THE IMMINENT move to cut the duration of teacher-training programmes by a year has upset teachers and students alike.

At a roundtable discussion held at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education earlier , many teaching students said that if the programme was shortened from five to four years, they would lose the opportunity to learn many useful things.

“In fact, I think the programme should be extended to six years,” Romklao Changnoi, a maths teacher at the Wat Dusitaram secondary school in Bangkok, said. He had completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education from Chulalongkorn University. The university held a forum last week to hear what its students, former graduates and other stakeholders thought about the government’s initiative to cut down on the duration of teacher-training courses.

In response to the Education Ministry’s policy, Rajabhat universities will be the first to shorten the programmes from next year, while other higher-education institutes will likely follow suit. The five-year programme was introduced in 2004 with the hope of raising the quality of teachers and promoting the teaching profession.

Romklao said the longer programme allowed students to explore different subjects. For instance, he said, he once enrolled in a design course in the Faculty of Architecture and found it very useful in designing his maths classes.

“It expanded my horizons and helped me think outside the box,” he said.

Many students at the forum echoed his opinion, saying they would learn less if the programme were shortened by a year. They are also keen on enrolling in practical courses, such as teaching students with disabilities, students with autism, learning sign language, marketing, basic finance, technology and design. “There is at least one student with autism in every class I teach. They study with other students and often lag behind. I think it would be good if we can learn how to cope with that,” Romklao pointed out.

Anurak Ninlahoot, who is majoring in secondary-school education and biology at Chulalongkorn University, said even with five years, students do not have enough time to practice teaching. “I hope we get more practice classes that allow us to work independently. Most of the courses at our faculty are group based,” he said. He has taken several science courses in the university and attended many lab classes.

Currently, teacher-training courses comprise of solid academic classes, psychology studies, designing classrooms and classroom materials to name a few. Fifth-year students get to spend their last year teaching at an actual school.

Cutting the course by a year could mean that students will not have a whole year to teach in front of a class anymore, but may have to rush through training in the last semester or do it during college breaks. Nutchadin Ma-inkaew, a Samsenwittayalai School teacher, said: “We study many theories in school like ‘flipping the classroom’ and ‘project-based learning’, but many trainees don’t seem to know how to incorporate them in teaching reflecting the need for adequate training time.”

“We will have to prepare courses that respond to the development of target industries in the EEC,” Office of Higher Education Commission (Ohec) secretary-general Suphat Champatong said of the new focus.

The government has identified 10 industries as key drivers for the country’s growth. They are: Next – Generation Automotive; Smart Electronics; Affluent, Medical and Wellness Tourism; Agriculture and Biotechnology; Food for the Future; Robotics; Aviation and Logistics; Biolfuels and Biochemicals; Digital Industry; and Medical Hub.

Suphat emphasised that the educational sector must earnestly move ahead in line with the country’s development goals and policies.

He said CMKL University is a clear example of how higher-education institutes can take the initiative in supporting Thailand’s move forward.

Established by Carnegie Mellon University and King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, CMKL University is now accepting applications to train people for master’s and doctorates in engineering.

“Graduates will be quality human resources for target industries,” Suphat said.

He believes CMKL will be able to produce 200 master’s graduates, 80 doctoral graduates and 50 “world-class innovators” over the next decade.

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology is a leading educational institute in Thailand, while Carnegie Mellon University is a prominent school in the United States.

Suphat said Ohec has also been negotiating for cooperation with many other top foreign universities with an eye to setting up more new, high-quality universities in Thailand and producing a capable workforce to match the new engines of growth.

“For example, we are now in talk with Switzerland’s Les Roches Global Education for a hospitality and leisure management programme, Japan’s Tokyo University for an aerospace engineering programme, and Britain’s University of Portsmouth for aviation and robotics programmes,” Suphat said.

He added that such moves would also help make Thailand Southeast Asia’s education hub.

Thammasat University rector Associate Professor Gasinee Witoonchart, meanwhile, recently sought a meeting with Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana about a plan to establish the first higher-educational facility in the EEC.

“We plan to develop our Pattaya campus in Chon Buri and we establish it as a medical hub too,” Gasinee said.

She said the campus would operate specialised medical facilities and even include a research centre for medical innovations.

“We will pursue our goals in collaboration with the private sector,” she said.

Gasinee said Uttama had expressed support for the plan because it could contribute to EEC development.

The chosen location is about 40 kilometres from U-tapao Airport, 121km from Suvarnabhumi and 27km from Laem Chabang Port.

Gasinee said Thammasat’s Pattaya campus would also host a Thammasat Innovation Hub. Spanning 24,000 square metres, it would feature 10 buildings, including a co-working space, “smart space for active learning” and business co-working space.

Thammasat has already inked agreements for cooperation with several organisations in pursuit of the plan to develop the campus in a significant and high-impact way. Among its partners are the Federation of Thai Industries, MAIC Motor-CP, Banpu and Hong Kong Cyber Port.

Gasinee said the cooperation would be fruitful.

