Poll shows most people feel Thai university graduates are unqualified

[webfact]

Poll shows most people feel Thai university graduates are unqualified



BANGKOK: -- Most of the people feel that Thai university graduates are unqualified with many of them uninterested in learning but just wanting the degrees whereas several universities are too commercialized, according to Nida Poll.

Nida Poll, the opinion survey centre of the National Institute of Development Administration, conducted an opinion survey from 1,250 samplings who are university graduates through its website on how they feel about the quality of Thai graduates during September 15-16.

The results show: 42.72 percent of the respondents agree that the problem of the low quality of Thai graduates was due to the fact that many of them were not interested in learning but merely wanted to graduate with degrees; 42.56 percent feel universities are too commercialized; 32.4 percent feel that more emphasis was attached to theory than practice and, therefore, most graduates cannot work; 29.28 percent basic education system is poor; 21.92 percent feel that lecturers were unqualified; 17.94 percent feel that universities were more interested in their own survival than in quality of education.

Only 2.24 percent believe that Thai graduates are qualified; 45.44 percent feel the graduates are not quite qualified while 19.20 feel their quality is low.

75.44 percent of the respondents want central tests to assess the standard of the graduates while 22.48 disagree with the central tests saying that they duplicate with the tests conducted by respective universities.

Other factors contributing to the low quality of Thai graduates include failure of university administrators and the regulators, internal conflicts in universities and the students themselves who do not know what courses they should take and simply follow their peers.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/poll-shows-people-feel-thai-university-graduates-unqualified/


-- Thai PBS 2014-09-18

[siampolee]

The truth emerges at last.

I find it utterly amazing at the number of ''graduates'' one see's on television spots being awarded degrees.

The immense number of these ''graduates'' Indeed Thailand's university system shames the rest of the worlds educational systems and their limited output of educated graduates.

[maxme]

They just figured that out now?!

[WitawatWatawit]

Many Thai academics have studied and earned degrees overseas - from unis with powerful reputations like MIT and LSE. Given the standard of their English and their comprehension skills, I often wonder how. Then they return to Thailand and enter academia and slip back into the "Thai mold" (as a communications lecturer ar Chula once told me). By that I presume they fail to take on board the valuable moral lessons learnt from the overseas unis and allow themselves to become once again a part of the Thai system of money and patronage. The "no one ever fails" club. Hence the belief that only 2.24% of poll respondents believe Thai graduates are qualified. It's interesting that Thais recognise the failings in their uni system. It's also interesting that no one seems to want to do anything about it, despite education reform being an "urgent priority" for the past 30 years. Thai academics must take a major share of the blame for this. They can use their collective intelligence and powers to exact change - they know it, as do you and I, yet they are failing in their moral responsibility.

[Mosha]

OK, come on own up, who else laughed?

[namdocmai]

They call every scool a university. And even the ones who really did the top Thai university's can't speak proper english. Some even can't speak english at all even if they have been in the USA to study.

[harrry]

They call every scool a university. And even the ones who really did the top Thai university's can't speak proper english. Some even can't speak english at all even if they have been in the USA to study.

?

[siampolee]

namdocmai post # 6

They call every scool a university. And even the ones who really did the top Thai university's can't speak proper english. Some even can't speak english at all even if they have been in the USA to study.

I would hazard a guess that namdocmai first language is not English.

However the comments by him or her made are spot on.

[Songhua]

My niece has a 'degree' in engineering. Lol. She hardly attended classes in her last year and probably couldn't even tie a shoelace. (She's works as the cashier for a car repairer). There are probably thousands just like her.

[cloudhopper]

They call every scool a university. And even the ones who really did the top Thai university's can't speak proper english. Some even can't speak english at all even if they have been in the USA to study.

You obviously weren't able to attend one either then.

[namdocmai]

Yes i speak 5 languages so forgive me if i make mistakes. And no i don't have any university degree's.

