Education, Economy and Identity: Ten Years of Educational Reform in Thailand

EDUCATION, ECONOMY AND IDENTITY

TEN YEARS OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN THAILAND

Cover and Layout: Mikael Brodu ISBN 978-616-90282-0-8

© IRASEC, August 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or means, without prior permission of the author or the publisher. The opinions expressed in these papers are solely those of the author(s).

A collection under the supervision of Benoît de Tréglodé

Education, Economy and Identity Ten Years of Educational Reform in Thailand

Edited by Audrey Baron-Gutty and Supat Chupradit

With contribution from Audrey Baron-Gutty, Chitrlada Burapharat,

Kwanchewan Buadaeng, Supat Chupradit, and Prasit Leepreecha.

In collaboration with the CELS (Center for Education and Labour Studies),

Chiang Mai University.

Carnet de l’Irasec / Occasional Paper n°11 – 2009

L’Institut de recherche sur l’Asie du Sud-Est contemporaine (USR 3142 – UMIFRE 22 CNRS MAEE) s’intéresse depuis 2001 aux évolutions politiques, sociales et environnementales en cours dans les onze pays de la région. Basé à Bangkok, l’Institut fait appel à des chercheurs de tous horizons disciplinaires et académiques qu’il associe au gré des problématiques. Il privilégie autant que possible les démarches transversales. The Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (USR 3142 – UMIFRE 22), based in Bangkok, Thailand, calls on specialists from all academic fields to study the important social, political, economic and environmental developments that affect, together or separately, the eleven countries of the region (Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam).

LE CONSEIL SCIENTIFIQUE DE L’IRASEC

• Jean BAFFIE, CNRS, IRSEA • Bénédicte BRAC de la PERRIERE,

CASE, CNRS, EHESS • Sophie BOISSEAU du ROCHER,

Asia Centre • Jean-Raphaël CHAPONNIERE,

AFD • Christian CULAS, IRASEC CNRS • Gilles DELOUCHE, INALCO • Jean-Luc DOMENACH, CERI,

Réseau Asie • Evelyne DOURILLE-FEER, CEPII • Stéphane DOVERT, MAE • Frédéric DURAND, Université de

Toulouse • Alain FOREST, Paris VII • Guy FAURE, IAO • Michel FOURNIE, INALCO • Charles GOLDBLUM, Institut

français d’urbanisme • Christopher GOSCHA, Université

de Montréal

• Yves GOUDINEAU, EFEO • Andrew HARDY, EFEO, Hanoi • Jacques IVANOFF, IRASEC CNRS • François LAGIRARDE, EFEO

Bangkok • Christian LECHERVY, MAE • Arnaud LEVEAU, IRASEC • LE Huu Khoa, Université de Lille • Charles MAC DONALD, CNRS • Rémi MADINIER, IRASEC CNRS • Philippe PAPIN, EPHE • François RAILLON, CASE,

CNRS, EHESS • Jean-François SABOURET, CNRS,

Réseau Asie • Christian TAILLARD, CASE,

CNRS LASEMA • Hugues TERTRAIS, Université de

Paris I • Benoît de TRÉGLODÉ, IRASEC • Marie-Sybille de VIENNE, INALCO

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Table of Contents Contributors............................................................................................. 8

Note of Transliteration ........................................................................ 10

Acronyms .............................................................................................. 11

Glossary ................................................................................................. 13

Thai terms ............................................................................................... 13 Acts ......................................................................................................... 14 Introduction: Understanding the Challenges of the Educational Reform in Thailand .............................................. 15

Objectives of the study ............................................................................. 20 Methodology / Research Questions / Hypothesis ....................................... 20 Paper outline ........................................................................................... 21 Chapter 1 Reinforcing Thai wisdom with local curriculum at school ................ 23

Introduction ............................................................................................ 23 1. Sample Presentation and Background Information ................................. 25

1.1 Survey of schools ............................................................................ 25 1.2 Background information on the local curriculum ............................... 27

2. Actors of the local curriculum ................................................................ 29 2.1 Elaborating the local curriculum ...................................................... 29 2.2 Delivering the local curriculum ........................................................ 31

3. Content of the local curriculum ............................................................. 33 3.1 Challenges of the local curriculum .................................................... 33 3.2 Local wisdom vs. local curriculum? .................................................. 34

Conclusion .............................................................................................. 35 Chapter 2 Modern education systems and impact on ethnic minorities .......... 37

Introduction ............................................................................................ 37 1. Development of the modern education system in Thailand ..................... 38 2. The “Hill Tribes” of Thailand in the geopolitics of the Cold War ............ 42

EDUCATION, ECONOMY & IDENTITY

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3. Extending modern education to the highlands: the role of state agencies .......44 3.1 The Office of the Basic Education Commission ...................................44 3.2 The Non-formal Education Office .....................................................46 3.3 The Special Education Administrative Office .....................................46 3.4 The Border Patrol Police (BPP) Command Office ...............................47 3.5 The National Buddhism Office .........................................................47

4. Impact of modern curriculum on hill tribes ............................................48 4.1 School curriculum and teaching system in highland schools ...............48 4.2 Impact of formal education on the hill tribe people and community .....49

5. Attempts from Government Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and People Organizations (POs) to reform education ....51 Conclusion: problems and challenges .......................................................53 Chapter 3 Vocational and cooperative education in Thailand: A Presentation ....57 Introduction ............................................................................................57 1. Vocational education in Thailand ..........................................................58

1.1 Historical background of Thai vocational education ...........................59 1.2 The vocational education in Thailand: Current structure .....................60 1.3 The present status of Vocational College in Thailand ..........................65 1.4 The role of vocational education in economic development .................66

2. Cooperative education in Thailand ........................................................67 2.1 The concepts of co-operative education .............................................69 2.2 Importing co-operative education in Thailand ...................................71

Conclusion ..............................................................................................74 Chapter 4 Fix-it centres: Adaptation and outcomes of the “clusters of the poor”. A case study in Chiang Mai ...............75 Introduction ............................................................................................75 1. Fix-it centres and the cluster policy ........................................................77

1.1 The theory of industrial clusters .......................................................77 1.2 Fix-it centres: a cluster-related organization .......................................79 1.3 “Clusters of the poor”? ....................................................................82

2. Case study of a Fix it centre project in the Chiang Mai Area ....................83 2.1 The fix-it centre stakeholders and their linkages .................................84 2.2 Activities of the fix-it centre .............................................................85 2.3 Assessment of the fix-it centre outcomes ...........................................87


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Conclusion .............................................................................................. 89 Chapter 5 Strengthening university-industry links through co-op education: Case studies in Thailand ...................................................................... 91

Introduction ............................................................................................ 91 1. Recruiting students for co-op programmes ............................................. 93

1.1 Background of the students ............................................................. 94 1.2 Selection process ............................................................................ 95

2. Setting up a relevant curriculum ............................................................ 96 2.1 Developing human skills for the working environment ...................... 97 2.2 Buttressing basic knowledge ............................................................ 98 2.3 Inculcating specific knowledge ........................................................ 99

3. Assignments in the workplace: The key role of the university supervisor .... 100 3.1 Internship vs. co-op ...................................................................... 100 3.2 The role of supervisors .................................................................. 101

Conclusion ............................................................................................ 103 Conclusion: The Need for a Real Educational Reform ..................... 105 References ........................................................................................... 107

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Contributors

Audrey BARON-GUTTY (Université de Lyon, Institut d’Asie Orientale) is a PhD Student in Political Science. Her thesis deals with the impact of globalization on the making and implementation of national educational policies, with a special focus on Thailand and its educational reform launched in 1999. She was sponsored for two years by the IRASEC to carry out her field work and the CELS (Centre for Education and Labour Studies), based at Chiang Mai University, provided her with institutional support. Chitrlada BURAPHARAT (Department of Arts, Media and Design, Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University) is a lecturer in Learning Process, and Information Design. She holds a doctoral degree in Adult Education (Workplace Learning and Change) earned at the University of Toronto. Her current research focuses on critical thinking, alternative teaching and learning; and competency development. She was in charge for three years (2007-2009) in supervising and designing cooperative education programme using French IUT 1 model for Modern Management and Information Technology (MMIT), College of Arts, Media and Technology (CAMT), Chiang Mai University. Kwanchewan BUADAENG (Department of Sociology-Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University) earned her PhD in Anthropology at the University of Sydney in 2001. She is a lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University. Her research focuses on hill tribes in Thailand and neighbouring countries, with a special emphasis on cultural and ethnic identities. Her previous works analysed both the impact of modernization and government policy on ethnic peoples' lives, and their responses to modernization and globalization. Supat CHUPRADIT (CELS, Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai University) is a PhD student in Research and Development in Education. His thesis topic deals with dual vocational training in secondary education in Thailand, and its role in skills and knowledge formation and transmission. He has taken part in CELS-conducted research projects, including the one funded by NRCT (National Research Council of Thailand) on education and poverty.

1 IUT: Instituts Universitaires de Technologie

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Prasit LEEPREECHA (CESD, Chiang Mai University) earned his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2001. Presently, he is a researcher at the Social Research Institute and Center for Ethnic Studies and Development, Chiang Mai University. He is one of the editors of Living in a Globalized World: Ethnic Minorities in the Greater Mekong Subregion (2008), and Challenging the Limits: Indigenous Peoples of the Mekong Region (2008). His main interests include ethnic minorities in northern Thailand and mainland Southeast Asia, identity cultural change, tourism, and the impact of nationalism and globalization on ethnic minorities.

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Note on Transliteration

Thai words in italic have been transcribed using the Royal Thai General System, except when it was a quotation taken from another source. City names and Thai surnames follow the English spelling used in English-language publications. Some Thai phrases are put in [ … ] which indicates that phonetic Thai was used to transpose them into the Western alphabet. Most papers’ or articles’ titles were transcribed by the contributors using phonetic Thai and not the Royal Thai General System.

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Acronyms BPP Border Patrol Police, supervised by the Ministry of Interior MOI

CAMT College of Arts, Media and Technology, Chiang Mai University

CBE Competency-based education and training

CELS Centre for Education and Labour Studies, Chiang Mai University

CESD Center of Ethnic Studies and Development, Chiang Mai University

CPT Communist Party of Thailand

DVT Dual vocational training (found in technical secondary schools)

ESA Educational Service Areas

GPA Grade Point Average; It refers to the grades pupils get in upper secondary education

HEC Higher Education Commission; It is part of the MOE and took over the duties held until 2002 by the Ministry of University Affairs

HWC Hill tribe Welfare Committee

IMF International Monetary Fund

ISO International Organization for Standardization

IUT Instituts Universitaires de Technologie: Higher education institutions in France that provide two-year technical programmes based on cooperative training

MMIT Modern Management and Information Technology, undergraduate, co-op programme at CAMT

MOE Ministry of Education

MOI Ministry of Interior

MOL Ministry of Labour

NEA National Education Act of 1999

NESDB National Economic and Social Development Board

NESDP National Economic and Social Development Plan, designed by the NESDB

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NGO Non-Governmental Organisations

NRCT National Research Council of Thailand

OBEC Office of the Basic Education Commission, Ministry of Education

OEC Office of the Education Council, part of the MOE since 2002

ONEC Office of the National Education Commission; it existed until 2002 and was under the supervision of the Office of the Prime Minister. Now its duties and responsibilities are dealt with by the OEC, part of the revamped MOE

OPEC Office of the Private Education Commission, Ministry of Education

OTOP One Tambon, One Product

OVEC Office of the Vocational Education Commission, Ministry of Education

PO People Organisations

SUT Suranaree University of Technology

TQM Total Quality Management

TRC Tribal Research Center

UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization

VET Vocational Education and Training

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Glossary Thai terms [gaanseeuksaa lae feukohprohm baeepthaansamatthana]

การศกษาและฝกอบรมแบบฐานสมรรถนะ

Competency-based education and training

[neung dtam bohn neung phalit dta phan]

หนงตาบลหนงผลตภณฑ One Tambon, One Product (OTOP)

[Saang san khwaam ruu]

สราง สรรค ความร Create knowledge

[Suun saawm saang pheuua choom chohn]

ศนยซอมสรางเพอ ชมชน Fix-it centres

[Thaay thaawt khwaam ruu]

