Thailand As International Education Hub: Challenges And Opportunities

[SolarOhm]

Degrees at any University are hardly worth anything. Universities rarely teach students a thing. It is students who learn - and the assessment system is what determines whether you have learnt enough.

If there is a weakness in the THai university system it has to do with how rigorous is the assessment system.

To improve the value of a Thai degree all that needs doing is to be harder in evaluating students.

Edited July 19, 2011 by SolarOhm

[JohnAllan]

Thailand as an international education hub? Doesn't that require more than the bare minimum standard, to which the powers-that-be settle to aspire?

And I can see neither, the relevance - at least, not in a positive way - of Thailand not having been 'colonised', nor, frankly, its absolute accuracy.

1) The colonising powers of the day could probably see little benefit in colonising Thailand.

2) Why Thais think that an advantage, God only knows. Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam, are educationally, socially and economically, way ahead of Thailand.

3) I assume occupation cannot be interpreted as colonisation, only because it brings no benefits at all, and not because Thai historical facts are distorted.

Edited July 19, 2011 by JohnAllan

[JohnAllan]

Is there anything that Thailand isn't a HUB of?

Honesty.

Wonderfully succinct. And true.

[bkkboy06]

Degrees at any University are hardly worth anything. Universities rarely teach students a thing. It is students who learn - and the assessment system is what determines whether you have learnt enough.

If there is a weakness in the THai university system it has to do with how rigorous is the assessment system.

To improve the value of a Thai degree all that needs doing is to be harder in evaluating students.

I can't agree more. Very well said.

[Xangsamhua]

Degrees at any University are hardly worth anything. Universities rarely teach students a thing. It is students who learn - and the assessment system is what determines whether you have learnt enough.

If there is a weakness in the THai university system it has to do with how rigorous is the assessment system.

To improve the value of a Thai degree all that needs doing is to be harder in evaluating students.

Interesting points. At my first university (no. 21 in Arts & Humanities) back in the 60s there was no requirement for Arts students to attend any lectures or tutorials at all - something I took advantage of almost to my undoing. However, we read a lot and wrote our essays and sat our exams, and there was an expectation that we were engaged in the life of the university, which involved clubs and a lot of conversation on matters relevant to our degree. There was certainly an atmosphere and ethos that was conducive to intellectual exploration, discovery and contention. I don't know if such an atmosphere exists at Thai universities, though I'll bet that in some faculties, e.g. Engineering at Chula, there are plenty of students who are excited about their studies and lecturers who are keen to teach them.

It's certainly true that you get out of any course what you put into it, and I'm sure there are plenty of students and staff in Thai universities that do much more than is required to get a pass. And I don't think it's just Thailand that sets the bar low, at least in some places, for a passing grade. As Education becomes more of a commodity, and institutions compete for students, advertising a plethora of new courses, etc., so the pressure to give the clients what they came for increases. A colleague from Taiwan told me last year that it is problematic for the faculty at her university if students fail. The faculty, not the students, have to account for themselves. I suspect this is the case anywhere that education has been commodified. Gone are the days when new first years/freshmen could be told that 30% of them would fail the year.

[Captain Haddock]

"As a hub.....Malaysia would beat Thailand hands down. They also have pretty fast internet too......which is now almost a requirement for modern education."

Having lived here in KL for best part of two years now, I can honestly say the net here sucks big time in comparison with Thailand. I'm using an alleged 4G service just 4km from the centre of the city, and it is incredibly slow. Even in the jungle I was getting better speeds. Frustrating isn't the word...

[richard10365]

Degrees at any University are hardly worth anything. Universities rarely teach students a thing. It is students who learn - and the assessment system is what determines whether you have learnt enough.

If there is a weakness in the THai university system it has to do with how rigorous is the assessment system.

To improve the value of a Thai degree all that needs doing is to be harder in evaluating students.

Wow....I have to control myself before I respond to this post. After reading it I had to ask myself is this some kind of troll attempt? Is SolarOhm trying to get people to wildly disagree with him just to be controversial? Ok......I will assume he is serious about this and will respond calmly after editing and backspacing what I originally wrote because lord knows I would not want to break ThaiVisa rules of civility in the chat room.

My response

Where do you think doctors come from? What about electricians, software writers, economist, and a whole host of other professions that have provided you with the skills you are using now to write this post as well as the services you need to live your life day to day. Did you grow up in a jungle and teach yourself how to write in the mud or were teachers involved? Universities teach students everything. What they don't teach they research and learn. The dark ages ended a long time ago. If we didn't have universities we would still be there.

End of response

[Scott]

Richard, thanks for the response. I think there is some confusion between the general state of education in Primary and Secondary school and tertiary education.

There are good schools and bad schools and good programs and bad programs.

[Ijustwannateach]

^Exactly. The best overall description of the Thai education system is 'byzantine'. There are so many different types of schools, students, and instructors- and every school is the 'bestest bestest one' in some regard or another, or so it will tell you. Most people don't have exposure to more than one or two schools, whether from a teacher's point of view or a student's, and so the confusion over all the differing descriptions continues.

There are schools where cats and dogs breed in the halls and stair wells and the windows are literally shuttered with boards, where teachers are asked to pay for making their own copies (for students) of whatever texts they hope to use. Then there are schools where all students are supplied with laptops and electronic versions of their textbooks.