I know Thai who graduated for administration or Information Technology at university's here and they can't even say hello in english. They even can't add up without a calculator.

[KhnomKhnom]

A Thai degree, even from Chula or Mahidol, are worthless outside of Thailand. Many in the West particularly will not hire such, and the universities there know of the bogus situation in Thailand when evaluating admissions applications.

I dare say that even any newly graduated medical doctor should not be practicing beyond taking vitals until he/she trains in USA. I read their diplomas on the wall or as listed in Web site.

Learning is just not valued in Thailand and HiSo think spending time studying is just a waste because dad has a company position ready for them anyway.

The other root problem is that Thai teachers function the same way... the Thai way. Western trained teachers soon learn that there no Fs or Ds, that their Thai colleagues and especially administrators are just time servers, and go along to get along is the rule. The way things are now, Thailand will remain locked in the gray Second World status forever.

[NongKhaiKid]

A Thai degree, even from Chula or Mahidol, are worthless outside of Thailand. Many in the West particularly will not hire such, and the universities there know of the bogus situation in Thailand when evaluating admissions applications.

I dare say that even any newly graduated medical doctor should not be practicing beyond taking vitals until he/she trains in USA. I read their diplomas on the wall or as listed in Web site.

Learning is just not valued in Thailand and HiSo think spending time studying is just a waste because dad has a company position ready for them anyway.

The other root problem is that Thai teachers function the same way... the Thai way. Western trained teachers soon learn that there no Fs or Ds, that their Thai colleagues and especially administrators are just time servers, and go along to get along is the rule. The way things are now, Thailand will remain locked in the gray Second World status forever.

Look at how many job adverts in the classifieds say ' Degree from foreign university preferred "

It says so much

[namdocmai]

A Thai degree, even from Chula or Mahidol, are worthless outside of Thailand. Many in the West particularly will not hire such, and the universities there know of the bogus situation in Thailand when evaluating admissions applications.

I dare say that even any newly graduated medical doctor should not be practicing beyond taking vitals until he/she trains in USA. I read their diplomas on the wall or as listed in Web site.

Learning is just not valued in Thailand and HiSo think spending time studying is just a waste because dad has a company position ready for them anyway.

The other root problem is that Thai teachers function the same way... the Thai way. Western trained teachers soon learn that there no Fs or Ds, that their Thai colleagues and especially administrators are just time servers, and go along to get along is the rule. The way things are now, Thailand will remain locked in the gray Second World status forever.

My Thai friend has a degree from Chula or Mahidol but any Indian speaks better english then him. He is very proud with his degree though, even has been to Norway with the university to "see how they work there". Don't tell them how the rest of the world thinks about those degree's because that's very offending.

[Fiddlesticks]

It still amazes me to see Westerners who are attending Thai universities in pursuit of degrees! Why would anyone want to do this unless they too only want the paper and could care less about gaining knowledge. Outside of Thailand, I have to believe that the value of a degree from almost any Thai university is nil.

[chainarong]

This is no brainer everyone knows this except the ones that supposed to, then again self denial is wonderful, I know of computer degree students that have never heard of hexadecimal or Binary maths , the main ingredient to computer language , I was told long ago that Thai UNI students learn how it is done but not the reason why is it done and calculus another shortcut methodology by Thai, they learn half of what you learn at a western Uni , however I am of the understanding, theses days , in the medical field they are up with the game.

[Crazy chef 1]

They call every scool a university. And even the ones who really did the top Thai university's can't speak proper english. Some even can't speak english at all even if they have been in the USA to study.

?

he means YL as best example.

[AYJAYDEE]

so if these folks that are polled are university graduates themselves, what makes them qualified to decide that university graduates are unqualified? sounds like just another rant of older folk complaining about the youth of today! lol

[cloudhopper]

A Thai degree, even from Chula or Mahidol, are worthless outside of Thailand. Many in the West particularly will not hire such, and the universities there know of the bogus situation in Thailand when evaluating admissions applications.

