Thailand's education to be uplifted ahead of the AEC

[webfact]

Kingdom's education to be uplifted ahead of the AEC

BANGKOK, 2 Sep 2013 (NNT) – The Education Ministry aims to upgrade the nation's education quality ahead of the arrival of the ASEAN Economic Community by improving instructors' language skills and promoting understanding about ASEAN.

The announcement was made by Education Minister Jaturon Chaisang who has set an ambitious goal of establishing Thailand as an education hub in ASEAN. The Minister was chairing an annual meeting of the Siam Local News Association at Ebina House Hotel in Bangkok.

In his speech on the kingdom's readiness for the AEC in terms of education, Minister Jaturon said that the move crucially needs to promote understanding about ASEAN among the personnel in the education field.

He also stressed the importance of learning and understanding languages used among ASEAN nations, saying that it is a means to learning other knowledge about the countries. Mr. Jaturon said that the Government is ready to promote such learning schemes for the public, seeing that they would become one of the nation's important driving forces.

In parallel with raising the public awareness of ASEAN understanding, Mr. Jaturon promised that the Education Ministry would develop competent personnel. He also expressed his optimism that, with all the proposed campaigns being implemented, Thailand would become ASEAN's education hub.

He said that the government would push for obtaining the global education standard, generating skilled labor based on the global demands and aiding in the expansion of the domestic and international industrial sector.


-- NNT 2013-09-02

[bigbamboo]

Good to see the Education Minister acknowledging Thailand's shortcomings and the need to improve in this important area.

However, he should also understand that there are two kinds of nations in ASEAN.... those whose well educated people speak it's lingua franca (English) and those who don't. Any educational hubs will emerge from the first category whilst Thailand falls into the second category.

In some areas being 'colonised' in the past does have it advantages after all.

[terry101]

What do they say, "too little, too late".

They should have realized the importance of this years ago, but unfortunately due to the lack of foresight from all past and present governments this never happened.

[winstonc]

_{education hub..stop please stop my sides are aching....its only monday morning aswell.. lifes good today...}

[jaltsc]

"He also stressed the importance of learning and understanding languages used among ASEAN nations, saying that it is a means to learning other knowledge about the countries."

To promote this, Yinluck will address students in English stressing the importance of being multi-lingual. The first English phrase these students will learn is; "<deleted> is she talking about?"

[canopus1969]

What has he been smoking over the weekend

[rfukata]

I really don't see anything changing despite this announcement. This education uplift should have been initiated years ago with goals executed in

anticipation of the (mission & vision) of Asean integration.

[dcutman]

What do they say, "too little, too late".

They should have realized the importance of this years ago, but unfortunately due to the lack of foresight from all past and present governments this never happened.

They did realize it years ago, and they have been talking about it ever since. It seems talking about this sort of thing is good enough progress to this and previous governments.

If the AEC kicks off in 2015 or 2020,(witch many believe to be the earliest it will happen) "talk", will more than likely be all that actually gets accomplished.

[Mampara]

I'm afraid that this is a dream that would never come true in this lifetime.

Consider the following;

1. The chosen neutral language for the AEC is English.

2. One would have to change the whole curriculum.

3. 70% of the Thai teachers cannot speak English.

4. 20% of the Thai teachers speak grammatically wrong English.

5. 10% of the Thai Teachers speak acceptable English, but have no logic.

(Theoretically this means that over 90% of the Thai teachers would have to be replaced.)

Now comes the difficult part

Would it be an American or British Curriculum?

You say its almost the same! No it isn't

1. word pronunciation is different.

2. Spelling is different, i.e. Words ending in our in British end in or in American so do re, ce, in British, become aer and ase in American. and many more.

3. the word stress is different.

5. the same words have different meanings

6. etc., etc., etc.

Actually there is a vast difference in American and British when it comes to education, so much so that they can be considered as two different languages.

One must ask oneself in the AEC do the majority follow the British or American curriculum

[ridkun]

And first thing they did was changing the start date of the semester. What a great start.

[NongKhaiKid]

Here we go again, " improve instructors" language skills " and just how will they achieve that ?

Thai English teachers are set in their ways of passing on the mistakes they were taught and their teachers were taught and so on going back in time.

Thai teachers do not like speaking English in class and do not engage students in much conversation. I have seen Thai teachers in action where they write the English on the whiteboard and explain in Thai.

It will be a long uphill battle to get the teachers and their methods sorted out before considering they are actually teaching anything like passable English.

