My suggestion is that they should focus on the two elements crucial to solving all kinds of problems – good governance and transparency.

If all universities were well governed and with transparency, problems could never worsen to a point where Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has to invoke his special Article 44 powers.

Article 44 was invoked to issue measures at various problem-hit institutes last year, including Assumption, Surindra Rajabhat and Chaiyaphum Rajabhat universities.

The issue at Surindra stemmed from a university council president amending rules to allegedly allow “his people” to join administrative panels, while at Chaiyaphum University half of the committee members resigned, posing administration difficulties. Under Article 44, oversight panels intervened to amend rules with all sides’ agreement, and also tackled financial and resource management issues.

Supat Jampathong should be commended for his move to form a team to promote good governance among universities.

“Many universities’ governance issues affect Thai education management quality and hurt public confidence,” the Office of the Higher Education Commission (Ohec) chief said.

He added that most problems stemmed from executive-level disputes over human resources, work arrangements, or benefits. They arose because executives neglected their duties, prioritised their own private benefits or were simply greedy.

Sumit Suwan, Kasetsart University vice president for research and academic services, said the major governance problem was a lack of virtue in university councils and administration.

“As long as universities select on ability rather than morality, conflicts over power and benefits will lead to governance problems. Nepotism is also often at play in selecting council members or rectors. The selection procedures should be open to all so that good and able candidates are chosen for councils. Meanwhile the age and qualifications of council presidents, members and rectors should also be clearly stated. Lecturer candidates should be judged on their academic background, work experience, lifestyle (including social media use) and even psychological tests,” he added.

The Education Ministry and Ohec have tried to solve the problem by enforcing and amending laws, but the law acts merely as guidance and is not a magic cure. Invoking Article 44 or the Higher Education Act is useful to a certain degree, but, since governance depends on virtue and capability, problems can’t be solved if people still lack those elements, he said.

Late last year, the Office of the Auditor General asked Prayut to stall plans for government agencies and state enterprises to hire universities as advisers, on grounds that such action might affect lecturers’ duties – including teaching. Between 2012 and 2016, about 90 universities served as state advisers in 4,219 projects worth a total Bt14 billion in fees. Eighteen of the universities weren’t registered on the adviser list at the Finance Ministry.

Good governance and transparency must now be promoted seriously at universities.

Higher-education executives must understand that they cannot place their personal interest above that of the country.

By ignoring their core duty of producing quality human resources and inspiring the young to achieve noble goals, they have endangered the country’s future.

The threat is real, particularly in light of the open secret that much of the mis-governance has evaded scrutiny by the public or authorities.

We need to tackle this scourge with efficiency to prevent our most precious national resource from being wasted.

Special powers or specific laws are not the answer. Neither is the move to upgrade the Ohec to the status of Ministry of Higher Education.

Instead, it is crucial that efforts focus on instilling the right attitude and requiring all faculty staff/executives to uphold good governance as well as transparency.

Begin that push now and it won’t be long before we see tangible results.

While most Thai analysts expect no major impact from the junta’s decision to delay the general election, international scholars have warned that foreign investors might lose confidence in the regime as Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), often failed to keep his word.

“The postponement of the general election will certainly have a negative impact on international confidence in the Prayut administration,” said Yasuhito Asami of the Department of Global Politics at Hosei University in Tokyo.

Foreign investors have different views on whether holding the general election at the end of this year or next year will have a positive or negative influence on the Thai economy in the short term, Asami added. Regardless, many of them will consider the Prayut administration untrustworthy, he said.

“General Prayut has been breaking many of the promises he made. If he fails to hold a general election as he promised again, international investors will find it difficult to trust him to pursue other policies as he promised. International investors like predictability and hate uncertainty,” he said.

However, he added that the negative impact of the delay of the election would not be great, if the election is held in the early half of 2018.

Most foreign investors understand that the royal succession is such an important event for Thais that it affects the government “road map” to democracy somewhat, said Asami, who has studied Thai affairs for many years and speaks fluent Thai.

