Thai Education Minister's Goals Lack Implementation Clarity

[webfact]

Woravat's puzzling big plans

Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation

Education minister's goals lack implementation clarity

The country's education is set to undergo big changes if Education Minister Woravat Auapinyakul's policies |to prep Thais for the Asean Economic Community go ahead at full steam.

The AEC will materialise in 2015.

The Education Ministry recently launched the "English Speaking Year" campaign, as the ministry - recognising the importance of the AEC in 2015 - aims to elevate people's knowledge by campaigning for English-language learning (as well as other languages as appropriate). It noted that 2 billion people, or one-third of the world population, use English as a major medium for communication.

From the next academic year, Woravat will require teachers and students to speak English at their schools for one whole day each week.

"We have to focus on communication skills. The communication problems between Thais and foreigners are not about the lack of English knowledge on Thais' part. It's just that Thais are reluctant to speak English to foreigners," he said.

The education minister pointed out that people living in border areas had no problem speaking Malay, Burmese or Khmer.

"We are going to adjust the curriculum, too. From Mathayom 4 to Mathayom 6, students should learn about the cultural, economic and social contexts of neighbouring countries," Woravat said.

"Such knowledge will be useful if they later want to further their education or work in other Asean countries."

Asean comprises 10 members - Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Burma, Singapore, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam.

"If we are unprepared for the AEC, we will face more adverse impacts than benefits from the regional scheme," Woravat said.

He said he was worried about the possibility that an unprepared Thai population would become economic slaves of other Asean nations.

"That's why I have been pushing for a major revamp of Thailand's education," he said.

Woravat said the revamp would increase Thais' competitiveness when compared with the population of the nine other Asean countries.

The Office of Non-Formal and Informal Education (NFE) has been preparing to broadcast lessons relating to Burmese, Vietnamese and Indonesian languages via FM 92 megahertz and AM 11616 kilohertz, and R31 satellite signal, between 7.30am and 8am since the first of the month.

The Vietnamese lessons will run every Tuesday, the Burmese lessons every Thursday, and the Indonesian lessons every Saturday. For those who want to check the recorded lessons later, they can be accessed via www.moeradiothai.net.

"The lessons will focus on the ways of life, important places, and cultures of the neighbouring countries so that Thais know what they should do and should not do in those territories," NFE secretary-general Prasert Boonruang said.

He said the radio-based lessons would be prepared in collaboration with Mahidol University's Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, and also Thammasat University's Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology.

Dr Anek Permwongseni, secretary-general of the Office of the Education Council, said representatives from private and state universities had attended meetings lately to work out strategies to prepare Thailand's education for the AEC.

"The key challenge surrounds English usage," he said.

Woravat also hopes to restructure academic programmes at schools to encourage children to pursue fields of their special interest from a young age.

"There will be agriculture, industrial works, commerce, creative science, and specialised subjects," he said.

He has an ambitious goal of ensuring the revamped curriculum caters well to labour markets of not just Thailand but the whole of Asean.

"We have to think about the demand side," Woravat said. "We have to ensure education responds to the world's changing circumstances. If we go in the right direction, graduates won't be unemployed."

He said the new strategy for the Education Ministry had already been drafted.

"We hope to implement it within two years," Woravat said.

He also expects the new educational strategy to highlight the prominent features of each area of Thailand.

"Local higher-education institutes must play a role here.

"It's time to stop giving the same content to all students in the country. We had better let children focus on their areas, local geography and local environment. Area-based education will deliver many benefits," Woravat said.

The education minister clearly has many ambitious plans - be it about the English Speaking Year 2012, the revamped curriculum, or the area-based approach to the country education. Yet all seem to lack clear-cut implementation plans - just like one of the government's most prominent educational policies, the "one tablet computer per child" scheme.

While Woravat vowed to hand out tablets packed with useful content for students' learning from the next academic year, |the content format has not yet emerged for educators to |study.

Many are still far from assured where the new educational policies will lead the country.

-- The Nation 2012-01-05

[ccarbaugh]

"Education is the cultivation of the mind so that action is not self-centered."

[IAMHERE]

"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth" Diogenes

[daiwill60]

He also expects the new educational strategy to highlight the prominent features of each area of Thailand.

"Local higher-education institutes must play a role here.

"It's time to stop giving the same content to all students in the country. We had better let children focus on their areas, local geography and local environment. Area-based education will deliver many benefits," Woravat said.

MMM well thats novel, so in the country the kids will be taught about their local traditions of farming and fishing etc, so in other words, the country folk can stay as country folk

[Scott]

One off topic post has been deleted.

[Rhys]

Again what do you expect from a politcal appointment with inappropriate background, following the money...

[scorecard]

So he wants a big push in English language development.

I wonder if the tablets:

• - Will have any stand alone English language learning content?
  
• - Will have English language subtitles under the thai language, for all subjects?
  

Am I just dreaming??

[Rhys]

The DUDE is going to follow the money

[theanimaster]

You want the country to majestically speak English? Well fortunately there IS a solution! Change all public TV broadcasting to English. YES and OMfG! FORCE the Thais to LEARN English through their favourite brain-draining source -- the Telly! But of course this will never happen. You've seen the results in countries like the Philippines -- the people can actually COMMAND the language (albeit with an accent) and ANYTHING that would work in Thailand is viewed as evil and against Thai culture.

On the other hand, anything that would make money for one selfish greedy little politician......

Edited January 5, 2012 by theanimaster

[Scott]

It's not the best idea, but at one of the schools I work at, it is being implemented. It's not a gov't school, but they decided to follow it and it's having some impact. During the morning, the kids are greeted by Thai teachers in English and English is being spoken in the classrooms by Thai Teachers.

The big problem in the school, which is bilingual, is that there is this big divide between the two languages and the fact that the students learn English, but they rarely use it.

We'll see after a few months if it can sustain itself with the Thai staff.

[Anyse]

"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth" Diogenes

HE also meant those not of the slave class!

[hanuman2543]

"He said he was worried about the possibility that an unprepared Thai population would become economic slaves of other Asean nations."

A farsighted Thai politician?

[IMA_FARANG]

"He said he was worried about the possibility that an unprepared Thai population would become economic slaves of other Asean nations."

A farsighted Thai politician?

--------------------------------

Maybe to far advanced and to farsighted.

The current Thai education system is designed to provide Thai students with the type of education that would make them exactly that....economic slaves...to provide a class of workers that are only well-educated enough to be relatively efficient workers...and not well-educated enough to think...and worst of all question...the social and economic condotions here in Thailand.

It didn't happen that way by chance...the money-and-power elite economic ruling class designed the education system that way to preserve their control of their workers.

Unfortunately for the money-and-power elite that system isn't well suited to a more technologiy based future. It doesn't work well in that competative future that the money-and-power elite want to profit from

Training Thai students to think...educating them to adapt to that new technologiy based future...like these education "reforms" ...opens up a Pandora's box for Thailand.

That's exactly why these "reforms" are merely there as "eye-candy", for show only, and won't be implemented. There will be no real "reform" of education.

The money-and-power elite won't allow it.

Tthat is not true only in Thailand, it's worldwide. But that's another subject and off-topic here,

Edited January 8, 2012 by IMA_FARANG

[Ijustwannateach]

^Very astute.

The first and very best thing that anyone can ever ask in response to any 'big plan' for educational reform (in any country, pretty much), is:

'WHO'S GOING TO PAY FOR IT?'

If there's no answer to that question, you can be pretty sure that the plan won't happen.