Free university education would boost equality – but can Thailand afford it?

[webfact]

 

The student debt forgiveness campaign believes the budget Thailand has set to reduce inequality – 700 billion baht – should be more than enough to ensure education is “really free”.

 

“It’s not about whether our country has enough money but more about our country’s money management and allocation,” said Prim Maneechote, a member of the #SLFdebtforgiveness campaign said on during an interview with Inskru. This platform normally brings teachers together to share ideas and experiences

 

Prim said the money that millions of Thais owe to the Student Loan Fund (SLF) should, in fact, not be considered loans.

 

“They would not have had to borrow money if the government offered free education,” Prim said. “Why do young people have to take loans just because they want to study?”

 

Assoc Prof Dr Sustarum Thammaboosadee, who teaches at Thammasat University’s College of Interdisciplinary Studies, expressed a similar view in an interview with BBC Thai.

 

“In the upcoming fiscal year [starting October 1], the government has allocated 700 billion baht to reduce inequality. This budget is separate from basic welfare such as subsidies for the universal healthcare coverage scheme or monthly payments for the elderly,” he said.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/free-university-education-would-boost-equality-but-can-thailand-afford-it/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-09-05

 

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[pegman]

Spend it where it is really needed like on trades schools/apprenticeship programs.  Ever tried to find a properly qualified electrician? 

[rwill]

Ok.  But how about starting with free elementary education.  School is not free in Thailand.  

[nobodysfriend]

Free quality education should be available to all .

The key to a better future .

[bigupandchill]

Because thousands of kids doing useless degrees in uk has worked out so well?

[JayClay]

I've always thought that fees should be based on the amount of employment positions available in a given field.

 

So if you want to study technology or science, for example, the fees are relatively low, where as if you want to study drama or underwater basket weaving, then you pay a higher premium.

 

This way, so long as loans are provided to cover the fees, anybody can still choose to study anything they want, but there's a gentle encouragement to study in an area where employment is more likely.

 

 

[Andycoops]

Surely it should also in tandem be about quality, in the hub of nobody fails most students are churned out with very little in the way of quality skills needed to substantially impact the nation's economic performance.

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, bigupandchill said:

Because thousands of kids doing useless degrees in uk has worked out so well?

Sure, creates the next generation of politicians!

[Iron Tongue]

When you give something away for free, people stop placing a value on it, but treat is as mere entitlement.

I'm for debt forgiveness, especially for lower-income families, but I think it should be based-on grades, or placement in that job sector.

I think it should apply to trades school.

 

[sammieuk1]

You could use the fabled foreign currency reserve for something tangible like investing in your youth instead of engineless subs ????

[OneMoreFarang]

How about making sure that the certificates are worth more than the paper which they are printed on?

It seem every idiot and anyone who never pays attention still advances and gets a certificate.

Stop that!

 

Weed out the unqualified people.

 

And support the people who want to learn and are able to learn. And after they finished let them work for the government for a couple of years. As far as I know that happens already with medical doctors.

Win/win!

[hotchilli]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

“They would not have had to borrow money if the government offered free education,” Prim said. “Why do young people have to take loans just because they want to study?”

During school age I would agree... however University should be considered extra education and usually within the age of working.. thus self financed?

 

[Sydebolle]

Go easy on the submarines .......... 

Look at central Europe where the basic education is free. Actually it is not free - of course - but it is paid with taxpayers money so everybody chips into education funds as ultimately everybody benefits of an educated work force. 
Apart from university degrees a much more important education element is vocational college. In i.e. Germany and Switzerland the student attends one or 1 ½ days of business school, where professionals teach the youngsters on a focused job-related basis. Cooks are taught about hygiene, how to handle food and the work place they are working in. Commercial apprentices learn basics of how banking, financing, accounting works together with business laws and basics like 10-fingers typing on a keyboard as well as the framework of trade (letter of credit, international shipping, insurance, the works). That education system is still taken up by the majority of students which formulates the economic and commercial backbone of countries like Switzerland or Germany. Result is professionalism on the whole as well as research and development which is needed to keep these countries ahead. 

As said, no submarines which are completely useless except for those pocket liners and Bob's your uncle! 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Free quality education should be available to all .

The key to a better future .

Which is why Thailands elite like it just the way it is...

[realfunster]

5 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

but it is paid with taxpayers money so everybody chips into education funds as ultimately everybody benefits of an educated work force. 

That's at the heart of this and any socially funded schemes unfortunately. 

If you don't get the funds in the government coffers, then it's hard to support social projects.

 

In Thailand, many individuals and companies are operating either outside of the tax system or playing the tax system. It's a few years old now but I recall reading an article that only around 3 million people are paying income tax in Thailand. 

 

With some of the newly touted and implemented changes around weed and casinos, I wonder if the government are starting to feel the pinch and have decided that it's better the state should benefit from these things and not the black market. 

 

And I haven't even started on the corruption impact on public spending yet...

 

[seajae]

University is a choice, you want it you pay for it, all basic education should be free but not uni, what they need to do is make basic education good quality though by teachers that are fully qualified not the pathetic ones that are currently utilized by most schools, our daughter had to go to after school classes for several years to get top marks for her uni choice because the so called best school in our district had teachers that were that bad and had no idea what they were teaching. To make it better they need to make educating teachers to a passable standard o they actually know what they are teaching to improve education and stop the face saving "everyone passes" no matter the grades or the attendance records BS

[tingtong]

The so called "equality" never will result 'equal outcome'.

 

The everyone equal and has universally access to everything is an idea of the communism.

I know it is appealing one, understand why.

But also know it destined to fail.

I grew up in a communist country, seen it first place.

Free is often the least efficient. There is no incentive to do better. In turn that make it often just as costly.

 

Currently my son is in university.