“But if the election is postponed beyond mid-2018, it will seriously damage international investors’ confidence in Thailand and they will divert their investments to other countries,” the Japanese scholar said.

The economy has faced a slowdown since 2014 due to the international economic situation and the domestic management of the economy. While many are worried pushing the election back to next year will have repercussions for he economy, local economists remain optimistic.

Teerana Bhongmakapat, a former economics lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said the delay would not inflict any major impact on the economy, and that any effects from the change to the road map will depend largely on the reasons behind it.

“If it is for the best results of the organic law writing, investors would understand and so the postponement could have a positive impact,” Teerana said. “But if it is about not finishing the laws in time, investors could view the government as having a hidden agenda in delaying the election and so it might yield a negative impact.”

The economist, however, added that the key was stability, rather than the election. Investors could accept anything so long as there was stability in the country, he said.

Pairoj Wongwipanon, former dean of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Economics, shares a similar viewpoint, saying that the business sector might not be serious about the election. Those who know Thailand will not look at any change in the administration. They look more at the government’s performance and policies, he said.

In the first week of the year, when the road map was supposed to be in its final stage, the junta revealed that the related legislation might not be completed in time to allow an election this year.

And after redoing the maths, it said it could be 20 months before the poll could be carried out. It insists, however, that “everything is following the road map”.

While the road map might be slightly different from the so-called 6-4-6-4 roadmap the junta said it followed two years ago, some political critics expressed understanding towards the situation.

Trakoon Meechai, a former political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, and Suriyasai Katasila, deputy dean at Rangsit University’s College of Social Innovation, said they understood the reasons for the change and anticipated people in general would also accept it as a necessity.

The delay would not cause political tension, Trakoon said. The situations facing the country, such as the legislation related to the road map and the royal cremation, make the deferment explainable, he said.

Politicians will not complain because it would be difficult to campaign in an election anyway when people are still mourning, he said. The delay should make the situation better as political parties have more time to prepare for the election and adapt to the new rules before the election, he added.

However Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher on Thailand at Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, and Sirote Klampaiboon, an independent scholar, warned the government of the Kingdom’s reputation being possibly tarnished and of a backlash for breaking its promise regarding the election.

Though the circumstances for the delay are understandable, Thailand in the eyes of the international community remains a country governed by a coup regime, Sunai said.

“With such a regime, the country is viewed as suffering arbitrary repression and abuse especially in the human rights area,” he said.

Human rights advocate Sunai expected there to be pressure on the government from the international community. As the government had made promises to foreigners about the election but failed to keep its word, Sunai said its credibility would inevitably be undermined.

However, he said what was more important than the election was the political environment prior to it. When the country’s foreign friends tolerated the election delay, they expressed the importance of the atmosphere that should be fostered under future democratic rule, Sunai said.

Sirote said frustration would grow among those people who had been silently tolerant in the belief that the election would happen.

“In the big picture, certainty in politics now lies in the road map. But then, it just keeps changing, resulting in uncertainty” he said. And as the road map’s significance is the scheme for the return of a civilian rule and it gets endlessly extended, the question now is whether or not we will ever have a civilian government.”

Local people have reported getting blisters after wading through contaminated floodwaters near their homes.

“This health threat has already affected more than 150 families. It may hit more victims because floodwaters are massive this time,” Watchara Chumtham, the kamnan of Tambon Na Sai, said yesterday.

Nakhon Si Thammarat has been flooded for about a week after southern provinces were hit by torrential rain.

Meanwhile, Sudarat Saisuwan, a 42-year-old resident in Trang’s Rassada district, said she had been stranded at her home for five days.

Local leaders have tried to ease people’s grievances by providing a boat and assigning boatmen to enable transport of necessary goods and passengers.

“When we need something, we need to ask for the boat. Boatmen help buy stuff from elsewhere. Without the boats, we can’t travel around,” she said.

