Thailand’s education system needs urgent overhaul to meet trade, investment demands

[webfact]

The pressing need for Thailand to expedite its educational development to match trade and investment needs has been highlighted by Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director-general of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO). The dynamic and rapidly evolving nature of the contemporary trade, investment, and technological sectors necessitates a workforce equipped with adaptable skills and thinking capabilities.

 

Poonpong detailed that despite some improvements in Thailand’s competitiveness ranking for 2023, there are significant risks linked to potential shortages in the skilled labour force, especially within the service sector. He warned of the heightened competition from other countries investing heavily in their workforce development, which could pose challenges for Thailand in attracting foreign investment.

 

The TPSO director-general referenced the 2022 Board of Investment survey that identified a stark shortage of skilled labour, with up to 12,000 vacancies in the machinery, automotive, electrical, and electronics industries. He also highlighted the subpar performance of Thai students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2023. Thai students consistently scored lower than their peers in Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia, reflecting a downward trend in Thailand’s educational performance.

 

Poonpong pointed out significant issues within the Thai education system, including a mismatch between the workforce produced and the market’s demands. The traditional emphasis on formal educational pathways over vocational ones, coupled with the negative perception of vocational education, has resulted in a decreased demand for vocational training. This trend, in turn, has led to a severe shortage of skilled labour, threatening the country’s ability to accommodate expanding foreign investment and risking future labour shortages in key sectors.

 

by Alex Morgan 

Photo courtesy of Pattarapong Chatpattarasil

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2024-01-16

 

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[mfd101]

Well, there's some revolutionary thoughts. The key is to turn them in to revolutionary action over the next 30 years ...

[ikke1959]

Will never happen.. Thailand wants to keep the people dumb as they are a thread for the Government and the army as their eyes will open and they start to think... They see how many things need to change and how the Government and amrmy are failing year after year... So talk about reform and change is ok.. but in reality keep the same..Best example is the no fail policy.. In my classes kids who didn't do anything in a whole year or even missed half of the classes passed and went to the next grade...Ever seen educational programs on TV? No it must be fun and singing and acting and screaming, but nothing educational ...Thailand people have fun...

[Chris Daley]

Skilled labor jobs are done by the glue sniffers and slum dwellers.  You won't find them in a highschool or university.  They can barely sit on chairs and won't even last a week attending classes.

 

Hitting nails into wood has nothing to do with higher education.

[peter zwart]

Too little and too late. To bring the future workforce to an acceptable level, you are looking at 20 years ahead. As we have seen in another topic, the aging population is also hitting hard in Thailand in the coming decades. This means that in the short and medium term, there will be a significant shortage of qualitatively acceptable personnel. The surrounding countries are not standing still and will take away a large part of Thailand's income. The only solution is to improve the political system (eliminate corruption) and completely revamp the education system with an international focus. Issues such as loss of face must disappear, and people must be held accountable for underperformance. Otherwise, the work ethic will remain subpar. So, all in all, we can conclude that, as it stands now, this is a completely impossible task. Too late, too little.

[Tom100]

Here are the OECD PISA and Thailand O-NET test score results. 

The OECD PISA test is better than the Thai test because it tests active thinking...whereas the Thai NET tests memorization because it is only multiple choice. 

[rovinman]

7 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Well, there's some revolutionary thoughts. The key is to turn them in to revolutionary action over the next 30 years ...

 

Should be 10 years, but it will take 60 years to clear out all the useless teachers  !

And build ALL the necessary Teacher Training Colleges [with ''Proper Diplomas'' ]

What about the Technician Apprentiship's  -  Oh I forgot, they want paying for learning on the job  !

Ah well it was a nice thought anyway  !

Unless they MAKE IT HAPPEN  !

[Andycoops]

The urgent overhaul of the not fit for purpose in the 21C Thai rote learning education system has been a non starter for more than 20 years.

Unfortunately there is no vision or strategy for the youth of this country from the old guard who prefer the, this is the way we have always done it, approach.

[Tom100]

The elites do not want an educated workforce that challenges the wealth distribution or government corruption. 

[brianthainess]

You will not ask questions, you will sit still while I and only I read from a book AT you.

I'll stab you with pins, cut your hair, slap you, .......if you disobey. 

[billd766]

On 1/16/2024 at 11:44 AM, peter zwart said:

Too little and too late. To bring the future workforce to an acceptable level, you are looking at 20 years ahead. As we have seen in another topic, the aging population is also hitting hard in Thailand in the coming decades. This means that in the short and medium term, there will be a significant shortage of qualitatively acceptable personnel. The surrounding countries are not standing still and will take away a large part of Thailand's income. The only solution is to improve the political system (eliminate corruption) and completely revamp the education system with an international focus. Issues such as loss of face must disappear, and people must be held accountable for underperformance. Otherwise, the work ethic will remain subpar. So, all in all, we can conclude that, as it stands now, this is a completely impossible task. Too late, too little.

IMHO it is only about 50 years too late and under the current system I doubt that Thailand will ever catch up, let alone be a leader in ASEAN.

 

Again, IMHO, the whole education ministry needs to be torn up and rebuilt from the bottom up. There should be nobody in charge of anything past the age of 60. All the teachers and directors should be sent back to school and be taught HOW to teach. Any teacher accused of assaulting a pupil should be immediately suspended without pay as should every member of the management staff of the school.

 

If the teacher is found guilty in a court, they should be sacked, forced to repay any outstanding loans to the teachers union and banned from ANY government job.

[champers]

This will be a problem when foreign companies moving into the EEC are looking for staff. Companies setting up their own customised educational facilities could be the answer; either funded in existing universities or vocational colleges or by building new education establishments linked to production facilities.

In the short-term there would be a big influx of skilled foreign workers from the companies' home countries.

[zhounan]

So, I expect to see Chinese Mandarin promoted to be the teaching language.

[Tom100]

"Poonpong detailed that ... there are significant risks linked to potential shortages in the skilled labour force, especially within the service sector. He warned of the heightened competition from other countries investing heavily in their workforce development, which could pose challenges for attracting foreign investment."

 

Foreign investment is also hindered by high and rising corruption in government.