ถาย ทอด ความร Transfer knowledge

Amphoe อาเภอ District

Archiwa sueksa อาชวศกษา Vocational education

Changwat จงหวด Province

Chao khao ชาวเขา Hill tribes

Chumchon ชมชน Community

Kham Muang คาเมอง Northern Thailand Language

Khru phumpanya thai ครภมปญญาไทย Teachers of Thai Local Wisdom

Kon juk โกนจก “Shave a topknot”: ceremony held when a boy becomes adult

Muban หมบาน Village

Orborjor อบจ. PAO: Provincial Administrative Organisation

Orbortor อบต. TAO ou SAO: Tambon (or Sub-district) Administrative organisation

Phra pariyati thamma พระปรยตธรรม Buddhist curriculum

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Phueng ton eng พงตนเอง Self-reliance

Phumipanya chaoban ภมปญญาชาวบาน Local / popular wisdom

Phuyaiban ผใหญบา น Head of the Village

PorWorChor ปวช. Certificate of Vocational Education Programme

PorWorSor ปวส. Diploma of Vocational Education Programme (less than a degree diploma)

Prachakon klai khamanakhom

ประชากรไกลคมนาคม The Welfare Committee for People Far From Road Access

Rak ya รากหญา Grassroots

Rong rian matthayom sueksa

โรงเรยนมธยมศกษา Secondary school

Rong rian prathom sueksa

โรงเรยนประถมศกษา Primary school

Rong rian bamrung wicha satri

โรงเรยนบารงวชาสตร School to Teach Girls Only, established in 1901

Rongrian kwuat wicha โรงเรยนกวดวชา Extra curricular or special tutoring schools

Sahakit sueksa สหกจศกษา Cooperative education

Samnakngankhet Phuenthi Kansueksa

สานกงานเขตพนทการศกษา

Educational Service Area ESA

Setthakit phophiang เศรษฐกจ พอเพยง Sufficiency economy

Songkran สงกรานต Thai New Year

Tambon ตาบล Sub-district

Thetsaban เทศบาล Municipalities Acts พระราชบญญตการอาชวศกษา (2551) [Phra raat cha ban yat gaan aa chee wa seuk saa 2551], Vocational Education Act 2008 พระราชบญญต การศกษา 2542 [Phra raat cha ban yat gaan sueksa 2542], National Education Act 1999

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Introduction Understanding the Challenges of the Educational Reform in Thailand

Audrey Baron-Gutty Modern education in Thailand started at the end of the nineteenth century

under the impulse of King Chulalongkorn. Many scholars tracing back the evolution from traditional education to a modern education system emphasized the feeling of necessity that motivated this transformation. Wyatt (1969), Mead (2004) and Watson (1982) underlined the need for a modern administration, to handle the Siamese nation-state “as” the Western states, and in that respect, the key role played by education to structure the new Siam and to appear to the eyes of the world as civilized (Peleggi 2002).

The shaping of a new education took place amidst strong political

struggles. Siam needed to stand firm within the regional arena, swept by the winds of Western colonialism. Internally, King Chulalongkorn had to legitimize his power and to unify the kingdom by integrating satellite kingdoms into a wider space, the Siamese nation state. Education was vital for this mission as it would contribute not only to bringing state power into the provinces through state-paid teachers and government officials, but also to transmitting a whole nation-related imagery to the young generations 2.

Giving rise to Thai-ness among the populations located at the margins of

the kingdom was a tremendous ordeal. In the Southern part of the kingdom, population was mainly Muslim, spoke Malay and felt culturally closer to the Malay state (Dulyakasem 1991). In the Northern part, incorporating the Lanna kingdom and hill tribe populations into Siam proved not to be easy. Ideological, 2 To further elaborate on that topic, see Vaddhanaphuti, C. (1991). Social and Ideological Reproduction in a Rural Northern Thai Schools. Reshaping Local Worlds: Formal Education and Cultural Change in Rural Southeast-Asia. C. F. Keyes. New Haven, Connecticut, Monograph 36/ Yale Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University Center for International and Area Studies: pp.153-173.


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social and national values were introduced into education delivered to students, and with the implementation of the Compulsory Education Act of 1921, school attendance tied children and parents to the nation state and made them liable to it.

If in its early years, Thai modern education was primarily focused on

creating a good Thai citizen, this vision started to change in the middle of the twentieth century with the beginnings of industrialization under the Sarit premiership. From the 1950s, next to nation-building, education started contributing to “industry-building” with the willingness to train rural workers for basic industrial work. Important tensions arose when Thailand launched itself in an export-oriented development in the late seventies: Education became more and more important to fuel production system with the needed human resources. But the educational structures were unable to adapt appropriately in terms of numbers and contents, and this was especially true in the case of the MOE (Ministry of Education) presented by its opponents as fossilized, over-centralized, and corrupt.

Whereas Thailand wanted to embrace a knowledge-based society in the

1990s, the demands emanating from the labour environment were not answered correctly, causing a real dichotomy between human capital aspirations and the training available. Reflecting the concerns of the business community, a committee was formed by the Thai Farmers’ Bank to tackle these issues. It released a report 3 in the mid-nineties in the hope of raising awareness and putting education upheaval on the political agenda. Moreover, criticism of state education was reinforced by political movements against centralization and Bangkok-based policy management. Critics asked for more democracy in the sense of more power devolved to local communities, to eradicate corruption, make politicians more accountable and avoid inept central decisions. These claims were especially present in the discourse of the localists, with for instance Prawase Wasi, or some civil society groups, such as the Assembly of the Poor. All these groups urged for change.

Political and social tensions sparked off and progressively led to civilian

governments away from military authoritarianism. This transformation was epitomized by the vote of the 1997 constitution, dubbed the “Constitution of the People”. The Constitution particularly emphasized the role of local governments and the importance of education. It called for a Law on National Education “to

3 Commission on Thailand’s Education in the Era of Globalization: Towards National Progress and Security in the Next Century (1996). Thai education in the era of globalization: vision of a learning society. Synopsis of the report. Thailand.


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improve education to be in harmony with economic and social change, create and strengthen knowledge and instil correct awareness with regard to politics and a democratic regime of government with the King as Head of the State, support research in various sciences, accelerate the development of sciences, accelerate the development of science and technology for national development, develop the teaching profession, and promote local wisdom and national arts and culture.” (1997 Constitution, section 81)

The 1997 economic crisis severely hit Thailand and accelerated the process,

leading to the passing of the educational law. Because of the crisis, all the problems related to education, such as Thai competitiveness or Thai identity were brought to the fore and considered as matters of urgency. The Thai educational system was seen as inefficient in the era of globalization, being unable to train the needed workers, or to drive political development away from corruption and cronyism. Moreover the irruption of the IMF and World Bank with their rescue packages hurt Thai feelings and led to the revival of nationalism: Safeguarding Thai identity and sovereignty was suddenly seen as vital. All these factors led to believe that a law was the solution to revamping Thai education. Those who had worked for that for more than a decade thought they had reached a victory (Pongwat and Mounier 2009 forthcoming).

In 1999, the National Education Act (NEA) was voted and launched what

was supposed to be the largest educational reform since the founding of national education in the late 19th century. Its scope was deliberately wide, with the reformists and then policy-makers having in mind a synoptic, total system reform (Fry 2002). Though incremental reforms had proved to be more feasible in many countries (Corrales 1998), the fathers of the 1999 educational law were ambitious in their vision, especially Rung Kaewdang, the then secretary general of the Office of the National Education Commission (Tan 2007).

The educational system was put under pressure to meet tremendous

expectations and the law stated that: “The economic, political, cultural and social crisis has caused all concerned to realize the expediency for the reform of Thai education. The urgently needed reform will undoubtedly redeem the country from the downward spiral, so that Thailand will arise in the immediate future as a nation of wealth, stability and dignity, capable of competing with others in this age of globalization”(ONEC 1999).

The NEA offered a framework to meet challenges presented altogether as

complex, straightforward, dramatic and urgent: Building an education fit for country unity, local differences and economic efficiency.


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In line with the 1997 Constitution, the NEA promoted decentralization and the empowerment of local communities (Del Medico 2006). In that sense, it offered the opportunity for schools to develop their own curriculum (section 23, NEA, 1999).

“The Basic Education Commission [OBEC, Commission of the MOE] shall prescribe core curricula for basic education for purposes of preserving Thai identity, good citizenship, desirable way of life, livelihood, as well as further education.

In accord with the objectives in the first paragraph, basic education institutions shall be responsible for prescribing curricula substance relating to needs of the community and the society, local wisdom and attributes of desirable members of the family, community, society and nation” 4.

This provision is known as “local curriculum” meaning that next to the core

curriculum, designed by the MOE, there shall be a local curriculum designed by the schools themselves. This has been dubbed “the local content provision” or “the 30% local content provision” as a ministerial decree specified that from January 2004 the proportion between local and core curriculum shall be 30:70 (Minister of Education 2003).

The local curricular development was seen as a way of giving education

back to the communities and also of strengthening local wisdom (Phumipanya Chaoban). With the influence of the strong localist group, represented for instance by Chatthip Nartsupha and Prawase Wasi 5, emphasis was put on the defence of “local wisdom”, understood as the overall “Thai” knowledge adapted locally but also as the knowledge originated from local and indigenous communities. To some extent, this fight to safeguard local culture and traditions, such as the ones of the hill tribes in Northern Thailand, despite modern education was very close to debates in other countries, such as the movement of Aboriginal or First Nations peoples 6.

The defence of local wisdom went in line with the trend that aimed at

reinforcing Thai culture and identity, but also with the sufficiency discourse

4 Emphasis added by the author 5 See for instance Nartsupha, C. (1991). The "Community Culture" School of Thought. Thai Constructions of Knowledge. M. Chitkasem and A. Turton. London, School of Oriental and Asian Studies: pp.118-141, Wasi, P. (1999). Setthakit pho piang lae prachasangkhom [The Self-sufficient Economy and Civil Society]. Bangkok, Rural Doctor's Publishing. On the localist movement, see Hewison, K. (2002). Responding to Economic Crisis: Thailand's Localism. Reforming Thai Politics. D. McCargo. Copenhagen, NIAS Publishing: pp.143-161. 6 See on that topic Battiste, M. and J. Henderson (2000). Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage: A Global Knowledge. Saskatoon, Purich Publishing Ltd.


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(Setthakit Phophiang), linked with King Bhumibol since his birthday address made during the economic crisis (Bhumibol Adulyadej 1997) 7. The local content provision in education was presented as a way of valuing local experiences and knowledge resources, and was as such well welcomed by teachers and parents. However, this has brought to the fore the struggles between safeguarding traditions and ensuring a suitable education for children to live and work in the contemporary world.

Giving more autonomy for educational institutions in curriculum

development could also be felt as problematic for the unity of the kingdom. As presented earlier, inculcating Thai-ness has been a key aspect of Thai education, showcased for instance in the presence of the three pillars of the nation in every classroom: the Thai national flag, Lord Buddha, and a picture of the King. But this ideological vision of education must be in line with both local aspirations and economic competitiveness.

This latter dimension was mainly portrayed by the willingness of the

government to build strong links between educational institutions and companies so as to boost up Thailand’s human capital capabilities and develop Thailand national innovation system 8. This vision had to be achieved through the development of vocational education (archiwa sueksa) and then, cooperative education (sahakit sueksa) programmes. The Vocational Education Commission therefore stated: “The Thai Government has identified vocational education as a main tool in two of its high priority policy areas: poverty alleviation and the improvement of Thailand’s international competitiveness.” 9

The educational reform was launched to balance national and local identity,

decentralization and international economic competiveness. Ten years later, it is now time to asses its results.

7 This discourse, crowned with the King’s halo, put the stress on the necessity for communities to be sufficient in their living and to develop their knowledge resources. It has been praised by many Thai academics and politicians, though its implementation and rationale are far from being clear-cut. 8 See the works of Patarapong Intarakumnerd on NIS in Thailand, for instance Intarakumnerd, P. (2005). "Government Mediation and Transformation of Thailand's National Innovation System." Science Technology & Society Vol. 10(No. 1): pp. 87-104. 9 Vocational Education Commission website, accessed on 20th Feb. 2009 and available at http://www.vec.go.th/iscripts/cmview.php?doc=doc/g0004/goingglobal.htx


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Objectives of the study This Occasional Paper relies mainly on field work. A more theoretical

analysis could have been conducted on identity questions, political conflicts related to decentralization or on the role of education in economic development. However, this is not the objective of this Occasional Paper. Instead, it is focused on case studies to extract valuable information from the field on the process and results of the reform. Most research material from this Occasional Paper is presented for the first time.