“For example, we will collaborate with Banpu in developing metro-train prototypes,” she said, “Our collaboration with MAIC Motor-CP will meanwhile focus on automobile technology development.”

Marine National Park Operation Centre 2 at Phuket announced earlier this week it would offer a cash reward of up to Bt20,000 to anyone who finds new turtle nests on the beaches of Phuket and Phang Nga in order to ensure that the turtle eggs will not be smuggled and sold in the black market and to ensure that the rare, newborn sea turtles will have a higher survival rate.

Sea turtles’ nesting season on the Andaman coast off southern Thailand is between November and March every year. The national park authority has been encouraging people to help the park officers conserve sea turtles by finding turtle nests. People who find leatherback turtle’s nest will be granted a Bt20,000 reward, while the prize for finding the nest of other marine turtle species is Bt10,000.

Marine National Park Operation Centre 2 also pointed out that those who discover the turtle nests must inform the park officers to safely retrieve the turtle eggs immediately and they must not retrieve the turtle eggs themselves, because not only is it against the law but also improper transportation of turtle eggs may hamper its hatching.

Phang Nga’s Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Mueang National Park chief Mongkol Lieuwiriyakul said the sea turtle conservation measure to reward people who help the park officers identify and safely retrieve turtle eggs is not new. The park has followed this policy for many years, but this nesting season is the first time that the campaign has been widely publicised and such a high reward offered.

Mongkol said the retrieved eggs will be relocated to a safe location and when the eggs are hatched, the park officers will look after the hatchlings until they are strong enough before returning them to the sea in order to increase their survival rate.

“Due to the lack of an advertising campaign, we did not get much collaboration from the public. Giving the people who find the turtle nests just a few thousand baht is not compelling enough, because they can sell turtle eggs in the black market at a far higher price,” he said.

It was also revealed that the price of turtle eggs in the black market was as high as Bt300 per egg.

“This is why this year we decided to increase the financial reward and widely advertised the campaign both in local and social media,” Mongkol added.

People in the coastal areas of Southeast Asia have a long tradition of hunting sea turtles for meat and consuming turtle eggs, as in the past the turtle population was abundant and turtle eggs could be commonly found.

However, this tradition has led to a large drop in the sea-turtle population and critically endangered the survival of many turtle species, especially the leatherback turtle. Authorities have registered all species of sea turtles in Thailand as conserved animals and the poaching or collecting of turtle eggs are now illegal. Even though sea turtles are conserved by law in Thailand, their number has reduced even further.

The Marine National Park Operation Centre 2 disclosed that this year alone, more than 25 sea turtles were found dead on the northern Andaman coast, due to the problems of plastic pollution in the sea, illegal fishing and turtle eggs smuggling.

Mongkol informed that the long and quiet beaches from Thai Mueang Beach in Phang Nga to Mai Khao Beach in Phuket are among the most prominent nesting grounds for sea turtles in Thailand, so many turtle nests could easily be found at these beaches in the past.

But as the number of sea turtles continues to drop, even in the major nesting grounds inside Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Mueang National Park, the turtle nests have become rare. The leatherback turtle’s nest has not been sighted in this park for four years, he said.

He added that with more progressive measures on advertising the campaign, he hoped more people would help the park officers in monitoring the new turtle nests and enhance the efficiency of sea-turtle conservation.

DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES are going to bring down Thai universities’ rankings – no matter how well regarded they are now – unless they adjust quickly and efficiently, Deputy Education Minister Udom Kachintorn has warned.

“For one thing, Thailand’s birth rate has fallen drastically,” Udom said at the 14th NU Research Conference, “For another, technologies have evolved to a point that people can learn anytime, anywhere”.

Held by the Naresuan University, the event took place late last week and examined the theme “University in Disruptive Era”.

“Disruption has been moving fast. If universities do not adjust, they should not expect the government to help them out,” Udom said.

He pointed out that there was a high possibility that some universities would be closed and some would be merged.

Udom said the trend had already begun in many countries. He said in France’s Bordeaux region, the number of local universities had already dropped from four to just one.

In his opinion, Thai universities will see clear impacts of disruption within the next five years.

He said the number of students at open universities had fallen by 50 per cent, while the number at top private universities had plunged 70 per cent.

“Two decades ago, about one million children were born in Thailand each year. But now just about 600,000 are born annually,” Udom said.

He said, given that just a little over half of children born today would enrol in university for a bachelor’s degree, universities must realise they need to implement big changes.

He said universities must focus on upgrading the skills of 35 million working people in the country instead of competing to attract secondary-school graduates, whose numbers have similarly been in decline in recent decades.

“Let’s also focus on the elderly. Thailand’s elderly population is growing. Let’s equip them with skills that can help them continue earning a living,” he said.

Udom said the government would be willing to offer a Bt10,000 subsidy per participant for six-month courses that promised to prepare the workforce for current and future needs.

Udom lamented that the country’s higher-education sector had not supported the country well in regard to human development and competitiveness.

Fading competitiveness

He revealed that, when looking into details, the sector scored just 6.9 out of 100 points in terms of “attractiveness” in the infrastructure-efficiency field, according to the latest World Competitiveness Ranking.

