy, the involvement of the PM and elevated involvement by bureaucrats is the wrong way to go. The MoE needs more autonomy at the local level and drastically less bureaucracy to the top. "...if any school makes children sit for entrance exams, it will be fined Bt500,000,” she said..." This is actually a good thing; making elementary school and/or kindergarten kids write an entrance exam is just daft. However, they couldn't resist the bureaucratic nonsense, could they? A fine of 500,000 Baht is yet another case of HUGE fines and likely wriggle room on the criteria to be used at whim by some 'Inspector' who wants a few more bucks. "...the bill also aims at giving greater autonomy to state schools so they can operate more independently..." This is the best thing in the article, but I do not see much information on the implementation, so I doubt that the bureaucrats will actually allow it. Pity, a large dollop of autonomy at the local level would likely see a rapid increase of quality. Overall, the main problem remains; the Ministry of Education is a huge, bloated blob of Bureaucracy. What is required is a massive clearing out of the top level people and their acolytes, followed by an examination from top to bottom on ALL ministry actions and orders. I ain't holding my breath. I have said it before and (sadly) will say it again; the Ministry of Education is the single greatest strategic threat to the Kingdom, its future sovereignty and its future prosperity. Reform or die.
October 25, 20187 yr Whatta sad state. They rather miss the picture as to what might be truly significant and what isn't.
October 25, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, webfact said: If any school makes children sit for entrance exams, it will be fined Bt500,000,” she said No, problem. They want to make money? I can provide them with a few.
October 26, 20187 yr Popular Post 2 hours ago, webfact said: A “super board” chaired by the prime minister will oversee the new ministry So that's the new ministry pretty well screwed, just like the rest of Thailand's education that superman Prayuth-erman and his 'general'ly poor politicians promised to improve, way back in 2015. They said something about fighting corruption, too, but let's not spoil the weekend by getting into that forgotten promise.
October 26, 20187 yr Popular Post Ah they have not done away with the No fail policy so they will make it easier for idiots to continue on to HIGHER Education , which is an oxymoron as many of these students have not passed a single exam , properly on purely educational knowledge !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 26, 20187 yr That is a HUGE number of brown envelopes that will be missed if they stop the entrance exams.
October 26, 20187 yr 7 hours ago, webfact said: “Once this new ministry is established, the annual budget for R&D – Bt120 billion to Bt130 billion Translated: We've figured out a way for the elites in Thai education to get together and share a gold-mine of between Bt120 billion to Bt130 billion for sitting around and chewing the fat.
October 26, 20187 yr 2 hours ago, Khun Paul said: Ah they have not done away with the No fail policy so they will make it easier for idiots to continue on to HIGHER Education , which is an oxymoron as many of these students have not passed a single exam , properly on purely educational knowledge !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Reminds me of a conversation I had with my 3rd year pre service teachers just this morning. A few of them related certain things they had not learned in high school. One described his math studies as relearning simple things again and again (to the obvious exclusion of a decent education) in order to have higher GPAs for college admission. Teachers advised students to "study by themselves" to prepare for GAT/PAT entrance exams. Needless to say, I had my eyes opened once again.
October 26, 20187 yr A “super board” chaired by the prime minister will oversee the new ministry and provide policies and directions And right there lies the problem. Truly incredible.
October 26, 20187 yr The entrance exam of a large primary school I worked for, was solely based on math skills. The bigger the number the parents could write on a small piece of paper, the higher the chances of enrollment. Sad but true.
October 26, 20187 yr 7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said: "...This is a concrete move for reforming the bureaucratic system,” Suvit said..." The concrete move utilizing concrete would be to wrap senior MoE officials in it and toss them into the sea; if the same people that created the current monstrosity (and their acolytes) are still there in power, this is a waste of time. "...According to him, the new ministry will support the improvement of higher education institutes’ academic capabilities, make the spending of research budgets more efficient and promote the development of technology and innovations. The new ministry will also provide support for the government’s Thailand 4.0 policy. A “super board” chaired by the prime minister will oversee the new ministry and provide policies and directions for higher education, research and development as well as innovation policies. It will also help prepare Thai human resources for the 21st century, he said..." More Bureaucracy. The involvement of the PM. A 'Super Board'. This is going in exactly the wrong direction; another layer of bureaucracy, the involvement of the PM and elevated involvement by bureaucrats is the wrong way to go. The MoE needs more autonomy at the local level and drastically less bureaucracy to the top. "...if any school makes children sit for entrance exams, it will be fined Bt500,000,” she said..." This is actually a good thing; making elementary school and/or kindergarten kids write an entrance exam is just daft. However, they couldn't resist the bureaucratic nonsense, could they? A fine of 500,000 Baht is yet another case of HUGE fines and likely wriggle room on the criteria to be used at whim by some 'Inspector' who wants a few more bucks. "...the bill also aims at giving greater autonomy to state schools so they can operate more independently..." This is the best thing in the article, but I do not see much information on the implementation, so I doubt that the bureaucrats will actually allow it. Pity, a large dollop of autonomy at the local level would likely see a rapid increase of quality. Overall, the main problem remains; the Ministry of Education is a huge, bloated blob of Bureaucracy. What is required is a massive clearing out of the top level people and their acolytes, followed by an examination from top to bottom on ALL ministry actions and orders. I ain't holding my breath. I have said it before and (sadly) will say it again; the Ministry of Education is the single greatest strategic threat to the Kingdom, its future sovereignty and its future prosperity. Reform or die. "The concrete move utilizing concrete would be to wrap senior MoE officials in it and toss them into the sea; if the same people that created the current monstrosity (and their acolytes) are still there in power, this is a waste of time." Absolutely agree until all of the old guard of incompetent bureaucrats are totally gone (all of them) and replaced by learned much younger folks who have new broad and worldly ideas then nothing much will change, just old wine in different shaped bottles. Agree 'reform or die'. Meaning massive obvious seeable, touchable, fellable (is there any such word) change.
October 26, 20187 yr How about having highly trained people in the education field running things. The biggest problem with Thailand is that it won’t hire experts from outside the country to help run things. There are few experts in anything in Thailand because the ones that become experts in something move away for better pay, and a better place
October 26, 20187 yr 9 hours ago, webfact said: “This is a concrete move for reforming the bureaucratic system,” Suvit said. By making more bureaucracy !!!!!
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