The NEA is considered by many researchers as a compromise between

divergent forces 10 and we wanted to assess how these opposing missions have been handled with and to what extent the orientations of the law have been implemented in practice.

Our study, focused on Northern Thailand, is the result of team work

involving European and Thai researchers. It provided an interesting exchange platform on the issue of education and training, and to bring to light the uphill challenges educational systems are facing worldwide.

Methodology / Research Questions / Hypothesis Concerning desk research, one major aspect of our work was to retrieve

documents written in Thailand regarding the different issues we dealt with. The methodology for field work differed from one chapter to another and will be presented separately.

The research questions that organize this publication are the following: 1 - To what extent has the educational reform in Thailand contributed in

reinforcing culture and identity? 2 - To what extent has the educational reform strengthened Thai human

capital? 3 - To what extent has educational management been decentralized?

10 See Part II of the book edited by Alain Mounier and Phasina Tangchuang, based on CELS work: Mounier, A. and P. Tangchuang (2009 forthcoming). Educational dilemmas in Thailand. Chiang Mai, Silkworm Books.


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Attempts were done by policy makers and different stakeholders to change Thai education in order to solve social, political and economic issues. The expectations were so high that it was difficult to think that they could all be satisfactorily met. Moreover, Thai policymakers are especially keen on borrowing ideas from abroad, such as the catchwords of “clusters” or “cooperative education”, to integrate them into domestic public policies. These two aspects, the over-sized scope of the reform and the strong tendency of Thai policy makers to use imported policy recipes, might have led to the shaping of a fuzzy, hybrid reform, with no clear or relevant results. This was the hypothesis we wanted to scrutinize through this Occasional Paper.

Paper outline This Occasional Paper depicts the tensions and challenges at stake in the

Thai educational arena since the 1999 National Education Act. Chapter 1 analyses data collated by the CELS (Centre for Education and

Labour Studies - Chiang Mai University) 11 regarding the local curriculum implementation in schools located in poor areas of Northern and Northeastern Thailand. By pointing out the actors involved in the creation and implementation of the local curriculum, and its content and perspectives, this chapter outlines to what extent the education system has been put in line with local aspirations.

Chapter 2 describes the introduction and the impact of the state-led,

modern education system on ethnic minorities, located in Northern Thailand, especially the tensions in terms of identity and culture. Interestingly, it investigates the current attempts made by the government, but also actors from the civil society, such as NGOs and People’s Organizations, to create appropriate educational systems for hill tribes. This chapter is based on fieldwork carried out by the CESD (Center for Ethnic Studies and Development - Chiang Mai University) 12.

Chapter 3 presents the rationale behind vocational and technical education,

and also the concept of co-op education. It analyses how it has been brought into Thailand and how it has been integrated in the Thai educational system.

11 See the CELS blog: http://cels-thailand.blogspot.com 12 Their comprehensive website can be accessed on www.cesd-thai.info


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Through this chapter, we clearly see how the international environment and ideas have affected Thai educational policies. This aspect is reinforced by case studies presented in Chapters 4 and 5 that specifically attempt to show how these concepts have been adapted by and into the Thai context.

Chapter 4 focuses on a specific project called “Fix-it centres”, a cluster-

inspired programme involving vocational and technical colleges, community, and local authorities. Fix-it centres have been implemented since 2005 to boost Thai economic development at a grassroots level but also to promote decentralization, local authority involvement and community empowerment. However, the results are very different from those expected.

Chapter 5 analyses cooperative education programmes launched in

Thailand and involving higher education institutions and companies. In 2006, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) made “co-op education” 13 a priority, asking universities to fully take part in the project. This chapter, based on interviews of companies, students and head of co-op programmes from three public universities, assesses to what extent students’ training has been improved through these schemes and how university-industry interaction has developed.

13 Also known as “cooperative education” or “dual education”, meaning that students are trained alternatively in educational institutions and in companies

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Chapter 1

Reinforcing Thai wisdom with local curriculum at school

Audrey Baron-Gutty & Supat Chupradit

This chapter aims at investigating to what extent the local content provision has

changed the Thai educational system and has contributed to the reinforcement of Thai identity and culture. The purpose of the research was to see and examine how the local curriculum has been developed so far. Through questionnaires submitted in schools, it was possible to present the actors involved in the creation and the implementation of the local curriculum, but also the content of the local curriculum and its perspectives. Many challenges were pinpointed, questioning in essence the validity of the local content provision.

Introduction The national modern education system was established in Thailand in the

second part of the 19th century by the initiative of King Chulalongkorn (Wyatt 1969). The system that was then set up differed greatly from traditional education, centred on temple schools, family or apprenticeship within the community. In opposition, the main purpose of modern education was, at the beginning, to specifically train bureaucrats for the newly formed national administration (Mead 2004), but its scope has since been broadened. Nowadays, Thailand has nearly achieved universal primary education and high literacy rates. Opportunities to get access to secondary and higher education have also consequently increased.

Modern education has faced many criticisms in Thailand, including the one

of focusing only on “global” knowledge. The threat of an education not fit for the


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needs of the community 14 and not preserving traditional knowledge has been brought to the fore, especially by localists. Localism is a strong political group in Thailand, with public faces including Prawase Wasi, Sanek Jamarik or Chatthip Nartsupha. In the 1990s, the movement gained more visibility by linking its thinking to the sufficiency discourse (Setthakit Phophiang), supported by the King, and to the notion of self-reliance (Phueng ton eng), supported by Buddhist tenants. The localist discourse has indeed been articulated around the idea that a community should be sufficient, use and develop its own resources, either material, spiritual or cultural.

Since 1999, in a context where the Thai government has tried to support

Thai culture and genuine knowledge, it is not surprising that the localist ideas have even obtained more influence, and have therefore affected Thai educational policies. The National Education Act (NEA) insisted that “all parties concerned in the community” shall be involved to help learners develop their potentiality (ONEC 1999, section 24, item 6) and mentioned that basic education institutions “shall be responsible for prescribing curricula substance relating to needs of the community and the society” (ONEC 1999, section 23, paragraph 2).

As a consequence of the above, coupled with the Basic Education

Curriculum of 2001 (MOE 2001) and the points added by Ministerial decree (Minister of Education 2003), basic education institutions 15 would from then onwards teach both a national curriculum (70%) and a local curriculum (30%).

How has it been implemented so far in Thai education institutions? How

has it impacted on the safeguarding and development of Thai wisdom, term encompassing both culture and identity? If the idea has been well-accepted by the educational personnel and the different community stakeholders, it seems that the implementation has so far been chaotic, due to a lack of clarity, sufficient budget and organization support. This is what this chapter has attempted to study, supported by field work mainly conducted in Northern and North-eastern Thailand. 14 The term of community or ชมชน chumchon, remains fuzzy in Thailand. What is really encompassed and meant by it is not clear. Community can hence be understood as neighbourhood, surrounding area, local settings, or more strictly a village or an urban district. In the idea of localists regarding education, it deals with taking children instruction away from public, nation-led school. This can be understood as returning to traditional institutions, such as temple-run schools, or developing community schools as in the United States by empowering parents, school leaders and stakeholders of the surrounding area. 15 Including therefore primary and general secondary institutions


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1. Sample Presentation and Background Information

The CELS (Centre for Education and Labour Studies), based at Chiang Mai

University, has been chosen by the NRCT (National Research Council of Thailand) to carry out a research programme focusing on the relationship between education and poverty. As part of their study, schools, located in poor areas of Northern and North-Eastern Thailand, were interviewed. We had the opportunity to access the completed questionnaires and to analyse answers referring to the implementation of the local content provision, both in a qualitative and quantitative way 16. Further details are presented in Point 1.1.

Adding up to that, we decided to carry out further interviews to study how

future teachers were trained for implementing, and therefore developing, this local curriculum in basic education institutions. In that respect, students in Bachelor of Education in higher education institutions in the North of Thailand were interviewed, together with lecturers involved in the B.Ed.

We also specifically focused on the curriculum of the Bachelor of Education

taught at Chiang Mai University, and also available on the Internet, to analyse to what extent local curriculum in schools, which shall represent 30% of the overall teaching hours, was taken into account in the training of future teachers.

We also went to different schools in the Chiang Mai area, including private

schools, to assess how they have put the local content provision into practice.

1.1 Survey of schools From the questionnaires available at the CELS, we only took into account

those referring to institutions delivering general education. The purpose was essentially to have a feedback from the field without pretending to have a representative sample of all schools. The sample presented below is therefore not at all representative of the Thai educational system structure.

16 For more details, see Baron-Gutty, A. and S. Chupradit (2009). The implementation of the local content provision in Thai basic education. Chiang Mai, CELS (Centre for Education and Labour Studies), available on http://cels-thailand.blogspot.com.


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Breakdown of interviewed schools per region, province, level of education, number of teachers and directors interviewed

Schools Region

Province Primary Secondary Primary &

Secondary*

Teachers

Directors

North Lampang 1 2 2 49 5 Chiang Mai 3 3 0 33 5 Uttaradit 1 2 2 50 5 North-East

Sakhon Nakhorn

0 5 0 51 5

Udon Thani 3 1 1 49 5 8 13 5 2 5 26 232 25

* The same school both teaches at the primary and secondary levels. Source: Baron-Gutty and Chupradit (2009)

Breakdown of interviewed teachers per level of education taught and age

Teachers Age Primary Secondary Total 20-30 11 11 22 31-40 13 17 30 41-50 26 62 88 50+ 40 52 92 Total 90 142 232

Source: Baron-Gutty and Chupradit (2009)


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In secondary education, each field is taught by one teacher, therefore the following breakdown was necessary. Breakdown of interviewed teachers at secondary level per field taught and age

Teachers at secondary level Age

Thai Maths Science SSRC* HPE** Arts Career/ Techno.

Foreign Language

Others***

20-30 1 3 2 1 0 1 1 1 1 31-40 1 2 3 2 2 3 3 0 1 41-50 13 7 5 10 8 4 10 4 1 50+ 10 2 7 9 3 4 5 7 5 Total 25 14 17 22 13 12 19 12 8

Source: Baron-Gutty and Chupradit (2009) * SSRC: Social Studies, Religion and Culture; ** HPE: Health and Physical Education

*** Counselling, Library Only a few questions asked in the questionnaire were relevant to our study.

We focused on them only. Interviews had been done in Thai by a team of interviewers that varied from one site to another, and this work had been carried out with the collaboration of Rajabhat universities 17 in their related geographical area.

1.2 Background information on the local curriculum Since 1997, one political aim has been to revive and strengthen Thai

wisdom, seeing as jeopardized by globalization and foreign influences. Education was presented as a significant actor in transmitting national heritage and therefore actions were launched in schools to help the nation reinforce its cultural basis. The Office of the Education Commission (OEC) defines Thai wisdom as “the national heritage which helps solve problems and improves the quality of life of Thai people in line with their environment” (OEC 2008).

Nine components were defined as part of Thai wisdom: Agriculture,

industry and handicrafts, Thai traditional medicine, natural resources and 17 Rajabhat Universities were at first the Teachers’ Colleges in Thailand, and then Rajabhat Institutes. Since 2004 and the Rajabhat Act, there have been known as Rajabhat Universities. There are 6 RU in Bangkok and 34 in the provinces. As a consequence of their new rank, they have diversified their teaching curricula, and do not focus solely on the training of teachers. This latter activity is shared with Faculties of Education in (older) universities.


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environmental management, community trusts and enterprises, fine arts, language and literature, philosophy, religion, and tradition. The ninth field is nutrition.

The defence of “Thai” wisdom has shifted to the protection of “Thai local”

wisdom, or more simply put, local wisdom 18. The explanation and the rationale behind this shift are far beyond the scope of this chapter, but can be briefly explained by the strength of the “community culture” movement and its revival in the last decades. Chatthip Nartsupha (1999) argued that village (or community) existed before capitalism and were the core of Thai political and economic structures. It is therefore time to come back to the roots of Thai organization, away from the nation-state and capitalist structures. This movement towards “community” has merged with the decentralization trend, advocated by those in favour of local democracy. Nowadays, everything (and everyone) in Thailand refers to “community”, and education is not the last field to be concerned with it, to say the least.