Compiled by IMD, the ranking put Thailand in 30th place – a slip from 27th last year.

Neighbouring Malaysia had meanwhile risen to 12th from 22nd a year earlier.

Thailand is also currently ranked 45th in Global Talent Index, trailing Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

“Thailand scored 28.3 out of 100 points in the talent-formation index,” Udom said.

He said several foreign investors were interested in investing in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, which now offers tempting privileges to investors, but they’re worried about the size and skills of the workforce.

“Foreign investors say they don’t want ‘pain graduates’,” Udom said. “This shows that Thai universities must adjust.

“Otherwise their graduates will become second-class workers in the future.”

Udom also urged universities to consider curbing the number of social-science students.

“Social-science students should account for no more than half |the total student population,” he said.

He pointed out that, because social-science students accounted for 70 per cent of total student numbers today, many graduates in the field remained unemployed.

“Besides, we need science graduates to drive the country forward,” he said.

The government has already identified 10 industries as key drivers for the country’s growth.

They are: Next – Generation Automotive; Smart Electronics; Affluent, Medical and Wellness Tourism; Agriculture and Biotechnology; Food for the Future; Robotics; Aviation and Logistics; Biofuels and Biochemicals; Digital; and Medical Hub.

Udom said chief executives of various corporations had told him that current graduates did not truly respond to their needs.

“They say they have had to train new staff between six months and one year before they can actually work fine,” he said.

Udom expected new university programmes to ensure their students spend half the course time in actual workplaces.

“It’s about learning by doing” he said.

He even suggested that universities consider two-year courses for a bachelor’s degrees.

“Some Australian and Singaporean universities have already done this,” he said.

Udom said the Office of Higher Education Commission (Ohec) had adjusted a lot and would allow such programmes.

“Now we’re waiting for the universities to make the move,” he said.

He also recommended the provision of online courses, the use of innovative learning materials and greater focus on soft skills.

Thammasat University has come up with a plan to use new curricula that will require students to learn at participating companies for one full semester, allow them to independently enrol in courses they’re interested in, and increase online learning. The goal of the new curricula is to ensure graduates can work efficiently in the 10 industries that Thailand plans to promote.

At Chulalongkorn University, the Faculty of Arts is letting outsiders enrol in courses it offers as it tries to adjust to changing circumstances.

Several other educational institutes are reportedly also making moves to deal with disruption.

Thanya Nettithammakul issued the press statement late on Saturday night after some conservation groups organised an event in Bangkok to express their opposition to the project and threatened to petition Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

“The National Parks Department has ordered the project to be put on hold, and at this point the hired construction firm has not yet entered the compound to start construction. It has been informed that there is opposition to the project and therefore it is not yet allowed to enter the compound and start work,” the statement said.

The department has also invited concerned groups to come forward and discuss the best way out of the situation, according to the statement.

Thanya explained that the project was conceived on the same old road, which is heavily damaged.

The road was built around 30 years ago as the strategic route for park protection and regular patrols while enabling a visit to Phanoen Thung, the highest mountain located in the middle of the park.

The road surface improvement would not change the width of the road – four metres – but help strengthen it with concrete and flood diversion channels alongside, the statement said.

This was aimed at ensuring the safety of visitors as well as park rangers, who rely on the road to patrol the park’s boundaries, Thanya said.

As for concerns about the impact on wildlife, he said, various remedial measures would be implemented to offset it after completion of the project.

This would include limiting the number of visitors and vehicles, restricting speed and access times, and the installation of barriers and warning signs to ensure motorists do not drive at high speed along the section.

Some of these measures are already in place and the department has received no reports of road accidents involving wildlife there in the past two years, the chief said.

And during the construction period, the firm would be under the park’s directive to ensure that it does not cause impacts on wildlife.

Park officials proceeded with the project on the authority of the National Parks Act and had been in consultation with their advisory committee, Thanya said.

As for concerns about the impact on its World Heritage status, the chief said the park was still on the waiting list and there was no need at this stage to report to the World Heritage Committee about developments in the park.

He believed the project would not affect the “outstanding universal values” proposed for World Heritage status.

Dr Runsarit Kanjanavanit, a noted conservationist and a vice president of Seub Nakhasathien who has been vocal in his opposition to the project, pointed out during a photo exhibition and seminar about the project on Saturday afternoon that the route cuts through the heart of the park.

That’s the reason the project is sensitive and deemed inappropriate without proper consultation, he |said.

He said the project was being pursued without proper public consultation.

Road construction in the forest generally has an impact on wildlife because their habitats have become fragmented.

The animals are forced to change their behaviour and some die in road accidents.

Disturbances are no less critical factors to their survival and any visitor controls claimed to be effective have so far been seen as ineffective in Thai national parks, Runsarit said.

“I actually sympathise with the authorities. Why can’t we help one another and work together? Our goal is conserving our ecosystem so it can be sustained and provide ecological services. This place is really among our final frontiers,” said Rungsarit, adding the groups did not want to keep opposing the plan, but rather urged the responsible agencies to delay the project and come up with alternative solutions.