Sudarat added that the boat had also taken local residents who fell ill to doctors.

She said she appreciated the provision of the boat but she felt her village should have more because in emergencies one boat might not suffice.

“I also really hope that I at least can get a life vest,” Sudarat said.

“I have recognised that there have been wide gaps among schools. I have noticed that so many schools will fall into the Thailand 1.0 version, if a categorisation were made,” Teerakiat said during an interview with Suthichai Yoon.

Suthichai, a former adviser to Nation Multimedia Group’s editorial board, conducted the interview for Suthichai Live Anywhere Anytime programme on NOW26. The interview took place after Teerakiat was named the new education minister in the middle of last month.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has been pushing for the Thailand 4.0 goal for a long time. The Thailand 4.0 vision has even been integrated into the 12th national economic and social development plan, which is scheduled for implementation between 2017 and 2020.

According to Prayut, Thailand 1.0 refers to the time when the country was still primarily reliant on agriculture while Thailand 2.0 refers to the time when the country started using machines and engaging in labour-based industries. Thailand 3.0 is when the country developed heavy industries and attracted foreign investment.

“But all those versions are models requiring us to work real hard to gain so little. If we successfully change to Thailand 4.0, our economy will be innovation-based. We can work less and earn more,” Prayut said.

Before his promotion, Teerakiat served as a deputy education minister in the Prayut-led government since August 2015. During his tenure, he secretly inspected various schools in the country, discovering some distressing facts, including that hundreds of thousands of students study at schools that lack specialised teachers for every subject.

At a school in Pathum Thani province, which is a short drive from Bangkok, many of the Mathayom 3 students were found to be addicted to drugs, which was seen as an indication that teachers were not looking after the students very well.

So no matter what prestigious awards Thai “whiz kids” have earned at international contests, Teerakiat is acutely aware that too many children do not enjoy quality education and good opportunities.

“I don’t think we can improve the academic performance via a STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] focus, if we ignore the fact that so many schools lack proper teaching staff,” Teerakiat said.

So after being installed as the new education minister, Teerakiat announced that he would first focus on about 3,000 so-called “ICU schools”.

He regards these schools in being in such poor condition that they need a response akin to intensive care because they are in such poor condition. “This is an urgent mission. I also think we should be able to improve the conditions of all these 3,000 schools within one year,” he said.

He said that he believed that when the government reached out to grassroots communities regarding the educational sector and invested in human-resource development, improvements could be made.

“If the efforts prove successful this year, we will expand our efforts to 3,000 more schools next year,” he said.

Teerakiat said he would engage stakeholders in the process with local communities. “I won’t prescribe one-size-fit-all solutions. I will let each ICU school find the best solutions via contributions from parties concerned,” he said.

The minister also planned to push ahead with his policy to boost English-language skills among students, which he had tried to implement since he became deputy education minister.

Teerakiat, who studied overseas in his younger years, said that English proficiency increased work efficiency, enhanced a person’s communication skills and raised their competitiveness.

Another urgent mission Teerakiat hoped to push forward involved the development of pre-school children.

“We should invest in children at this age, too, so that they have all the necessary skills to fully develop their potential as they grow up,” he said.

Under Teerakiat’s leadership, the Education Ministry is also set to improve budget efficiency in the educational sector and take action against anyone trying to embezzle money.

“Corruption has taken place in many construction projects at educational institutes,” Teerakiat said.

He added that he would not tolerate such practices and would take necessary measures.

“Don’t steal children’s money,” he said.

The Office of the Higher Education Commission (Ohec), the current version of the old University Affairs Ministry, will probably have its ministry status restored if Teerakiat remains in power.

He had already assigned the current chair of the University Presidents Council of Thailand to look into the issue, he said.

And eight provinces – Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Ranong and Phang Nga – face more heavy rain until today.