Reinforcing communities seemed to be achievable through the promotion

of an educational curriculum better focused on the community’s needs and resources. To develop the local curriculum, which measures were launched concretely in 2001, it soon appeared necessary (and that was actually the point of the whole process) for schools to ask people from the neighbourhood to come to school and share their knowledge with pupils.

Experts soon emerged, now labelled “Teachers of Local Wisdom”, and were

asked to intervene in school and transmit local knowledge to pupils. They are expected to be “the living examples or role models for others” and to transfer “local wisdom through education” (OEC 2008). A list of Teachers of Local Wisdom has been established and the persons we interviewed in different schools knew clearly who the Teacher of Local Wisdom in their area was, what his/her field of expertise was, and when he/she was listed by the Ministry of Education as such.

More than 90% of the interviewed teachers answered “yes” when asked

whether or not they integrate local wisdom in their teaching. 88% of the interviewed directors also agreed upon the statement that local wisdom is taken into account in the curriculum taught to pupils. But behind this apparent unanimity, there are some cracks: Some teachers confessed local wisdom was

18 See for instance OEC (2008). Nayobye Song-serm Poom Pan-ya Thai Nai Karn Jud Karn Suk-sa [Policy to Promote Local Wisdom in Education Management]. Bangkok, Ministry of Education.


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only integrated marginally, and it was difficult to do it. Some directors even mentioned that “Local wisdom is not really integrated into curriculum but still the school must show some results”. So behind the official blank discourse, what is going on? Has education being given back to communities? Has the local content provision changed anything in the Thai educational systems? The answers we gathered are articulated around two themes: The actors of the local curriculum and the contents of this curriculum.

2. Actors of the local curriculum Actors directly involved in the daily life of school mainly include pupils,

teachers and school directors. Of course educational policies designed by the Ministry have an influence on it, but on a day-to-day basis, these core actors are the roots of education. One of the aims of the local curriculum was to integrate people from the community (Chumchon) into this nucleus, to avoid the dichotomy between inhabitants and their local school.

The rationale behind the development of the local curriculum was therefore

to involve the local community in the elaboration and the delivering of a tailored curriculum.

2.1 Elaborating the local curriculum From the questionnaires in the school, we have tried to calculate the

contribution of people from the community in the elaborating of the local curriculum. The school directors mentioned that mostly teachers, school committee and parents took part in the development of the local curriculum. Other actors were also involved but to a far lesser extent (school director, teacher of local wisdom, community representatives, students/pupils).

Some schools we interviewed additionally mentioned that actions to

comply with the local content requirement were decided in teachers’ meeting, like a brainstorming session. An informant in a private school added that “the key to local curriculum success is the recruitment of new teachers”. All this information shows us that despite what was expected from the regulations, the key actors in constructing the local curriculum are not community stakeholders, but teachers.


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Teachers need to use their academic background and their experience to implement the local content provision because they have had limited, or no, on-the-job training on how to integrate local wisdom into their teaching or create a new course locally. However, in the sample we had, the younger the teachers were, the more positive they were towards the 30% local content provision. It could show that older, and therefore, more experienced teachers think it is not applicable or not relevant, but also that they are against innovation and do not want to change the way they have taught for many years. Whatever the real reason behind it, it shows that the training of new teachers is the key to the appropriate and efficient application of the local curriculum in Thai basic education.

We investigated the content of the curriculum taught in Bachelors of

Education in different higher education institutions in North Thailand. We first interviewed some students involved in this type of programmes. Some students were not aware of the 30% local content requirement, though most of them were in their 3rd or 4th year. Those who knew about it said they would like to know more on how to apply it when they are teaching.

The curriculum of the Bachelor of Education delivered at Chiang Mai

University is available online 19. We focused on the one entitled “Bachelor of Education Programme in Elementary Education” and looked for courses related to local wisdom or the teaching of local curriculum. We found two. The first is “Learning resources and local wisdom”. It is a second-year mandatory course that welcomes guest speakers from the surrounding area and mainly focuses on the specificities and characteristics of major festivals or regional historical features. The second is a fifth year recommended course entitled “Community and school relationship development”.

Though the 3rd year of this B.Ed. is devoted to the pedagogical and teaching

aspects related to each eight core courses of the Thai curriculum 20, there is nothing, as far as we have been able to see it, related to the teaching of local wisdom or the integration of a local dimension into the core curriculum.

As a matter of fact, though teachers appear as the key to the development

of local curriculum and its integration into the teaching process, little has been

19 CUR02005 Bachelor of Education Program in Elementary Education, accessed May 2009 http://mis.grad.cmu.ac.th/admission/default.html 20 Thai Language, English, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Arts Education, Work Careers and Technology, Health and Physical Education


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done to train them in that respect, whether they are still studying or already in service. Teachers interviewed in schools deplored the absence of training and support regarding the implementation of the local curriculum: “We’ve implemented it by ourselves”. Only few guidelines were given and most of them were fuzzy in nature. Despite all of this, a kind of local curriculum has been designed and we will in the following section investigate who has been in charge of its teaching and how this has been structured.

2.2 Delivering the local curriculum From the questionnaires in the schools, we tried to calculate the

contribution of people from the community in the delivering of the local curriculum and were able to draw the following pie chart.

People involved in the teaching /

transfer of local wisdom in the school curriculum

80 %

16 %4 %

Teachers

People fromthe community

Teacher oflocal wisdom

Source: Baron-Gutty and Chupradit (2009) People from the community, mentioned by the interviewees, were mainly

monks from the nearby temple. Once again, the teachers have been designated as the main actors with regards to the delivering of the local curriculum. The chart also shows the importance given to the newly created Teachers of Local Wisdom. This can be explained by the fact that most teachers do not work in the area they are from and therefore need support from the outside to integrate local wisdom and resources. In that respect, they turn to the teacher of local wisdom.

However, the importance given to this new category of actors in education

is problematic. First of all, most of them ask for payment in exchange of their


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service and one teacher pointed out that there is a “lack of budget to pay community participants and teachers of local wisdom”. One of the directors mentioned that “now budget from the government is only 1,000 baht for this provision”. It has proved difficult for schools to attract people from the outside to be involved in the local curriculum.

Second, Teachers of Local Wisdom are treated as “local gurus”, meaning

they are seen as the expert in a field of local wisdom. The school often does not go any further in its development of locally related courses and thinks that the local curriculum should be devoted to the sole teaching from the Teacher of Local Wisdom. Emphasis is consequently put on certain fields of local wisdom, and others are completely neglected.

Schools have developed different ways to apply the local content provision,

the most popular being to include it in all core courses, or to create a separate course dedicated to local wisdom. The first option might be seen as a way of diluting local wisdom in all courses, therefore not specifically teaching it or taking it into account. One teacher said: “we can integrate it in the whole year, but we cannot say it represent X hours per week”. The second option refers to the teaching by the Teacher of Local Wisdom. In no case, however, does it represent 30% of the overall teaching hours.

Other options include focusing on one specific core course and integrating

local wisdom only in that course, and not in the others. It is indeed a widespread practice to concentrate the delivering of local curriculum on the “Work Careers and Technology” course and on the “Health and Physical Education” course. The mathematics teachers we interviewed confessed they do not know how to integrate local knowledge in the teaching of their academic discipline: “Local content should be less than 30%. It is difficult to apply it in Maths”.

Another option mentioned by schools to comply with the local curricular

requirement is to organize a day devoted to local wisdom activities. During that day, teachers of local wisdom are invited together with the parents, people from the neighbourhood, and monks from the temple. It consists of a local wisdom show with pupils taking part in activities such as traditional dancing, sculpture, drawings, or martial arts. The school also participates in big festivals, and teaches pupils dances or songs to be performed on the festival’s day. This kind of activity, together with field trips organized during the year, allow the school to comply with the local curriculum regulations and they are acknowledged as such in the school assessment report, handed in every year, as part of the quality assurance scheme set up in every educational institution.


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Delivering local curriculum is not an easy task and depends greatly upon school resources, either intellectual or financial. Little support from the Ministry of Education (through its Educational Service Areas) or from local bodies (education departments of the Local Administrative Organizations 21) has been received, therefore leaving the schools on their own when creating or delivering local curriculum. They have focused on different objectives to implement local curriculum and on specific fields of local wisdom, therefore narrowing down its scope dramatically.

3. Content of the local curriculum As discussed earlier, teachers have been the main actors of the local content

implementation, either in creating it or in teaching it. Their vision on what local wisdom is has therefore had a great impact on it.

3.1 Challenges of the local curriculum The first purpose of the local curriculum was to safeguard Thai local

wisdom. The analysis of the attitude of teachers regarding the local curriculum tells us a lot on what their vision is. A question was asked whether or not 30% was appropriate for the local curriculum, with the answer being either too much or not enough.

Teachers who answered “it should be more than 30%” focused on social and civic

aspects of the provision. They said it was a way to increase links between community and school, but also to improve local knowledge sharing and understanding: “Students will have more awareness about their community. They will love it”.

Many teachers emphasized that local curriculum was a good way to help

students get vocational competencies and skills related to daily life. As a teacher put it, “School should promote occupational skills for children so that they can work in the future”. Interviewed schools, when implementing the local curriculum provision, focus mainly on vocational skills, such as the production of small handicrafts. Further elaboration on that topic will be done in the following section.

21 LAO include in Thailand municipalities thetsaban, Provincial Administrative Organizations orborjor, and Tambon Adminstrative Organizations orbortor


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In opposition, some teachers agreed upon the idea that local curriculum should represent less than 30% of the teaching hours. Most of them stated it was a waste of time at the expenses of core courses, especially because national tests, such as university entrance admission, do not include anything about local knowledge. They see the local curriculum as a hurdle towards higher education. One teacher even depicted the local curriculum as pointless: “Students can learn from the community by themselves because that is the place they are growing up in; Core courses should be given more time”.

For many years, Thailand has seen a sharp increase in private tutoring 22.

Most of pupils attend private courses after school 23. Some of them are even taught in the evening by their regular teacher, but in exchange of tuition payment. If schools spend less time on core subjects, isn’t there a threat that the financial burden for the family will increase because of the necessity for children to attend relevant extra-curricular paid-tuition courses to fill in the gaps?

The financial aspects of the local curriculum have already been mentioned

as far as the organization of field trips and the payment of Teachers of Local Wisdom were concerned. However it is essential to bear this in mind when discussing local/global issues. If schools are to focus on community knowledge, how can students compete with the others during national tests? Local curriculum cannot be disconnected from the rationale of equity and of further education. It is not just an experiment to be tried in schools, it will also affect children’s future.

3.2 Local wisdom vs. local curriculum? We mentioned earlier that local wisdom in Thailand refers to nine fields but

when the local curriculum is taught in school, it focuses mainly on vocational skills 24, thus shrinking tremendously the scope of local wisdom.

22 On the issue of shadow education as a whole, see Bray, M. (2007). The shadow education system: Private tutoring and its implications for planners. Paris, UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. 23 Extra curricular or special tutoring schools are known in Thailand as: โรงเรยนกวดวชา rongrian kwuat wicha 24 In our study, this field encompasses different components of local wisdom: industry, handicraft, agriculture, food, cooking, and skills related to daily life.


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Some pupils as part of local wisdom related activities produce small handicraft. They then have the opportunity to sell it. Parents are quite happy with it as the following quote from one teacher shows: “When pupils take part in these activities, it increases their ownership of local wisdom and it also increases the income of their parents, through the sale of products”. The schools interviewed were situated in poor areas, and this aspect of the local curriculum (eg. the sale of small handicrafts) might not be predominant in all areas of Thailand. However, it emphasizes the idea that the local curriculum has mostly been dealt with in a vocational way.

This is backed up by the fact that local wisdom teachings have been

concentrated into the “Work Careers and Technology” course. Though a teacher stressed that the “Career and technology course should not be limited to local wisdom only, it should be wider”, in practice, it is where most of the local curriculum has been delivered. Why is it so? As teachers did not really know how to apply it, they focused on what they knew or what they thought local wisdom was. To use local resources and match community needs, it appeared logical for them to focus on vocational skill development.