[chainarong]

Well at least they are thinking about education, one doubts that much will be achieved in the short term, as to become a education leader, will take decades of high education budgets and the will to anticipate in the world , knowing the Thai governments so far, this would not sit squarely on their shoulders , an educated population may ask questions and knowledge in some quarters maybe the straw that broke the camels back, keep the peasants in the dumb down mode will continue for sometime yet..

[Pattaya28]

We heard all this a few months back in a previous post by the Education Minister.

And I suppose in a few months time we'll hear the same again.

[daiwill60]

Another important factor in achieving this goal is to instil a will in the students of Thailand to learn anything at all without copying. This will then be the generation of new thinking teachers, as you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. The vast majority of Thai teachers in whatever subject have been through the old mill and newer younger teachers just hot brick walls within schools if they try to change any old methods for new that older teachers cannot grasp. The same goes fro trying to get the kids in school to also think outside the box.

In essence Thailand has a snowball in hell chance of becoming the HUB ( another hub, don't make me laugh, again) of education in ASEAN.

[Sung Ham]

In parallel with raising the public awareness of ASEAN understanding, Mr. Jaturon promised that the Education Ministry would develop competent personnel. He also expressed his optimism that, with all the proposed campaigns being implemented, Thailand would become ASEAN's education hub.

These people really have no clue at all, have they.

[Sung Ham]

Thailand = Fawlty Towers.

[culicine]

Education hub? 555

Some so called 'international programs' who have only Thai students and actually teach in the Thai language...and these are supposed to be International? Then there is a chemical engineering department who graduates students who have never used a lab before! No wonder science and technology are so far behind in this country, when everything is just regurgitated from books for a test or postdoctoral candidates blatantly plagarise or even get someone else to write their theses for them. I hardly see a huge flood of Singaporean and Malay students to Thailands esteemed educational institutions...

[Valentine]

If these universities are any good then this guy has a pretty good education "Chaisang earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics at the State University of New York at Buffalo in the United States, as well as a Master of Arts in economics from The American University in Washington, D.C.; and is^[when?] an A.B.D. graduate student of economic development and public finance at The American University."

But yes too little too late. If it happens in 2015 Thailand will have to be dragged kicking & screaming into the AEC as there is no chance they will be ready whether it be in education or all the other aspects.

Edited September 2, 2013 by Valentine

[nong38]

The first question should be "how do you feel about losing face?" because a lot of the current teachers are going to found out that their skills are not up to standard, their jobs will be on the line and they will fight it. Remember Thailand considers itself to be superior and the truth is now coming out.

Thailand needs to teach about the AEC countries, their different ways and approaches, their recent history and geography, I am sure they already have, dont you think? A pretty basic requirement to know about your new partners.

I think there will be a few shocked Thais at meetings when they find they dont have the language skills to take a full part because they cant and will have little idea what is going on and what they will agreeing to. The other members will of course not take advantage of the situation. There is an important lesson to be learnt here and that is "learning from you mistakes" something Thais dont at the moment learn because any mistakes are swept under the carpet so no one loses face!

Until Thais realize there are different cultures with different ways of doing things and start to take note, the percieved golden cash cow of the AEC will be found to be a very different animal altogether.

The English taught in Thai education systems is not like any English I recognize.

There is only one English language, Americans have been lazy and adpated it to their own ways, however, we both understand what we trying to say, its in the detail where there is the difference and that is what readers need to think about, the detail.

Its a huge undertaking to change the education system this late in the day and you bet that there will be a lot who dont want to co operate with any changes.

[yourauntbob]

We can file this announcement with the crackdown on driving laws and regulations. Its a nice speech but nothing will change for all the reasons being stated here and more.

[nong38]

If these universities are any good then this guy has a pretty good education "Chaisang earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics at the State University of New York at Buffalo in the United States, as well as a Master of Arts in economics from The American University in Washington, D.C.; and is^[when?] an A.B.D. graduate student of economic development and public finance at The American University."

But yes too little too late. If it happens in 2015 Thailand will have to be dragged kicking & screaming into the AEC as there is no chance they will be ready whether it be in education or all the other aspects.

I believe that Thailand has deferred to 2016 as they realize they are not ready and I would expect 2016 to become 2017 or later.

[nong38]

Another important factor in achieving this goal is to instil a will in the students of Thailand to learn anything at all without copying. This will then be the generation of new thinking teachers, as you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. The vast majority of Thai teachers in whatever subject have been through the old mill and newer younger teachers just hot brick walls within schools if they try to change any old methods for new that older teachers cannot grasp. The same goes fro trying to get the kids in school to also think outside the box.

