Experts concerned about Thailand education system

BANGKOK, April 6 (TNA) - Educational experts have expressed concerns on education system in Thailand as new graduates have to compete hard with their colleagues from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), especially after the implementation of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015. Their worries were made during a meeting on education, sponsored by Rangsit University, on Sunday. Olarn Chaiprawat, a former deputy prime minister, said it is about time for every concerned party to prepare an educational strategy. Thailand is still far behind in producing sufficient, qualitative goods and this is difficult to compete with foreign-made products, he said. For example, Japan’s OTOP products are quite expensive although their costs are low. Japanese products are expensive because of high costs arising from creativity, designs and packaging, Mr. Olarn said. Piniti Ratananukul, deputy secretary-general of Office of the Higher Education Commision, opined that newly graduates in Thailand will have to compete hard for jobs with their colleagues from other ASEAN members. Several four-star hotels in Pattaya resort have to hire proficient English-speaking from the Philippines or from Thailand’s neighbouring countries, said Mr. Piniti, adding that this is quite worrisome for the future of Thai children. Also, several local firms have admitted that it is difficult to “further develop” newly graduated students, said Mr. Piniti, adding that there is a need to develop educational curriculum in Thailand which could assist national economic development. Thienchai Kiranan, a committee member of the National Research Council of Thailand, expressed that insufficient economic knowledge would pose an obstacle to market mechanism. Therefore, people of new generation must be well prepared for the implementation of AEC. (TNA)