As a consequence, in many schools we interviewed, local curriculum deals

with activities dedicated to the production of small handicrafts but also with preparing decorations for local festivals, or visiting local entrepreneurs to know more about their work. Cultural dimensions of local wisdom have not been forgotten, but mainly focus on the school taking part in festivals, such as Songkran Festival. In that respect, pupils are taught in the “Health and Physical Education” course traditional dances or classical drums. It is however striking to note that only in few cases was the importance of local language emphasized. This sounds paradoxical to us: How can local wisdom be strengthened while forgetting local languages?

Conclusion The idea of launching a local curriculum in addition to the one designed

nationally was aimed at strengthening Thai local identity and culture. This was the outcomes of the pressure of political groups who wanted to counterbalance the influence of globalization.

However, implementing it has been difficult. First, people in the commu-

nity have not sufficiently rallied the project and therefore the development and


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teaching of the local curriculum has been left solely in the hands of teachers. It has also led to the creation of a new actor in education: The Teacher of Local Wisdom, also known as a “local guru”.

Second, schools have not only lacked training but also the necessary budget

to fully apply the local content provision. Therefore they have muddled through its implementation; the coherence and relevance of the local curriculum has greatly depended upon the schools’ resources, either intellectual or financial.

This has led to a situation whereby schools officially claim they apply the

local content provision, but in practice the results are confused and leave many questions unanswered. Moreover, local wisdom has been taken into account only partially, with an overwhelming emphasis on vocational aspects and little involvement from local communities.

Clear guidelines would have been needed to explain what was actually

expected from the local curriculum and to provide teachers with relevant instructions on how to achieve it. In that sense, the local curriculum could have been used as a strong pedagogical tool to boost up students’ potential by taking into account their cultural naive knowledge 25, while preparing them for a future in the modern world. However, it has so far not been used in that way.

This brief research demonstrates that educational policies in Thailand often

rely on “catchwords”, fuzzy enough to be consensual, hence hampering the real implementation of the project. Whereas the local curriculum could have been used to improve education, it has not succeeded in it, apart from a few cases showcased in the media or by the administration. This is mainly due to a lack of a real and effective implementation plan: Launching programmes or projects are not the most awkward part of the public policy process, their implementation is 26. The case of the local curriculum provision exemplifies this major weakness of public policies in Thailand that mainly focus on the decision and neglect the feasibility and sustainability of the programmes.

25 On naive knowledge, a key issue in knowledge transposition and in didactics in general, see for instance Champagne, A. B. and L. E. Klopfer (1983). Naive Knowledge and Science Learning. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, New York. 26 See on that, Grindle, M. S. and J. W. Thomas (1990). "After the Decision: Implementing Policy Reforms in Developing Countries." World Development Vol.18(No.8): pp. 1163-1181.

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Chapter 2

Modern education systems and impact on ethnic minorities

Kwanchewan Buadaeng & Prasit Leepreecha

The development of modern education in Thailand aimed primarily at backing up

the foundation of the nation-state in a spirit of Thai-ness and modernity. In that respect, local cultures and identities were cast aside by the government. However, with the rise of communism in the region after 1949 and the support of Communism in border areas, the Thai government found it necessary to re-conquer these regions, and proceeded to do so via public education, among other solutions. The curriculum taught in schools did not take into account the specificities of the children who were taught the same subject and in the same language (Central Thai) as their lowland counterparts. Attempts have been made to improve education and safeguard local indigenous culture, showing the importance of keeping the opportunity for people to find alternative ways of development in an ever more complex world.

Introduction The development of modern education in the highlands of Northern

Thailand over the last fifty years was meant to enable young highlanders to gain more knowledge about the modern world and new technologies. By doing so, it was hoped they would be better integrated within the broad scope of society, and have access to more employment opportunities and a higher socio-economic status.

But only a few highlanders have benefited from this modern education

system. Many who had gained some levels of education did not have the chance to continue to higher education and compete with the majority for qualified jobs. Furthermore, modern ideology and knowledge inculcated in schools have increasingly replaced traditional knowledge and practices: Without them,


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educated highlanders have found it hard to go back to their hill villages to live like their parents used to.

Modern education for highlanders has therefore been felt as an issue that

needs to be remedied. After describing the development of modern education in Thailand, this chapter provides details about the discrepancies and limitation of modern education in developing highlanders’ quality of life 27. It outlines attempts made by the state, especially through the local content provision, but also by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Peoples’ Organizations (POs) to develop alternative educational systems which would better serve the interests of the local and ethnic communities, and the nation.

1. Development of the modern education system in Thailand

The modern education system was established along with other modern

institutions at a time when Thailand was changing into becoming a modern nation 28. Before the modern system was established, two types of educational systems existed.

The first one was the royal school established to give education to royal

families: “in the reign of King Narai Maharaj, education was prosperous.(…) According to the chronicle, Phra Trat Noi, King Pethrajah’s son, had studied and was expert in many languages namely Pali, Sanskrit, French, Khmer, Laos, Vietnamese, Burmese, Mon and Chinese. He had also studied the horoscope and medicine from many teachers. The foundation of Thai language lessons was laid out since then. It is known that Phra Horathibodi wrote the Thai language teaching text, called Jinda-manee, and gave it to King Narai Maharaj” 29.

The second system was the education for monks. A book written by a

French priest, published in 1854, depicted this system as follows: “After or before

27 On the prejudices towards highlanders, see the comprehensive database collated by the CESD and available on its website, www.cesd-thai.info 28 The unification and centralization of the country took place during the reign of King Rama V around the end of the 19th century in the time of British and French colonization of Burma and Indochina. Before that, each region was autonomous and ruled by a specific royalty in each Kingdom, for example the Lanna Kingdom in the North. 29 http://www.moe.go.th (open on December 7, 2006), website of the Ministry of Education, in Thai, quote translated by the author


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the kon juk 30 ceremony, fathers and mothers will send their sons to stay at the temple to learn how to read and write. There, boys serve monks, row boats for them and eat food, which is offered to the monks, together with the monks. In exchange, the monks teach boys how to read books one or two times a day. For girls, there are cooking classes: pounding chilli paste, making sweets and also preparing betel nuts and leaves”. 31

During the Ayutthaya kingdom period 32, especially during Phra Narai

Maharaj reign (1656-1688), foreign missionaries set up churches and schools to teach people who wanted to convert to Christianity. They taught not only religion but also other modern subjects. The Ayutthaya Kings sent many of their kin and close aids to study in those schools (Wyatt 1969). Some kind of modern instruction was therefore introduced in Siam, but schools were few in numbers and were not accessible to ordinary people.

The need for extended modern education began during the time Siam was

threatened by the British and French empires, which was under the reigns of King Rama IV and King Rama V. The British government successfully occupied the whole Burma in 1885, while the French colonial government had occupied most of the Indochina area before that. Siam lost the territory on the left of the Mekong River and important towns in the East 33 to the French in the very early years of the twentieth century.

To testify these changes, the colonisers wanted to initiate many treaties.

Thus there was a need for people who knew foreign languages as the record below demonstrates: “In 1822, the British East India Company wanted to expand its trading to Bangkok. Makwis Hesting, India representative appointed John Crawford to be a consul to establish the agreement for cooperation. The discussion between John Crawford and Thai autocrats took place in a very difficult way because they could not directly talk with each other. Crawford had to speak English with his translator, who then translated into Malay for Thai translator who had to translate into Thai for the autocrat… Because of this difficulty, in that time the agreement could not be reached”. 34

30 Literally, “shave a topknot”. Traditionally, the central Thai boys had to wear topknots. The ceremony to shave a topknot was held when a boy becomes adult. 31 http://www.moe.go.th, website of the Ministry of Education (open on December 7, 2006) in Thai, quote translated by the author 32 The Ayutthaya kingdom which is widely known as Siam existed for 417 years, from 1350 to 1767 A.D. 33 The towns of Siemreap, Battabong and Srisophon 34 http://www.moe.go.th (open on December 7, 2006), website of the Ministry of Education, in Thai, translated by the author


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Next to these practical matters, and in the historical context of colonization, King Rama IV and others in the ruling class launched national reformation projects and set up a modern and centralized educational system in order to prepare people to have the same knowledge as Westerners. There was an urgent need to enter the modern era by developing the industry and trading sector, thus the demand for “educated” people who held new knowledge. Moreover, educated people were required to work in government organizations which were expanding to build the new nation.

The development of modern education started during the reign of King

Rama IV by sending young royal family members to study abroad. In 1871, King Rama V opened the Rajkumara (Prince) School in the royal palace. In 1887, the Education Department was established to oversee education and religious affairs. In 1892, the Dharmakan Ministry was set up to oversee education, religion, nursing and museums. The Ministry also encouraged Christian missionaries and private sectors to create schools. Schools for girls were set up such as Sawapha Girl School, established by Queen Somdej Phra Sri Patcharintra Borom Rajini in 1897 and the School to Teach Girls Only (rongrian bamrung wicha satri) in 1901.

In 1898, the government proclaimed a law to organize education at the

provincial level. The law emphasized that school should be spread nationwide, and use modern curriculum. The educational level was divided into pre-school, primary, secondary, occupational and higher education. Modern schools at the beginning were set up in the temples with monks serving as teachers; this allowed saving money by avoiding to build school buildings and to hire teachers. Only after 1909 were primary schools taken away from the Sangha 35.

The turning point of state-managed education was the Compulsory

Education Act, proclaimed in 1921 under the reign of King Rama VI. The Act demanded that every child, both boys and girls aged from 7 to 14, attend schools that were using the centrally-designed curriculum and Central Thai language as

35 More information on the development of state managed education on http://www.moe.go.th/main2/article/4-histo1.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki /Chulalongkorn. See also details on the change from temples’ managed education to state-managed education in Keyes, C. F. (1991). The Proposed World of the School: Thai Villagers’ Early into a Bureaucratic State System. Reshaping Local Worlds: Formal Education and Cultural Change in Rural Southeast-Asia, C. F. Keyes. New Haven, Connecticut, Monograph 36/ Yale Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University Center for International and Area Studies: pp.89-130.


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a teaching medium. The number of state schools increased from 275 in 1915 to 445 in 1922 36.

The change from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary system in 1932

was another important landmark in the management of education by the state. Priority was given to education, and government plans stated that people had to get 4 years of primary school and another 8 years of secondary school education. The Thai government launched different programmes to broaden opportunities: non-formal education (for children who were not able to attend normal schools), special education (for disabled children), and welfare education (for children who could not access normal system schools due to socio-cultural problems) 37.

The state gave much importance to education as the primary means to

create national unity and to support modern economic sectors. With this in mind, schools were set up everywhere including remote and hill areas. The first school launched in the highland ethnic community was the Ban Lao Ta School in a Hmong village in Umphang District, Tak Province in 1935 38. In 1937, another school was set up in a Lua village in Bo Luang village, Hod District, Chiang Mai (Kosump 1984, p.18). In 1956, the Border Patrol Police (BPP) established a primary school for Akha students at Sa Ngo Village, Chiang Saen District, Chiang Rai Province. The BPP served as teachers but study materials were given by the Ministry of Education and student uniforms by the Public Welfare Department.

However, before 1956, although the state had set up some schools in ethnic

communities, there were still very few of them due to a limited budget and no road access. But the state started to be interested in the highlanders due to the Cold War situation and the fear that hill tribes living in border areas might take side with the Thai Communist Party.

36 Illiterate men aged from 20 to 45 years were even taxed to mobilize money to set up schools. This taxation scheme was however abolished in 1930 due to the world economic depression. See for more details, http://www.nfe.go.th/page_aboutus.php, site of Non Formal Education Commission (Commission of the Ministry of Education), page accessed on 10th May 2006. 37 http://sunsite.au.ac.th/thailand/education/edu_thai/special.html, website of Assump-tion University, Bangkok. 38 Tribal Research Institute, 1985, p.76, referred in Renard, R. D. and al. (1994). Twenty Years of Highland Health and Educational Development. Two Decades of Thai-UN Cooperation in Highland Development and Drug Control: Lessons Learned - Outstanding Issues - Future Directions. Paper presented at a seminar organized by the United Nations International Drug Control programme (UNDCP) in cooperation with the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), 20-22 June 1994, Chiang Mai, Thailand


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2. The “hill tribes” of Thailand in the geopolitics of the Cold War

The “hill tribes” in northern Thailand consist of ten groups: Karen, Hmong

(Miao or Meo), Mien (Yao), Akha, Lahu, Lisu, Lua, H’tin, Khmu and Mlabri. It is estimated that, presently, there are about one million “hill tribe” people inhabiting the northern and north-western parts of Thailand 39. Though all groups have their specificities, they were subsumed under the broad category of “hill tribes” based on their mountainous habitat.