I dare say that even any newly graduated medical doctor should not be practicing beyond taking vitals until he/she trains in USA. I read their diplomas on the wall or as listed in Web site.

Learning is just not valued in Thailand and HiSo think spending time studying is just a waste because dad has a company position ready for them anyway.

The other root problem is that Thai teachers function the same way... the Thai way. Western trained teachers soon learn that there no Fs or Ds, that their Thai colleagues and especially administrators are just time servers, and go along to get along is the rule. The way things are now, Thailand will remain locked in the gray Second World status forever.

My Thai friend has a degree from Chula or Mahidol but any Indian speaks better english then him. He is very proud with his degree though, even has been to Norway with the university to "see how they work there". Don't tell them how the rest of the world thinks about those degree's because that's very offending.

Was his degree in English language? You seem to equate the ability to speak fluent English with intellectual competence.

[tifino]

every time I hear those 2 words spoken by missus thai: 'masters degree' -

- I break into my parrot sqwark: 'mastersdegree' mastersdegree', 'm~d', 'm~d'...

... I'll send her crackers eventually...

well - all they come out of uni' with, at best, is the ability to just parrot what is shown them...

[thailiketoo]

The truth emerges at last.

I find it utterly amazing at the number of ''graduates'' one see's on television spots being awarded degrees.

The immense number of these ''graduates'' Indeed Thailand's university system shames the rest of the worlds educational systems and their limited output of educated graduates.

Is that a fact?

Thailand college students 500.000 UK students 2,340,275

http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/print.php?id=2435

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/stats

[qwertyuiop]

Many Thai academics have studied and earned degrees overseas - from unis with powerful reputations like MIT and LSE. Given the standard of their English and their comprehension skills, I often wonder how. Then they return to Thailand and enter academia and slip back into the "Thai mold" (as a communications lecturer ar Chula once told me). By that I presume they fail to take on board the valuable moral lessons learnt from the overseas unis and allow themselves to become once again a part of the Thai system of money and patronage. The "no one ever fails" club. Hence the belief that only 2.24% of poll respondents believe Thai graduates are qualified. It's interesting that Thais recognise the failings in their uni system. It's also interesting that no one seems to want to do anything about it, despite education reform being an "urgent priority" for the past 30 years. Thai academics must take a major share of the blame for this. They can use their collective intelligence and powers to exact change - they know it, as do you and I, yet they are failing in their moral responsibility.

By the time the students get to university it is too late. . The complete overhaul of the system from the bottom up is required. Only last week another survey I believe from the World Economic forum reported that the Thai education system both primary and secondary ranked close to the bottom of ASEAN and behind that of Laos.

It's good that Thais see the problem but that is the easy part. Finding and implementing a solution is not.

[trogers]

A bachelor degree here is equivalent to grade 12 in the US.

No need to criticise Thai degrees. Just understand what they mean. Garbage collectors in some countries are called environment technicians after all.

[nong38]

What a surprise, but top marks for copying off thr blackboard and colouring in later.

[namdocmai]

A Thai degree, even from Chula or Mahidol, are worthless outside of Thailand. Many in the West particularly will not hire such, and the universities there know of the bogus situation in Thailand when evaluating admissions applications.

I dare say that even any newly graduated medical doctor should not be practicing beyond taking vitals until he/she trains in USA. I read their diplomas on the wall or as listed in Web site.

Learning is just not valued in Thailand and HiSo think spending time studying is just a waste because dad has a company position ready for them anyway.

The other root problem is that Thai teachers function the same way... the Thai way. Western trained teachers soon learn that there no Fs or Ds, that their Thai colleagues and especially administrators are just time servers, and go along to get along is the rule. The way things are now, Thailand will remain locked in the gray Second World status forever.

My Thai friend has a degree from Chula or Mahidol but any Indian speaks better english then him. He is very proud with his degree though, even has been to Norway with the university to "see how they work there". Don't tell them how the rest of the world thinks about those degree's because that's very offending.