In essence Thailand has a snowball in hell chance of becoming the HUB ( another hub, don't make me laugh, again) of education in ASEAN.

Hubs are great I remember in the 1960's I had a Ford Cortina with a HUB on every wheel.

[selftaopath]

OMG. Thailand and education hub???? I'm just sitting here shaking my head repeatedly. Can this country ever realize the enormity of any situation, of the facts/truth about anything?

geezeus

[thomash]

SOUNDS nice but the reality is very different

what will probably happen is next to nothing!

[tubby johnson]

Too little, hopefully not too late.

[muratremix]

If they continue to allow students to pass from English no matter what they score, how can they prepare underpriviledged people to AEC?

[Baerboxer]

I'm afraid that this is a dream that would never come true in this lifetime.

Consider the following;

1. The chosen neutral language for the AEC is English.

2. One would have to change the whole curriculum.

3. 70% of the Thai teachers cannot speak English.

4. 20% of the Thai teachers speak grammatically wrong English.

5. 10% of the Thai Teachers speak acceptable English, but have no logic.

(Theoretically this means that over 90% of the Thai teachers would have to be replaced.)

Now comes the difficult part

Would it be an American or British Curriculum?

You say its almost the same! No it isn't

1. word pronunciation is different.

2. Spelling is different, i.e. Words ending in our in British end in or in American so do re, ce, in British, become aer and ase in American. and many more.

3. the word stress is different.

5. the same words have different meanings

6. etc., etc., etc.

Actually there is a vast difference in American and British when it comes to education, so much so that they can be considered as two different languages.

One must ask oneself in the AEC do the majority follow the British or American curriculum

Nonsense. I communicate regularly with many American academics, business colleagues and friends, in writing and verbally.

There are differences as you point out - but to suggest they should be considered different languages is poppycock.

[Nooky2]

I'm afraid that this is a dream that would never come true in this lifetime.

Consider the following;

1. The chosen neutral language for the AEC is English.

2. One would have to change the whole curriculum.

3. 70% of the Thai teachers cannot speak English.

4. 20% of the Thai teachers speak grammatically wrong English.

5. 10% of the Thai Teachers speak acceptable English, but have no logic.

(Theoretically this means that over 90% of the Thai teachers would have to be replaced.)

Now comes the difficult part

Would it be an American or British Curriculum?

You say its almost the same! No it isn't

1. word pronunciation is different.

2. Spelling is different, i.e. Words ending in our in British end in or in American so do re, ce, in British, become aer and ase in American. and many more.

3. the word stress is different.

5. the same words have different meanings

6. etc., etc., etc.

Actually there is a vast difference in American and British when it comes to education, so much so that they can be considered as two different languages.

One must ask oneself in the AEC do the majority follow the British or American curriculum

Excellent point. I haven't seen any discussion on that topic.

But if Thailand or the AEC should decide on one or the other, then the teachers coming from the unselected country would not have much use here. I have seen Brits teach from an American curriculum/books and completely reject it as improper.

[nong38]

I'm afraid that this is a dream that would never come true in this lifetime.

Consider the following;

1. The chosen neutral language for the AEC is English.

2. One would have to change the whole curriculum.

3. 70% of the Thai teachers cannot speak English.

4. 20% of the Thai teachers speak grammatically wrong English.

5. 10% of the Thai Teachers speak acceptable English, but have no logic.

(Theoretically this means that over 90% of the Thai teachers would have to be replaced.)

Now comes the difficult part

Would it be an American or British Curriculum?

You say its almost the same! No it isn't

1. word pronunciation is different.

2. Spelling is different, i.e. Words ending in our in British end in or in American so do re, ce, in British, become aer and ase in American. and many more.

3. the word stress is different.

5. the same words have different meanings

6. etc., etc., etc.

Actually there is a vast difference in American and British when it comes to education, so much so that they can be considered as two different languages.

One must ask oneself in the AEC do the majority follow the British or American curriculum

Excellent point. I haven't seen any discussion on that topic.

But if Thailand or the AEC should decide on one or the other, then the teachers coming from the unselected country would not have much use here. I have seen Brits teach from an American curriculum/books and completely reject it as improper.

There is no American language, they use a version of English called "American English" why is beyond me, most of the rest of the world are content with the original, some of the grammatical errors would not be made in an English Primary school, but thats the route the former colonists have taken and from what I have observed here many Thais seem to have followed blindly down this route as well, they will probably end up with a new version which will be called "transpacific English" Just what the world has been waiting for!

[cmiuc]

hopefully he will put his money where his mouth is and not just do it for corrupt wannabees... clean up this S-hole in thailand