Traditionally, each highland ethnic group had its own knowledge and

culture epitomized in its language, costume, and house style. Their distinctive ways of life could be explained by their development in isolation caused by the remoteness of their habitat. Self-sufficient production was found among all groups, with the exception of opium, sold for family income by a few of them. Primary sources for food were household animal husbandry, local crops, and forest produces and animals. Knowledge supported daily necessities, and referred to cultivation techniques, hunting wild animals, gathering forest produ-ces, or herbal medicines, for instance. Their history and traditions were passed on orally to younger generations, as hill tribes did not rely on a written literacy.

Many groups were native of the area well before the creation of the modern

Siamese nation-state, but though they had long inhabited territories that were integrated into Siam at the end of the nineteenth century, the Thai government had not paid real attention to them until after the Second World War.

The attitude towards highlanders changed when the Communist Party took

over in China in 1949. The Communist movement influence in Southeast Asia started in the late 1950s, and communist propaganda among the hill tribes in mountainous area along the border of Thailand and Laos gained momentum in early 1960s. The Chinese Communist Party gave strong support to other Communist Parties in the Mekong region, and the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) built strongholds in the highlands and increasingly gained followers and supporters from highland ethnic groups. In 1965, the CPT began armed fighting against the Thai government. Within this context, and advised by US experts, the Thai government focused on the highland ethnic peoples, portrayed as a potential threat to Thai national security.

39 Department of Social Development and Welfare (2002). Highland Communities within 20 Provinces of Thailand. Bangkok, Department of Social Development and Welfare, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and UNICEF.


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The Border Patrol Police were sent to border areas to contain communism but they faced many difficulties, notably the inability to communicate with local people, who spoke their own dialect and did not understand Central Thai. Communism containment also took the shape of the fight against opium cultivation; by cutting the poppies it was hoped that high profits from opium trade would cease and would stop to fuel the formation of armed groups that were threatening the established government. In the heart of the Golden Triangle, hill tribes were the first target of the poppy eradication programmes, sponsored by international funders, such as the United States or the United Nations. Parallel to that, Thai and international survey teams collected data on opium production, and the highlanders’ practice of opium cultivation in the highlands was made illegal in 1958 40.

Poppy eradication programmes put the spotlight on hill tribes and their

traditional agriculture methods were pointed at, especially slash-and-burn agriculture presented as backward and jeopardizing environment through deforestation. From the perspective of the government, such ways of life were primitive and needed to be changed. Therefore, socio-economic development projects were launched in highland ethnic communities in the mid-1970s. The projects focused on opium eradication and then on poverty alleviation, improvement of health conditions, nutrition, and literacy, keeping in mind the necessity of rolling back communism.

In that respect, education in state schools was essential to hook hill tribes

firmly on Thailand and deter them from being lured into communism. Teaching hill tribe people to speak, read and write Thai was essential to allow communication with government officials who were implementing development programmes. Governmental schools were a means to control hill tribes and integrate them into the modern society and economics, but also into the Thai ideological and political landscapes as the following sections will explain it further.

40 Cultivation of opium had largely gone on even after it was made illegal by the 1958 law. Only from 1984-1985, the cultivation of opium almost stopped after the Thai government used armed forces to slash opium poppies in the field annually.


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3. Extending modern education to the highlands: the role of state agencies

In 1951, the Thai state set up ‘The Welfare Committee for People Far From

Road Access’ (prachakon klai khamanakhom), later renamed ‘The Hill Tribe Welfare Committee’ (HWC) to focus on the hill tribes 41. Many projects were designed such as the establishment of the ‘Settlement for Hill Tribe Welfare’ to contain hill peoples within a demarcated area in order, officially, to make it easy for government officials to conduct development and welfare activities. A socio-economic survey of Hmong, Mien, Lisu and Laha villages in highlands of three Provinces (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Tak) was also conducted in 1961-1962. Recommendations from the survey report led to the establishment of the Tribal Research Center (TRC) to systematically conduct research and development among the hill tribes 42.

In 1963, the HWC organized sub-committees regarding education,

occupation, land survey, health, radio broadcasting and the preparation for the setting up of the TRC. The HWC launched the National Integration Policy to be carried out among the hill tribes. The aim of this policy was to use education to develop and generate welfare to the hill tribes, to create qualified citizens and to increase self-reliance. Many state agencies have been involved in the establishment and administration of hill tribe schools; details of educational programmes under each agency are described below.

3.1 The Office of the Basic Education Commission The Office (OBEC) is responsible for the management of state schools

countrywide. School structure and systems are designed in a same centralized way i.e. school fee, curriculum, administrative structure etc. This has limited the access of ethnic children to school, mainly because of their low-income family 41 Hill Tribe Welfare Division (2002). See sib pee kong song khraw chao khao [Forty years of Hill Tribe Welfare Division]. Bangkok, Public Welfare Department, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. 42 See Manndorff, H. (1967). The Hill Tribe Program of the Public Welfare Department, Ministry of Interior, Thailand: Research and Socio-Economic Development. Southeast Asian Tribes, Minorities, and Nations. P. Kunstadter. New Jersey, Princeton University Press. For the rise and fall of the Tribal Research Center, see Buadaeng, K. (2006). "The Rise and Fall of the Tribal Research Institute (TRI): Hill Tribe Policy and Studies in Thailand." Tonan Ajia Kenkyu (Southeast Asian Studies) 44(3): pp.359-384.


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background 43 and because their villages are far from the main road and the school.

To solve that, the OBEC has set up school branches in the highlands to

teach young children from Grades 1 to 3 but villagers 44 mentioned that very few teachers really devote their time and profession to teach highland children. Teachers are usually not ethnic native people. They hardly communicate with hill tribe peoples due to language barriers and sometimes have a prejudice towards them. They find it difficult to live in remote areas with few modern technology facilities and prefer commuting to the hill school everyday.

It was reported that a lowland teacher spends only 2-3 hours a day for

teaching in a hill remote school 45. He/She arrives at school at around 10am, and then takes coffee for breakfast for around half an hour before starting teaching. The break for lunch may take another two hours because students have to prepare and cook lunch for themselves at school 46. He/She may teach for another hour after lunch before returning to his/her home in the lowlands. Some days, teachers do not even come for they have to attend meetings or trainings.

To improve hill children’s accessibility to state schooling, “mobile class-

rooms” have been temporarily set up in village clusters that cannot even have a school branch. This kind of temporary school needs the support from local people because they have to construct the temporary classroom, teacher’s house, desks etc. while the main school or the Local Administrative Organization’s office provides teaching materials and sometimes food for lunch. The initial monitoring of this project has shown good results because local communities

43 Although the 1997 and 2007 constitutions stated that children must get free education for 12 years, schools still require parents to pay for many things i.e. textbooks, hiring foreign teachers, etc. Only in the first semester of the 2009 school year did the government increase its support to schools so that schools would not charge the parents for extra. However, parents still complain that they still have to pay for many things for children i.e. stationery. 44 From the author’s own research and experience of sending her children to attend a branch school in a remote hill Karen village. 45 Data collated by Songwit Chuemskul, an official from the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. He presented his research during the seminar on “Lessons Learned from the Development of Education for Children and Youth by Communities and NGOs in Northern Thailand”, organized by the Social Research Institute, Chiang Mai University on November 28, 2008. His presentation was based on his experience when doing research for his Ph.D. thesis in a hill tribe village. 46 Primary schools in remote areas usually get a limited amount of funding from the government to provide lunch for students.


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have well cooperated, but there are some problems, such as the difficulty in communication between Thai teachers and Karen students and the insufficient number of teachers to cater to a large number of students (Damnoen 2002).

3.2 The Non-formal Education Office In the 1940s, the Non-formal Education Office put an emphasis on teaching

adults how to read and write. Later in the 1970s, the focus turned to general people who could not attend normal schools. The office established many non-formal education schools in small villages where schools following the formal system could not be set up. Volunteer teachers were hired to teach in those schools while also working with communities to develop the village.

Recently, the Office has initiated projects to help ethnic children learn

better, such as the Bilingual Education which allow young children to use their own language together with Thai language. Also, the Office set up Thai classes for Burmese migrant workers’ children and for camp refugees to help them better communicate with Thai people and to have access to important sources of information in Thai.

3.3 The Special Education Administrative Office This Office is in charge of Welfare schools set up for children who cannot

have access to normal schools. These children may be categorized into hill tribe, children in remote areas, orphans, children who are at risk – e.g. prone to HIV/AIDS, drug addiction, unwanted occupations, or children with disabilities. In fact, hill tribe children may fall into each category.

There are two types of welfare schools: The first is called Welfare Education

Schools, the second the Royal-People Welfare School. Welfare Education Schools were set up from the 1950s to the 1970s, with one in every province inhabited by hill tribes. The first one was established in Kanchanaburi Province in 1953, and was called Phanomthuan Welfare Education School.

The Royal-People Welfare Schools were established during the last two

decades. The schools are mostly situated in remote districts. Altogether, there are 45 Welfare Education Schools and Royal-People Welfare School spread across the 38 Provinces. All schools provide boarding and education free of charge.


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Most of them are opened from grade 1 to grade 12. In 2005, the number of students in these 45 schools was 40,658 47.

3.4 The Border Patrol Police (BPP) Command Office As stated earlier, the BPP set up schools in border areas when they found

that nobody in the villages could speak Thai and schools did not exist there although a lot of children were around. They thought that if the situation remained like that, Thai national security would be threatened. Schools were set up in order to “teach hill tribe children and people in hardship area Thai language and tradition, to be a means to create the familiarity and trust between villagers and the BPP, which is the approach to create sustainable development, leading to development in other aspects…” 48

The BPP has set up altogether 713 schools, but in 2005, only 191 schools

remained under its control, out of which 189 were primary schools, only 2 were secondary schools. Many schools were closed because villagers had moved to other places and some schools had been transferred under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education because the areas had become easily accessible to outsiders. The 191 remaining schools are located in 40 Provinces with altogether 1,549 BPP teachers, 20 normal 49 teachers and 30 volunteer teachers.

The BPP schools are patronized by the King and royal family members.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has initiated many projects in the BPP schools such as farming for lunch, nutrition and health promotion schemes, or scholarships for higher education.

3.5 The National Buddhism Office In 1965, the Sangha set up the Dhammacharik Programme to spread

Buddhism among the hill tribe people. In 1972, the Dhammacharik Programme established schools to accommodate young hill tribe boys, who were ordained as

47 Out of the total number, 794 students are stateless people. 48 On the history of BPP schools, see www.bpp.go.th/healthzone/clip%20art/bpp _school.htm 49 By ‘normal teachers’ we are referring to teachers permanently employed by the Ministry of Education. They usually have an offical status. Volunteer teachers are partly employed and have not been fully trained as teachers.


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novices, to study from primary school to junior high school. In 1990, the programme set up another school which teaches from Junior High School (lower secondary education) to High School (upper secondary education) level. The school follows the Buddhist curriculum (phra pariyati thamma). Later, in 1993, with the increasing number of hill tribe novices, another school was set up to teach more novices at Junior High School level. The programme also includes a vocational school for hill tribe girls to study both core subjects and vocational subjects such as cloth making, cooking, or music.

4. Impact of modern curriculum on hill tribes 4.1 School curriculum and teaching system in highland schools

Since modern education has been used by the central government as a

modern technology to gradually inculcate and convince non-Thai ethnic groups to become Thai, as stated by Cohn and Dirks (1988), central curriculum and standard Thai have only been allowed in class. Subjects and contents taught in highland schools have followed the same system as the one operated in lowland schools.