At the top end, it bears mentioning, Thai students are competing far above what one would expect of Thailand from its other rankings in the world- Thai students REGULARLY dominate in regional and international maths and sciences competitions.

However, at the bottom end, it is still common out in the countryside for many students to finish school before M.6.

The government agencies involved should not mistake the disproportionately supported high performance of the country's best students as a sign of the AVERAGE ability of instructors or institutions to provide for even local students' needs, much less international students' needs in any great quantity.

[Phatcharanan]

"As a hub.....Malaysia would beat Thailand hands down. They also have pretty fast internet too......which is now almost a requirement for modern education."

Having lived here in KL for best part of two years now, I can honestly say the net here sucks big time in comparison with Thailand. I'm using an alleged 4G service just 4km from the centre of the city, and it is incredibly slow. Even in the jungle I was getting better speeds. Frustrating isn't the word...

Which provider are you using? I always use Maxis on my regular trips there and it's never been an issue.

[Captain Haddock]

"As a hub.....Malaysia would beat Thailand hands down. They also have pretty fast internet too......which is now almost a requirement for modern education."

Having lived here in KL for best part of two years now, I can honestly say the net here sucks big time in comparison with Thailand. I'm using an alleged 4G service just 4km from the centre of the city, and it is incredibly slow. Even in the jungle I was getting better speeds. Frustrating isn't the word...

Which provider are you using? I always use Maxis on my regular trips there and it's never been an issue.

P1. It's absolutely terrible. I have over 50 registered complaints with them, and counting. I am also not alone...

[Scott]

Let's stay on the topic of education. Internet discussions probably won't get us very far in this forum.

[SolarOhm]

Degrees at any University are hardly worth anything. Universities rarely teach students a thing. It is students who learn - and the assessment system is what determines whether you have learnt enough.

If there is a weakness in the THai university system it has to do with how rigorous is the assessment system.

To improve the value of a Thai degree all that needs doing is to be harder in evaluating students.

Wow....I have to control myself before I respond to this post. After reading it I had to ask myself is this some kind of troll attempt? Is SolarOhm trying to get people to wildly disagree with him just to be controversial? Ok......I will assume he is serious about this and will respond calmly after editing and backspacing what I originally wrote because lord knows I would not want to break ThaiVisa rules of civility in the chat room.

My response

Where do you think doctors come from? What about electricians, software writers, economist, and a whole host of other professions that have provided you with the skills you are using now to write this post as well as the services you need to live your life day to day. Did you grow up in a jungle and teach yourself how to write in the mud or were teachers involved? Universities teach students everything. What they don't teach they research and learn. The dark ages ended a long time ago. If we didn't have universities we would still be there.

End of response

I didn't grow up in the jungle - as I was fortunate enough to have access to libraries; and the occasional good teacher. The real teachers I had were in primary school, my parents, and teachers college - not at university.

University was novel - it was strange not having any teachers, only lecturers who would stand on the podium.Very few University staff have ever had any formal teacher training at all - so they do not know how to teach. They are preoccupied with doing research and writing papers to promote their own careers.

Fortunately I found how to use the libraries and read. Ok there was merit in the various professors prescribing the reading lists and text books but that is not teaching! The bulk of my learning was through the hours I spent reading and teaching myself how to write and analyze.

I hold a number of degrees from various universities in a range of disciplines including a Masters. I taught college Economics for a number of years - and worked with Professors on projects. I also successfully completed 3 Teacher training courses - where I was taught how to teach.

Many of the faculties at the various universities with which I have experience were constantly forced to pass failing students or face the prospect of not having enough students for the higher year classes. I know of an instance where an accounting faculty had to lower the exam pass mark to 40% so there would be sufficient students for the 2nd year courses (I was not studying accounting).

Subjects such as medicine had a more rigorous assessment regime - failing more students than Commerce Faculties did. I had med student friends who failed and had to show cause two and three times. I do not know about the quality of the teaching but I saw how the successful students studied independently - and played less cards.

Students succeed at University and become doctors, lawyers and economists because of themselves - and generally not through Universities teaching them.

Yes I did become an economist, a lawyer, an environmental planner, and a financial planner - by studying!

[nausea]

Well if there is money to be made, I wouldn't put it past the most illiterate Thai to learn English. Basically they've had it too easy. They speak what they need to speak. And, yeah. we all know Thailand is the center of the world, and if you weren't born Thai, well never mind, maybe in the next life. Thailand is changing. I see this everywhere. People are starting to question. To be honest, they always have questioned, but in a subterfugal, quiet way, on a one to one basis. The difference is now they are starting to do this openly. It probably isn't good for us Farangs, who depend upon our rather fragile financial status. But, what the hell, money is fa anyway. I'd rather see a people freely determining their history than all the money in the world,

[FWIW]

Students succeed at University and become doctors, lawyers and economists because of themselves - and generally not through Universities teaching them.

Yes I did become an economist, a lawyer, an environmental planner, and a financial planner - by studying!

Indeed. At the point of belabouring the obvious, teachers teach, lecturers lecture.

Its up to you at the University level to master the materials.