Students urged to study for professions that match capabilities

[webfact]

Students urged to study for professions that match capabilities

By KWANCHAI RUNGFAPAISARN 
THE NATION

 

Suphan Mongkolsuthree, centre, Krungthai Bank chairman of corporate governance and social responsibility committee, presided over the opening of the “Next-Gen Careers by KTB: Shape Your Future” career guidance festival at the weekend.

 

BANGKOK: -- PARENTS, friends and media content, especially from movies and televisions, are still the strongest influences on Thai students as they choose careers and the field of study to pursue at university.

Suphan Mongkolsuthree, Krungthai Bank chairman of the corporate governance and social responsibility committee, said that students however should be allowed to choose careers they really prefer and are a good fit with their capabilities. 

 

“Any profession has good benefit, not only to individuals themselves but also the whole society. Students should be consulted by academics and business community, which careers they will choose to best fit with their capabilities and fulfil their personal working achievements,” said Suphan.

 

Suphan said that digital technologies have played a vital role in the emergence of new careers, especially in media and digital technology. Those are in addition to traditional and significant jobs, such as finance, auditing, accounting, law and medicine.

 

“Today, a new generation of students want to be successful in their work life in a very short period of time. They decide to work in media and IT firms when they graduate so that they can enjoy a quick return from those popular jobs.

 

“However, this trend will cause a shortage of workers in some other careers, such as state officials, which provide lower salaries and take a longer period of time for people to be successful in life,” Suphan said. Even state agencies need to immediately plan for how to deal with the labour shortage problem and to attract good talent to their organisations in the future, he added. 

 

Suphan said the government needs to let the private sector get more involved in education “so that individual students will learn about the real working experience”. In my point of view, the industrial sector will face a shortage of labour caused by the lower birth rate of the Thai people.

 

 “I’m quite concerned that in the future newly graduated students, who are still selecting jobs, will be under unemployed, being replaced by robots,” said Suphan.

 

“Newly graduated students then need to improve themselves both on working skills and how to comply themselves with new technologies,” he added.

 

Suphan said the toughened foreign labour law would likely add to further pressures on the labour market if the number of migrant workers shrank.

 

Kiatanantha Lounkaew, assistant to the vice president for research, Dhurakij Pundit University, said that it is a well-known fact that the unemploy-ment rate is the highest for those with university degree. Recent release by the National Statistical Office showed that there were around 169,000 unemployed graduates, up by 56,000 people from last year.

 

It’s clear that the labour market does not favour university graduates, he said. Yet many parents still believe that having a university degree is the path to a good life, at least in an economic sense, said Kiatanantha. 

 

Employers need someone with a university degree in science, technology or other technical areas, yet most graduates hold degrees in social sciences, business and humanities.

 

A second problem is the skill gap. Even a graduate with the right degree might not be able to find a job due to lack of ability to put what they learnt into practice. Also, Kiatanantha said, students are taught to rely on memory rather than improve critical thinking and problem-solving skills. 

 

“What we – parents, teachers, media – should be promoting is to urge our children to discover what they are good at and assist them in pursuing that path.”

 

Kiatanantha concluded, “There is ample evidence that students who went through hands-on learning with industries perform considerably better in terms of employment prospect compared to their peers without such exposure.”

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Economy/30321001

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-18

 

[jaywalker]

2 minutes ago, webfact said:

 “I’m quite concerned that in the future newly graduated students, who are still selecting jobs, will be under unemployed, being replaced by robots,” said Suphan.

They are raised to BE ROBOTS!

[Nigeone]

No fail !!  Lack of critical thinking , poor education standards and a bad mentality and work ethic generally means that most graduates will fall along way short of what's needed to drive this country forward . Also of course a failure of those in power to let students flourish ! Not changing in my lifetime sadly !

[yellowboat]

26 minutes ago, webfact said:

Employers need someone with a university degree in science, technology or other technical areas, yet most graduates hold degrees in social sciences, business and humanities.

Now that they are done being educated it is time for them to learn.   All jobs can benefit from knowing how to use and develop a database.  It is far easier than it sounds and the software is free.  Put down the game pad.  Building technical abilities on top of social sciences, business and humanities is hugely beneficial, given they have strong basics in reading, writing and arithmetic.  

[harada]

The type of degree that they hold depends on how much their parents can pay for them. 

[ukrules]

Suphan said the toughened foreign labour law would likely add to further pressures on the labour market if the number of migrant workers shrank.

 

They're planning for it already.

 

I would not be surprised at all if the list of jobs that foreigners are allowed to do has a large number of new entries added to it in the next few years, before the next election I might add.

[esprit]

Unfortunately because of the poor education standards there are very few professions that could possibly match their capabilities.

 

Of course judging by what I have been led to believe as to the increase of student's ads on certain dating sites apparently , it appears that many female students are already following the "profession" that they wish to excel at.

[LazySlipper]

They invest themselves minimally in their education and know nothing of world news, History or Geography. They pass all their classes because of a no-fail policy. They have no consequences for their actions.

 

Hmmm... at this point I am thinking that even a cashier job at a 7/11 requires more qualifications and skills for 90% of today's kids.

 

 

[jaywalker]

I took a moto-taxi once in Pattaya....80 baht there & 80 baht back. He waited 3 or 4 minutes for me at point B.

 

160 baht right?

 

I could see the cogs of reason & math battling it out in his head as he tried to add 80 + 80.

 

I felt sorry for the guy (nice enough fella) and gave him 200 baht. I was planning to give him 200 baht from the start, but it was a lot of fun watching him try to do math.

 

Oh yeah. I speak basic Thai, so it wasn't a language issue at all.

Edited July 18, 2017 by jaywalker

[jaltsc]

"Students urged to study for professions that match capabilities..."

 

Xerox already invented a copying machine.

Edited July 18, 2017 by jaltsc

[Emster23]

"Son, based on your capabilities and education, you are a perfect match for environmental recycling engineer."

"Great! When can I start?"
"Here's a bag, Now head down to the beach and start collecting beer bottles".

[jaywalker]

I was an "Underfoot Foliage Lowering Technician" when I was 18...I cut grass to put beer on the table.

 

We all gotta start somewhere I guess.

[Chris Lawrence]

Old school network is what it takes to get the good jobs, Like General.

[maewang99]

so you're advising children to not think of being medical doctors?

not taxi drivers...... although that is also a target...

not nurses at all, that is a very safe one....

but yes to medical doctors. because it involves a lot of rote memorization... plus.... almost ceaseless research and skill updates to remain at all cutting edge competent... no matter how old or busy you get to be....

.. as in..... busy as a medical doctor.... right?


 

Edited July 18, 2017 by maewang99

[Knocker33]

Are they going to start classes in scamming , lying and cheating as the majority would graduate with flying colours 

[trainman34014]

6 hours ago, Knocker33 said:

Are they going to start classes in scamming , lying and cheating as the majority would graduate with flying colours 

They already get all those classes at home !

[esprit]

7 hours ago, Emster23 said:

"Son, based on your capabilities and education, you are a perfect match for environmental recycling engineer."

"Great! When can I start?"
"Here's a bag, Now head down to the beach and start collecting beer bottles".

Are but that task is beneath them these days.  Those jobs are for illegal Burmese, Cambodians and Laos to undertake

[esprit]

4 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

They already get all those classes at home !

And promoted by the Junta