Yes, it is paid university, although not one of the fancy one, sort of affordable.

The reality is the additional costs ( room, food, uniform, books, etc) are higher than the tuition.

 

 

[connda]

They'd need to boost the educational quality before they address inequality.

[connda]

It seems like all the world's governments are addressing inflation by pumping more money into their economies.
Then they'll be hyperinflation which will ruin everyone. 

[Photoguy21]

4 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Free quality education should be available to all .

The key to a better future .

Providing it is quality education.

[trainman34014]

The Powers That Be do not want millions of highly educated people challenging their every move.   No; they prefer to keep the Sheeple as dumbed down as possible whilst they go on raping the countrys coffers.   Can't see wothwhile change coming in the next several Generations.

[2 is 1]

Wife pay niece's univercity studies coz wife's sister is drunking looser. Total all cost about million bth.

Now niece work in BKK as graphic designer salary 16000 bth/ month!!!! Nice to put million that niece get 16000/month! I say Mrs. if you going to pay other niece's universicty, i have much better idea!

Give one your rubber farm to her where get about 20000 bth/month and dont need think nomore! Then even know what is hard work! Now have there 50%/50% deal anyway so you only get 10k/month! To get other million you need harvest that sht over 9 years!

 

[djayz]

Improve the level of education first, then think about offering it free of charge. 

[zzaa09]

12 hours ago, pegman said:

Spend it where it is really needed like on trades schools/apprenticeship programs.  Ever tried to find a properly qualified electrician? 

Or even greatly extended scholarship programs for those who might qualify - benefitting the commons in the long run. Cycling back into society. Comes back a hundred fold.

 

Naturally, the profiteering cabals don't want to realize the truer value for the culture of what scholarship schemes or nominal tuition associated would create a healthier economy and population. 

[MrJ2U]

"but can Thailand afford it?"

 

They can but wouldn't ever do something like investing in their future.

 

Uneducated masses are easy to control. 

[Baron Samedi]

Free university won't change a thing if the entire system remains rigged by nepotism and cronyism. Rich people have something that no university can provide: powerful networks.

[rickudon]

British University education Has become a disaster since you have to pay for it. In the 60's and 70's, you got free tuition and modest grants towards living costs. About 10% went to university and many would quickly get a job afterwards with some relevance to their degree. By your late 20's you were buying a house and thinking of having a family.

 

Now, 50% go to university, many to pretty useless courses. By the time you finish you have 60,000 GBP of debt at interest rates of up to 6%, most are still paying it off in their 40's - latest estimates are that nearly half will still be paying it off in their 50's, if ever. These debts and crippling house prices mean many will never buy their own homes, and marriage and having a family is out of the question without 2 incomes. Few graduates get a job related to their degree - and most now need to do a masters course (more debt) to stand out from the crowd. Getting a graduate level job can take years, and you earn less than those who left school at 18 and went straight into skilled work. Typically you have to apply for hundreds of jobs to get one.

 

As nurses and those who previously did apprenticeships were encouraged/forced to go to University, there is a lack of skilled manual workers (electricians, plumbers, carpenters etc.) so they now earn more than graduates. The universities themselves have become commercialised - it is all about getting the tuition fees in and spending that money - and because the students pay, you cannot fail them anymore easily, or they sue. International students especially prized as you charge more.

Only people who positively financially benefit from University are doctors and lawyers.

 

University education should be rationed to a countries needs and to those with sufficient academic ability, for most people apprenticeships, on the job training and specific courses for specific skills are more useful - and the employers KNOW what they need.

 

The whole world is overflowing with university graduates for whom there are no jobs.

[crouchpeter]

3 hours ago, rickudon said:

British University education Has become a disaster since you have to pay for it. In the 60's and 70's, you got free tuition and modest grants towards living costs. About 10% went to university and many would quickly get a job afterwards with some relevance to their degree. By your late 20's you were buying a house and thinking of having a family.

 

Now, 50% go to university, many to pretty useless courses. By the time you finish you have 60,000 GBP of debt at interest rates of up to 6%, most are still paying it off in their 40's - latest estimates are that nearly half will still be paying it off in their 50's, if ever. These debts and crippling house prices mean many will never buy their own homes, and marriage and having a family is out of the question without 2 incomes. Few graduates get a job related to their degree - and most now need to do a masters course (more debt) to stand out from the crowd. Getting a graduate level job can take years, and you earn less than those who left school at 18 and went straight into skilled work. Typically you have to apply for hundreds of jobs to get one.

 

As nurses and those who previously did apprenticeships were encouraged/forced to go to University, there is a lack of skilled manual workers (electricians, plumbers, carpenters etc.) so they now earn more than graduates. The universities themselves have become commercialised - it is all about getting the tuition fees in and spending that money - and because the students pay, you cannot fail them anymore easily, or they sue. International students especially prized as you charge more.

Only people who positively financially benefit from University are doctors and lawyers.

 

University education should be rationed to a countries needs and to those with sufficient academic ability, for most people apprenticeships, on the job training and specific courses for specific skills are more useful - and the employers KNOW what they need.

 

The whole world is overflowing with university graduates for whom there are no jobs.

And dentists.

[BonMot]

Giving everyone a rajabaht education will do nothing to lift the nation.

 

At least it won't cost much.

 

My only question is as rajabaht grads make about 10k (Chula 14k) pm why bother? Certainly it has nothing to do with the acquisition of knowledge.

Edited September 7, 2022 by BonMot

[BonMot]

65% of all Thai students enter the university and program of their choice... maybe not first choice but that's complicated...

 

The education is largely worthless and the costs aside from international programs nominal.

 

I worked my way thru university. They can get jobs to cover living expenses or just sideline bc they will when they graduate making nothing anyway.