Relentless heavy downpours that triggered floods in the eight provinces – plus Narathiwat, Yala, Songkhla and Pattani earlier in the week – had affected a quarter of a million households or 744,422 people in 3,376 villages in 85 districts, Department chief Chatchai Phromlert said yesterday.

Surat Thani reported three deaths while Songkhla, Narathiwat, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung saw two deaths each. One person remains missing after being swept away by floods in Phatthalung, he said.

Phatthalung, Chumphon and Trang reported rising floods, while other provinces said water was stable or starting to recede, he added.

Meanwhile, Education Minister  Dr Teerakiat Jareonsettasin said more than 1,400 schools in the South were affected and their properties damaged by floods. Classes were suspended as a precaution for student safety, he said.

The Office of Vocational Education Commission dispatched technical college students and teachers to repair flood-damaged appliances, vehicles and agriculture tools – for free.

Deputy Education Minister ML Panadda Diskul will preside over a meeting tomorrow of related educational agencies to find measures to aid flood-affected schools and students.

The severe flood also raised concerns over ancient sites in the region. Culture Minister Veera Rojpojanarat said he had ordered officials to survey flood damage at ancient sites in the South for restoration later.

Fourth Army Region chief Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich made a helicopter survey yesterday of Songkhla to inspect the flood situation. Military aircraft delivered food to 100 marooned residents in Phatthalung’s Khuan Khanoon district and flood victims in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Cha-uat and Noppitham districts.

With water levels still high in many areas, soldiers would cook and deliver food as well as open army camps as temporary shelters, Piyawat said.

In Trang province six of seven districts were seriously hit. Na Yong, Rassada, Huay Yot, Kantang, Wang Wiset, Muang were all declared disaster zones.

Trang Governor Siripat Pattanakul said that floods in the Na Yong, Muang and Rassada districts had eased but Huay Yot, Wang Wiset and areas near the Trang River Basin were still under up to a metre of water, making roads impassable.

Dozens of people were marooned in their homes. And Trang is bracing for another deluge from Nakhon Si Thammarat in coming days, he said.

More than 10,000 relief bags and drinking water were given away to affected residents and he will soon withdraw Bt50 million from state emergency funds to aid the victims.

Trang’s Muang district saw three flood barriers along the Trang River busted later yesterday in Tambon Nong Trud, Na Ta Luang and Bang Rak, which inflicting more misery on local communities, as the rain continued. Some 100 monks and novices at Wat Prasitthichai in Muang district moved their belongings to higher ground, as the Trang River rose. They also cooked their own meals as the floods prevented them from going out to receive alms.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Muang district, a number of crocodiles escaped from display areas at the flood-hit Thung Tha Lat Zoo in Somdej Phra Srinagarindra 84 Park. Zoo workers were making efforts to capture them. They warned residents in the vicinity that some might have escaped.

Residents in Songkhla’s Ranote district suffered a second blow yester-day following runoff from Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung, which also caused Songkhla Lake to rise. This left the lakeside districts of Krasae Sin, Sathing Phra, and Singha Nakhon inundated.

In Surat Thani, eight districts were flood-affected while rains continued, although many areas saw floodwater recede and some low-lying areas were under 50cm to one metre of water.

Tha Chana and Chaiya districts were being monitored for possible landslides and flash floods as heavy rain was expected until today.

Residents in Ban Na Tham and Ban Pak Hai in Tambon Tha Uthen in Kanchanadit district lamented that Thursday’s flash floods destroyed their bridge and toppled power poles. This forced the authorities to cut power as a precautionary measure. About 300 families have been living without electricity ever since. In Prachuap Khiri Khan, 150 fishing boats, cargo ships and other vessels docked at bays to evade up to four-metre-high waves that sank six fishing boats on Friday.

Meanwhile, Government Housing Bank president Chatchai Sirilai said the bank had arranged Bt500 million to assist southern flood victims from tomorrow. In the second measure, customers can borrow up to Bt1 million each under the special loan scheme to fix homes. For details, call 0-2645-9000 or visit http://www.ghbank.co.th.