These are designed by the Centre, which is Bangkok, and then used

throughout the country. That means local and ethnic knowledge has not been part of the school curriculum, with the only exception of the “special activity”, carried out one hour a week. In addition, only Standard Thai, as an official language, has been allowed at school.

In a highland primary school, a former Hmong student said, “When there

were patrol border police staff teaching in our school, in the late 1970s, teachers adopted soldiers’ rules in school. Hmong students were asked to strictly follow one another. If any student spoke Hmong language in school territory, friends would report to teacher; he or she will then be punished by beating on hand and running around the school field. With such way of punishment, it caused a lot of shyness and embarrassment. Soon, Hmong students were able to speak Thai fluently.” 50

50 Interview of Prajeen Xiong (pseudonym), a Hmong villager of Mae Sa Mai, Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai Province, 2004.


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Such strict rules also existed in lowland schools throughout the country. A former Karen student stated, “In my school classes in a lowland secondary school, my lowland Thai classmates often spoke with teachers, who were also lowlanders, in northern Thai dialect or Kham Muang. The school head teacher then set up an official rule, which was adopted from central government’s policy that only standard Thai was allowed in school class. Otherwise, any student who violated the rule would be punished by beating.” 51

Furthermore, school activities have been geared towards nationalism.

Students learn about Thailand’s three pillars: the nation, the (Buddhist) religion and the monarchy. In front of each class, above the black board, there are photos of the national flag, Lord Buddha, and His Majesty the King. The three colours of the national flag represent these three pillars. Every morning, students have to attend the national flag salute. National anthem is sung while raising the national flag up to the top of the pole. After that, students pray and chant in the Buddhist way. For the monarchy, students have to sing the song to praise the monarchy every Friday evening, before heading home. These practices are very different, if not contradictory, with hill tribes’ traditions and conceptions of the world.

4.2 Impact of formal education on hill tribe people and community

Though, for about three or four decades, highland parents have eagerly

wanted their children to study in modern schools, primarily for the purpose of acquiring literacy and worldwide knowledge, there are great lessons to learn about the impact of the school system.

Firstly, parents think that the more their children are enrolled in school

system, the more they lose their ethnic and local knowledge. Modern education system is seen as a means to guide students and to expose them to Western knowledge and nationalism, rather than perpetuating their traditional knowledge. For example, their local and ethnic history is not a part of the “History” course; values and practices of local agricultural and traditional healings are not mentioned in the school curriculum; there is no room in school for local experts to transmit their wisdom to students.

51 Interview of Khamla Maneevong (pseudonym), a Karen villager of Nongtong village, Mae Wang District, Chiang Mai Province, 2008.


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Secondly, the more children attend school, the less they speak their ethnic language and dress in ethnic costumes. As stated earlier, only standard Thai is allowed in class, and school teachers try to convince parents that their ethnic language is useless in the Thai context. At a village meeting of one Hmong village, a school head teacher clearly stated, “I sometimes would like to punish your children, due to their inability to speak Thai when they first enrol at school. However, I stop my intention, since the fault is not theirs, but their parents’. Hence, I would like to strongly recommend that you, as parents, have to teach basic Thai terms to them before taking them to school. Such basic kinship terminology of father, mother, brother, sister, etc., in Thai should be taught. Otherwise, teachers would take a long time to accustom them with Thai language, before school curriculum could be started. Please avoid using your own ethnic language with children, since it is useless soon after you leave the village territory for outside.” 52

Up to recently, young ethnic people who had enrolled in school rarely

spoke their own language. Nowadays, their children are unable to speak it: Problems of communication between grandparents and grandchildren exist in various families and ethnic groups. In addition to language, ethnic costumes have also been neglected. Young people feel reluctant to dress in traditional costumes, except for tourist attraction, because they want to hide their ethnic identity from the lowland Thai public.

Finally, modern education system, which is implemented by the state,

causes inferiority and loss of self-confidence among young ethnic peoples. Because negative stereotypes regarding highlanders are conveyed, both through the school curriculum and public media, there is a real sense of shame in expressing highland ethnic identities insofar as young people feel backward and irrelevant. Examples include avoiding speaking their language or meeting their fellow ethnic members in a lowland Thai context; changing first and family names to Thai ones. Another good example case we found is that some ethnic students who attended secondary school did not want to apply within the quota for tribal students to get enrolled at Chiang Mai University, just because they did not want other friends to know about their ethnic background (Leepreecha and Trakarnthamrong 2006).

52 Interview of Rackchart Thaithae (pseudonym), head teacher of Mae Sa Mai School, Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai Province, 2004.


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5. Attempts from Government Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and People Organizations (POs) to reform education

For the last fifty years, many state agencies have tried to provide formal

education to hill tribe children by setting up schools to cover all hill areas, but in terms of accessibility, some problems have remained. Upper secondary schools are usually situated in the District town which is, for some hill villagers, still a distant place. Children cannot go back and forth, and need to stay close to the school which means more expenses to cater to living costs. If a hill tribe child wants to go to higher education, the financial burden is even heavier because most colleges and universities are located in the city. We know that among hill tribe people, some are getting rich and can afford to pay for their children’s education. But the lives of most hill tribe people are still around the poverty line.

Another acute problem is the appropriateness of the curriculum and

learning system. The state curriculum has been designed to create a sense of Thai-ness needed to build the nation. It has also induced the introduction of modern, “scientific” knowledge to bring hill peoples on the path towards moder-nization, commercialization and industrialization. For hill tribe communities, it means that ethnic and local history and culture have been neglected and traditional knowledge is progressively being forgotten. The formal education system, not based on the multicultural principle, has therefore been questioned: Should modern education be the only model to be applied in a world which becomes more and more complex?

The state educational practitioners, non-governmental development workers

and community leaders have realised the limitation of formal education system and attempted to reform education, to increase its accessibility and appropriateness.

The 1997 Thai constitution provided that “a person has equal right to receive

basic education for not less than 12 years. Education must be provided by the state in large area coverage and free of charge”. Parallel with public schools, the state established fund to grant loans and scholarships to poor students, to purchase uniforms, study equipment and material, or to cater to living expenses. But the level of the fund is still too limited compared to the needs of students.

Since 2004, educational policies have attempted to incorporate ethnic

history, indigenous knowledge and culture in the school curriculum by stating, through a decree of the Minister of Education, the obligation to have 30% of the


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curriculum being locally developed 53. But only a few schools have been able to achieve that. Examples are Jong Kham School in Mae Hong Son Province, Ban Mai Pang Kha School in Payao Province and Khob Dong School in Chiang Mai Province. Two main factors have led to their success in developing a real local curriculum: first, the appreciation and understanding of the importance of ethnic/local history, knowledge and culture. The directors of the first two schools are Shan and Mien native people, while the teacher of the last school is from Bangkok but has devoted herself to the Lahu and Palong communities, and other ethnic groups, for more than twenty years. The second factor is the active participation in the local curriculum development of ethnic communities 54.

NGOs have also played an important role in supporting hill tribe children

to access formal education at upper secondary and higher education levels. Most of the NGOs, who work with hill tribe communities, get financial support from foreign donors to give students free boarding and scholarships. Having realized that formal education is not very relevant to the real life of hill tribes, NGOs have also created tailored curriculums providing alternative knowledge and the integration of indigenous knowledge and culture 55.

Regarding People’s Organizations’ role in education, up to now, it can be

stated that local villagers have had very limited opportunities to teach their own knowledge to their children in class, despite the local content provision. In a Hmong village of Mae Sa Mai of Chiang Mai province, we found several obstacles to the implementation of the local school curriculum (Leepreecha and Wanitpradit 2009). Firstly, there are various local groups of people who attempt to teach children different subjects, such as silverware, tree plantation for reforestation, herbal medicines and mixed-crops faming, or the development of a local museum. But cooperation between them is not clear. Moreover, written

53 See more details on that in Chapter 1 of this Occasional Paper. 54 A few schools which have successfully developed the local curriculum presented their works in the seminar organized by the Research Programme “Education Systems and the Preservation of Local Wisdom and Ethnic Culture” of the Social Research Institute, Chiang Mai University, on September 7, 2007, as reported in Buadaeng, K. (2008). Kan phathana rabob kan suksa phue anurak watthanatham lae phasa chatphan [Developing Educational Systems for the Conservation of Culture and Language]. Chiang Mai, Research report of Social Research Institute, Chiang Mai University. 55 See more information on the role of NGOs in supporting education for hill tribes in Buadaeng, K. (2008). Ong korn phatana ekchon kab kan song serm kan suksa kae klum chat phan bon phuen thi sung [Non-governmental organizations and the promotion of education among highland ethnic groups]. Chiang Mai, Research report of Social Research Institute, Chiang Mai University.


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texts are scarce, teaching techniques and processes are not always appropriate, and these activities are very time-consuming for the villagers.

Secondly, teachers, especially the head teacher, feel reluctant to cooperate

with villagers in integrating local wisdom in class. The priority, and the responsibility of the head teacher, is to run the school to meet the government’s policy goals. The aim is to train students to compete at higher levels of education and get agriculture-based jobs. In that respect, local knowledge is less important for school teachers. In addition, school teachers’ background is not an ethnic one and all of them have to travel back and forth on a daily basis between lowland home and highland village, so they pay no attention to learning to ethnic language or to create a local curriculum with villagers.

Thirdly, for some attempts, both sides, school and community, have met a

common agreement but there has been no funding for the local content provision. Though there is an available source of budget from the local Sub-district (Tambon) Administration Organization (orbortor), a clear proposal is necessary. It needs to be developed and submitted in advance for fiscal budget allocation. In practice, no side started such process.

In a nutshell, there is still very limited space and roles for peoples’

organizations in pushing their ethnic and local knowledge into the local school classroom. Therefore, it was not strange for us to find that they are presently attempting to create their own channels, outside formal schools, to succeed in passing on their knowledge to younger generations (Leepreecha and Wanitpradit 2009).

Conclusion: problems and challenges In official discourse, the hill tribes have been portrayed negatively and with

suspicions. Before the 1980s, they were viewed as a vulnerable group which was likely to side with the communists. Later, they were often stigmatized as drug producers and traders and as forest destroyers. The formal education system has been extended as a means to solve ‘hill tribe’ problems by inducing Thainess, and replacing traditional knowledge and culture with modern ones. As a result of intensive extension of formal education by many state agencies since the 1960s, hill tribe children and youth have increasingly been formally educated and integrated into modern Thai society. They have adopted Thai identity,


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modern knowledge and culture, and gradually moved out from highland communities to find jobs and permanently settle in urban areas.

As a consequence of formal education extension, a few hill tribe people

managed to gain higher education, and to find jobs leading them to a higher socio-economic status in Thai society. They have worked with governmental agencies, international and national non-governmental development organizations, religious institutions, or in the business sector. However, the overwhelming majority of hill tribe peoples have not been able to attain higher education or to reach higher levels of the society. They found work in urban areas but only got enough income for survival. They are unlikely to go back to their highland communities to work on the farm for they lack the needed knowledge and habits to stay and work as their forefathers did. If they come back, it would be more likely to hold a position in local administrative offices, nurseries, or schools, for instance.

The formal education system, which is centralized in its structure,

curriculum, and regulations, is still inaccessible to ethnic marginalized people. Most people cannot afford the expenses induced by higher education, not only for school tuition but also daily expenses and others. The quality of the education delivered is also questioned for it has been largely based on Western knowledge and models, while local knowledge and culture have been neglected. The more children attend school, the less they learn about their indigenous knowledge and culture. Ethnic language and indigenous knowledge which have been developed and transmitted for hundreds of years may discontinue. The knowledge on fauna and flora which could be further studied for the production of medicine, for instance, will be lost, for the younger generation has no chance to access to this type of knowledge. This means that society as a whole will lose invaluable knowledge resources which could have been used to build alternative development in an increasingly complex and dynamic society.

However, in the last two decades, there have been attempts by the

government to reform the education system to provide access for all and accommodate local knowledge and culture into the formal system, in order to provide more options for livelihoods and the development of other sectors of the society. Attempts have not yet generated clear successful results: The educational structure is still too centralized with limited participation from civil society. Revisions or improvements are slow whereas real and timely reforms are needed. NGOs and POs have worked hard to help hill tribe children to get access to higher education and develop alternative learning systems and contents. But with limited funding and manpower, they can only help a few at a time.


