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Thai education waiting for strategic giving

ACHARA DEBOONME
THE NATION

 

THAIS’ GENEROSITY should be refocused on something that can be scaled up and measured as well as lead to a better society, such as education.

 

That was the key message from speakers at an event held by the Rockefeller Foundation last week in Bangkok to woo donations from the Thai business sector, which could benefit the most from strategic giving.

"Considering the complex challenges facing Thailand in the 21st century, a better-coordinated and more strategic philanthropic sector is a vital pillar for catalysing positive change," said Ashvin Dayal, Asia managing director of the Rockefeller Foundation.

"Education is an emerging priority identified by the Thai philanthropic community, and the Rockefeller Foundation recognises that addressing this lies at the heart of achieving a more inclusive economy in a rapidly changing world."

For a decade, more than 20 per cent of state budgets have been allocated to education. Based on a survey by the National Statistical Office, the Thailand Development Research Fund Institute (TDRI) estimated that Thais donated more than Bt75 billion in 2014. Another survey showed that education was the most popular social cause for donations.

 

Several companies have also extended scholarships as part of their corporate-social-responsibility (CSR) schemes.

However, Thailand's scores in global education rankings remain poor, clouding the country's economic potential.

Nuttanan Wichitaksorn, TDRI research fellow, attributed the poor result to the fact that Thais have simply donated money without following up on the impacts of their generosity.

Relevant agencies also view education as a process, but they should be aware of multiple dimensions: A high dropout rate leads to higher crime rates, while low-quality education means low-quality labour for the business sector.

"The private sector needs to ask itself how it can help," he said.

Some ideas were presented at the event by six strategic education groups, including the Malaysian Collective Impact Initiative - a coalition of 12 public- and private-sector organisations geared to facilitate large-scale changes in education in Malaysia. Like Thailand, some parts of that country also witness high dropout ratios and teen pregnancies.

Elmarie Potgieter, MCII chief executive officer, said strengths must be reinforced from within.

At two public schools in Klang, Selangor state, teachers and administrators have undergone a quality-improvement programme, and curricula were changed. Students have been groomed for new opportunities. Unemployed families were included in the process, along with social organisations. Next year, the number of schools participating in this programme will be 14.

"It's not just training teachers or principles, or building schools … you have to address a wide variety of issues," Potgieter said. "Five years from now, we should report a significant change in education in Malaysia."

Members of MCII include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Prudential Assurance Malaysia, Westports Holdings, Credit Suisse, IOI Group and Hap Seng Group.

Financial support from the Thai business sector is also the goal of three Thai groups that joined last week's event - the Yuvabadhana Foundation, Teach for Thailand, and LearnEducation.

Mona Siwarungsan, director of the Yuvabadhana Foundation, emphasised the need for strategic partners, as schools need new tools, students need continued financial support and teachers need training.

With 2,000 schools in its network, the foundation's main goal is to ensure that more students complete high school while vocational students complete their primary vocational studies.

Teach for Thailand's goal is to supply quality teachers to Bangkok public schools. Joining it are professionals from various careers who want to devote their knowledge.

LearnEducation aims to assist teaching with technology. In schools where it is normal to have just one teacher per 40 students, digital files of some core subjects and tests allow one-on-one focus. Teachers have software to facilitate their tasks in student evaluation and reporting. The system was tested in a school in Suphan Buri, which attained a No 1 score in science in a national test within three years.

Tanin Timtong, co-founder and managing director of LearnEducation, said short-term and long-term evaluation systems must be in place to achieve true success. In the short term, both students and teachers must be happy with learning and teaching. In the medium term, students are offered more career choices. In the long term, Thailand will be a better society with a quality workforce.

"It is vital that we involve all stakeholders relevant to each stage," he said. "We need to draw resources from various institutes. We want support, be it financial resources, personnel, or equipment," he said.

In his keynote address, former prime minister Anand Panyarachun stressed that Thais were familiar with donations, believing that such giving is good for them and their families. Companies have launched CSR schemes aside from charitable donations, but without the right processes, goals and evaluation systems, these would never improve Thai society.

Highlighting that philanthropy - giving for the better good - is vital for Thai society, he said, and education could be used as the agent for change and catalyst in transforming Thai society. Investment in education would lead to research and development, which could yield greater benefits to the Thai economy than investments in physical infrastructure.

"Let's change for the better and make a difference. Giving is not to help people sustain their lives, but to help them grow, expand and add their own value," Anand said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Thai-education-waiting-for-strategic-giving-30294132.html

 

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-09-04

[jaltsc]

"THAIS’ GENEROSITY should be refocused on something that can be scaled up and measured as well as lead to a better society..."

 

If Buddha's teachings couldn't convince them to do this, why does anyone think these speakers will?

Edited September 3, 2016 by jaltsc

[PatOngo]

Thai education waiting for strategic giving

Give them a few submarines......show your intentions are for the good of education and society in general.

[Somtamnication]

LOL. The school directors have always backed "strategic giving". 

[Srikcir]

A study "The Giving Behavior of Households in Thailand" by Manasigan Kanchanachitra published January 2014 in the Journal of Population and Social Studies, Vol. 22(1) showed that the category of giving  expenditure that is most common with the highest rate of participation is contribution to religious activities:

Merit Giving                                                               93.1%

To Persons not in the Household                     20.2%     (Includes remittances to family members in different households)    

To Charitable Organizations/Institutions    17.8%

In terms of generosity its is the Rural residents over the Urban residents who give the greatest amount of donations.

 

[Lunchbob]

The insanity of someone from the Rockefeller Foundation spewing this. Wow.