“I can’t agree with the move,” Prof Sompong Jitradub of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education said at a seminar on Thursday.

“Graduates from the five-year education course are instilled with ethics and teaching philosophies,” Sompong said. “These qualities are not something anyone has and are important to teachers.”

The faculty hosted the seminar to discuss the new rule, which was introduced earlier this month, and its possible ramifications.

The rule aims to attract capable people to the teaching profession, regardless of whether they are trained teachers.