Thread: Pheu Thai's Education Agenda: Woravat's puzzling big plans

Woravat's puzzling big plans - The Nation

Woravat's puzzling big plans

Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation January 5, 2012 1:00 am


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 -::- .

"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.