Was his degree in English language? You seem to equate the ability to speak fluent English with intellectual competence.

I have no idea mate. I won't expect a graduate from the top thai university's to speak fluent english but at least be able to have a conversation. In Europe all university students can do that. I sure can speak with him but i have to speak very slow and don't use any uncommon words. His dad is a Thai professor who got his degree from abroad but his english is even much worse.

I also have familymembers who work in top hospitals in Bangkok and go abroad several times a year for conventions and so. They can't speak english but if they are good doctors i can't judge that.

[AYJAYDEE]

A bachelor degree here is equivalent to grade 12 in the US.

No need to criticise Thai degrees. Just understand what they mean. Garbage collectors in some countries are called environment technicians after all.

nonsense. I have worked with plenty of thai university grads and american high school grads and your statement is hogwash

[mrtoad]

Some of the worst Thai employees I have had, have been the ones with degrees. Incompetent is too polite a word to describe them. Two of my best staff do not have degrees, but they have adaptability, determination , they want to learn, work hard and they have taught themselves to speak English. Several "degreed" staff became quite upset when these staff started to get promoted based on their performance, an alien concept here I guess. I want Staff that "can do" as opposed to talk about it. That is not to say all University students are like that, because they aren't, my experience is that it is about attitude, personality and entitlement that is often the big difference.

[kaspercat]

They call every scool a university. And even the ones who really did the top Thai university's can't speak proper english. Some even can't speak english at all even if they have been in the USA to study.

My god, your English is really poor for someone criticizing. Can you speak or write English better than these graduates? It seems not!

[Yooyung]

Many Thai academics have studied and earned degrees overseas - from unis with powerful reputations like MIT and LSE. Given the standard of their English and their comprehension skills, I often wonder how. Then they return to Thailand and enter academia and slip back into the "Thai mold" (as a communications lecturer ar Chula once told me). By that I presume they fail to take on board the valuable moral lessons learnt from the overseas unis and allow themselves to become once again a part of the Thai system of money and patronage. The "no one ever fails" club. Hence the belief that only 2.24% of poll respondents believe Thai graduates are qualified. It's interesting that Thais recognise the failings in their uni system. It's also interesting that no one seems to want to do anything about it, despite education reform being an "urgent priority" for the past 30 years. Thai academics must take a major share of the blame for this. They can use their collective intelligence and powers to exact change - they know it, as do you and I, yet they are failing in their moral responsibility.

By the time the students get to university it is too late. . The complete overhaul of the system from the bottom up is required. Only last week another survey I believe from the World Economic forum reported that the Thai education system both primary and secondary ranked close to the bottom of ASEAN and behind that of Laos.

It's good that Thais see the problem but that is the easy part. Finding and implementing a solution is not.

That is indeed the problem. Primary schools...well, they can be ok. Once a kid gets to high school...forget about it. I have been working in a government school (never, never again...I have handed in my notice) and its just a shambles. Too many kids in the class, no resources, no discipline, everyone passes, Thai teachers that sit on their lazy butts with no interaction with the kids...simply write a load of words on the board and the kids just copy it, total disorganisation...of EVERYTHING! There is no culture of questioning anything, hardly any students are curious about much....Yes, by the time they get to uni the have been successfully turned into Thai zombies. Its sad because when you teach at primary school level you can still see the spark, the kids are curious, they are inventive....that gets beaten down by Matthayom 3.

Yes, the system needs a total overhaul! Its a system that produce such lovely people as the head of English department at my school. She has a mas DUR degeeee in English. I have to speak Thai to her a lot of the time because she literally doesnt understand me. Its a sad state of affairs.

[CWMcMurray]

Most employers in the US feel the same about US Graduates as well...

Guess that must mean that US Universities are also crap?

http://dailyfreepress.com/2012/12/10/employers-view-recent-graduates-as-unprepared-study-suggests/