July 24, 2008

"The moribund Thai education system" -- a scathing indictment

From a promising new blog, Papaya in Thailand, comes a must-read article on the sad state of the Thai educational system. The critique applies to all levels of education, straight up to the tippy-top. He should know, he teaches undergraduate and undergraduate students at a Thai university.

For example, here's a bullet-point list of problems, cited from this article, which is citing a speech by former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun, speaking in 1999(!). Things do not seem to have improved a bit in the last decade:
• low academic standards. lower than those of Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan
• graduates have poor command of the English language
• lack of right understanding of basic concept of democracy among the faculty, staff and students
• faculty members being narrow-minded cannot cooperate together
• though the university is a community of scholars but the faculty have slavish mentality
Check, check, check.

The article is lengthy, but well worth the time. The issues raised will determine the very future of Thailand. It's time to face the music. In today's world Thais, like everyone, can no longer afford to be a กบในกะลาครอบ.

[Via New Mandala]

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