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With many challenges ahead, the reformation of the Thai education system will not be achieved by the work of only one or two agencies. All stakeholders, the state, NGOs, POs and civil society must realize that education reform is a priority and put all their efforts together to improve the accessibility and quality of education for a better society and living.


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Chapter 3

Vocational and cooperative education in Thailand: A Presentation

Chitrlada Burapharat & Supat Chupradit

Traditionally education was done on a local basis, with temple schools but also “on

the job” training, with fathers teaching their sons how to grow plants or mothers explaining their daughters how to take care of the household. With the introduction of modern education in Thailand in the second half of the 19th century under the reign of King Chulalongkorn, education changed dramatically, focusing on general subjects, especially designed to train future bureaucrats in the newly formed national administration. However it soon appeared necessary to develop modern technical and vocational education, and, influenced by foreign models, Thailand developed its technical education system. New challenges in economy, such as the upgrading of Thailand’s economy and production system, have put vocational education to the fore in the recent years but it still faces problems. The Thai government has decided to put the emphasis on “co-operative education”, in order to strengthen the links between higher education institutions and companies, and boost Thai national innovation system. Though the concepts and models can be clearly presented, putting them into practice is the real challenge.

Introduction In the past, in Thailand, knowledge and skills were gained mainly through

community education offered in temple schools and also “on the job” training within close-knit family relationships, such as farming skills or domestic work. With the introduction of modern education in the kingdom in the second half of the 19th century under the reign of Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua, also known as King Rama V (1853–1910), ways in which education was delivered underwent dramatic changes. In support to the country’s development and to catch up with modernity, the centralized government asked for qualified personnel to manage


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and deal with the newly established national and central administration system, adopted mainly from France and England.

At present, globalization imposes new challenges on education and society

with the demand for certain knowledge and skills required by the labour market to upgrade Thailand’s economic and production systems.

It has soon appeared necessary to develop technical and vocational

education to support industrial development. But the importance placed on vocational education has faced problems in terms of the quality of the human resources produced. To solve them, the Office of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) stated its interests in “Cooperative Education” as a teaching and learning alternative with the hope to strengthen the links between higher education and enterprises to improve the quality of Thai graduates for the labour market. The cooperative education concept is a real challenge: Cooperative education models can be clearly presented, but putting it into practice is travail.

1. Vocational education in Thailand The NEA called for a Vocational Education Act as mentioned in the next

steps for reform of education in Thailand stated at the end of the document. The preparation of a Vocational Education Act was listed as one of the ten legal measures that required immediate action (ONEC 1999). This was reiterated in section 20 of the amended version of the NEA voted in 2002 and reinforced by the fact that this new version of the act set up a Commission for Vocational Education (the OVEC) within the Ministry of Education (ONEC 2002):

Section 20 Vocational education and occupational training shall be provided in

educational institutions belonging to the State or the private sector, enterprises, or those organized through co-operation of educational institutions and enterprises, in accord with the Vocational Education Act and relevant laws.

Section 32 Regarding the administrative organization of the Ministry, there shall

be four main pillars in the form of groups of individuals called a “council” or a “commission” as the case may be. These are: the National Education Council; Commission of Basic Education; Commission of Vocational Education; and Commission of Higher Education. (…)


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The Vocational Education Act 56 was eventually voted by the Thai Parliament in 2008. This emphasis on vocational education is not a surprise and shall be linked with the industrial development path Thailand has followed since the 1950s. The Vocational Education Act has somehow restructured Thai vocational education, and lots of hope has been put on it to foster human resource development and economic growth in the country.

1.1 Historical background of Thai vocational education Traditional education in Thailand was clustered around traditional social

institutions, e.g. the family, the community, and the temple. Wyatt (1969) well described the patterns of pre-modern education in this agrarian country. Monastic education was delivered in Buddhist temples to boys, sent by their parents to serve the monks and get basic literacy in return. Girls were mainly educated at home and taught how to take care of the household. The situation was different for the children of the Kings or high rank nobles 57. “Vocational” education was carried out by parents, or when the children wanted to learn another kind of craft, they would be taught by other people in the community.

The introduction by King Chulalongkorn of modern education in the

second half of the 19th century was a real educational revolution. By doing so, the purposes of King Chulalongkorn were diverse, mainly geared by the willingness to safeguard Siam’s independence by showing a modern face to the Western empires. The primary aim of the newly established education system was therefore to train administrative staff to fuel the different modern administra-tions and ministries set up by the king.

Thai modern education expanded progressively from an elitist system to a

mass education one; however this trend was mainly designed to match the needs of government agencies for civil servants (Worawichawong 1990). Students therefore were taught general and academic subjects, including only very few professional aspects. The Thai government tried to insert vocational training into education as early as the 1910s but “neither vocational, practical nor agricultural classes proved successful” (Watson 1982, p.169).

This situation lasted up to the 1950s when the government decided to

attract more students into vocational training to foster industrial development in 56 พระราชบญญตการอาชวศกษา (2551) [Phra raat cha ban yat gaan aa chee wa seuk saa 2551] 57 See also on that subject, the first section of Chapter 2 of this Occasional Paper.


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the country. Field Marshal Sarit Thanart, head of Thailand during those years, stated clearly that education should be a partner of economics. This was then inscribed in the 1st National Economic and Social Development Plan whereby education was linked with human resources and national development. Since then different attempts to promote and develop vocational training have been launched, with limited impacts. In many cases, these attempts were supported and advised by foreign experts, mainly from the United States or Germany 58.

1.2 Vocational education in Thailand: Current structure The NEA and then the Vocational Education Act of 2008 were designed to

help Thai vocational and technical education overcome its difficulties and boost up the Thai economic base.

The 4th section of the Vocational Education Act of 2008 defines “Vocational

Colleges” as educational institutions that aim to produce and improve the manpower to reach the craftsmanship, technical and technology proficiency required by the economy. “Vocational Training Courses” are also identified as long or short courses focusing on vocational training and aiming to develop the knowledge and skills required by target groups. The curriculum is arranged under the supervision of the Vocational College Committee, part of the Vocational Education Commission (OVEC).

There are private and public vocational institutions. Public institutions are

under the umbrella of the Office of the Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) and private institutions fall under the authority of the Office of the Private Education Commission (OPEC) that is under the responsibility of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Education. The delimitation of the different tasks and duties relevant to the OVEC and the OPEC have been sources of conflict and difficulties, and reflects to some extent the administrative power struggles among the different offices and ministries.

The 6th section of the Vocational Education Act mentions more details

about the administration of vocational education and especially the need for collaboration between the NESDB (National Economic and Social Development Board) and the MOE. The National and Economic Development Plan shall arise

58 For instance, projects with the German GTZ - Deutsche Gesellshaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit.


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from this collaboration with the aim to produce and upgrade Thai workers’ potentials and skills (OVEC 2008).

Organizational chart of Thai vocational education (2008)

Programmes in Industry, Art, Home Economics, Commerce, Tourist Industry, Agriculture, Fish-related Industry, Textile Industry, Technology & Communication

Cert.Voc.(PorWorChor)BachelordegreeDip.Voc.(PorWorSor)

ShortCourses

Ministry of Education

Office of the Ministry Office of the Education Council

Office of the Basic Education Commission OBEC

Office of the Higher Education Commission HEC

Office of the Permanent Secretary for Education

Office of the Vocational Educational Commission OVEC

Office of Private Education

CommissionOPEC Formal

EducationNon-FormalEducation

Dual Vocational Training System (DVT)

Vocational/Technical Education in Thailand

Chart adapted from “Vocational Education Structure” and information available on www.moe.go.th and www.vec.go.th Here are some explanations regarding the above chart. The 8th section of

the Vocational Educational Law of 2008 states that vocational training can be acquired in three ways: formal education, non-formal education, and dual vocational training (DVT).

In formal education, programmes are taught in colleges. The curricula,

period of time, course evaluation are set to meet specific conditions. In non-formal education, programmes aim to be flexible. The curricula, period of time, course evaluation are set into certain conditions according to the needs of targeted groups. The willingness to develop this kind of education goes in line with the strategy to promote life-long learning (and therefore the training of the


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needed labour force along the changes faced by the industry and the economy), and also with the trend towards more community-based development.

Dual Vocational Training (DVT) is a new concept in Thai vocational and

technical education. It was made concrete by the Vocational Education Act with the aim to allow better transition from school to work. This was done while having the German dual education system in mind. The objective is to link, in the syllabus, courses in colleges and internship in the workplace. Agreements are signed between the Colleges and the workplace, whether private companies, public organizations, academic institutes or governmental offices. This is a co-operative education programme at technical certificate and diploma level. This has to be put in line with cooperative education at higher education level, explained in the following section and in chapter 5.

Technical and vocational training in Thailand is organized around different

programmes. The Certificate of Vocational Education Programme (PorWorChor) is the academic programme which is available for students who finished lower secondary school (at Mo3 level) and applied to attend vocational college. Students need three years of studies to get it.

The Diploma of Vocational Education Programme (PorWorSor) is the

academic programme which is available for students coming from PorWorChor or from Mo6 (general education stream). It is a less-than-a-degree diploma. The aim of this programme is to develop technicians with higher potential. The curriculum has set a minimum of 2 years to get this diploma.

The Bachelor of Technology is the academic programme available for

students who got their Certificate or Diploma of Vocational Education. This degree has newly been established and is not available for general education students. It is taught in colleges in continuity with PorWorSor. But other institutions have been interested in this degree, for instance, Rajamangala and Rajabhat Universities. They have set up a Bachelor of Industry to attract technical students. The curriculum in all these bachelors is in 4 years for PoWorChor students and in 2 years for PorWorSor students.

Short Courses are also delivered by colleges to respond to the demand for

middle-range or higher technical skills. The programmes are meant to support local needs in training.


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Here are some data regarding the students in vocational and technical

institutions.

Number of students in public and private vocational colleges in academic year 2007

Level Year Number of students Proportion OVEC/OPEC**

PorWorChor 1 201,009 112,878 313,887 64% 36% 2 150,611 88,786 239,397 63% 37% 3 126,147 73,066 199,213 63% 37% Total 477,767 274,730 752,497 63% 37% PorWorSor 1 110,121 65,766 175,887 63% 37% 2 (or more)* 100,745 62,579 163,324 62% 38% Total 210,866 128,345 339,211 62% 38% Grand Total 688,633 403,075 1,091,708 63% 37%

* Some students may have to study more than 2 years, so this figure includes students in their second

year or more. ** OVEC (Office of Vocational Education Commission); OPEC (Office of the Private Education Commission). Source: www.vec.go.th

To allow some elements of comparison, we need to mention that in general

education, the proportion of students in public and private institutions is 89:11 (OEC 2008). The proportion of students in private colleges is therefore higher in vocational education.

Some leads for explanations can be found in the following data:

Per Head Expenditure of state education institutions in formal upper secondary education

Level of Education / System Annual per Head Expenditure Upper secondary general education Upper secondary vocational education - industry - commerce - home economics - arts - agriculture

3,800 baht

6,500 baht 4,900 baht 5,500 baht 6,200 baht

n/a

Adapted from Table 7.2: Per head Expenditure for Basic Education, OEC, Education in Thailand (2008)


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Vocational students represent a cost for public education, higher than general education students. However, whereas the government wants to develop vocational programmes, they also want, at the same time, to cut their public spending. This paradox can only be solved by developing private education.

Classification of public vocational and technical institutions according to their

designation, main functions and number of related institutions, academic year 2007 Colleges Number Location (province) Main Functions Vocational (36) and Technical (109) Colleges

145 All provinces Train people in rural areas; Respond to the needs of the marketplace; Support industry (mainly textile, communication and technology)

Polytechnic Colleges 54 Some provinces Provide short courses; Some schools deliver PorWorChor and PorWorSor

Colleges of Agriculture and Technology

44 Some provinces Support agriculture industry and technology; Provide other courses

Industrial and Community Colleges

144 Some provinces Support Home Economics and Commerce

Commercial Colleges 5 Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (4 colleges) Phitsanulok

Support commercial field

Fishery Colleges 3 Pattani, Songkhla, Chumphon

Support fish-related industry

Business Administration and Tourism Colleges

3 Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon

Support the marketing and tourist industries

Industrial and Ship Building Technical Colleges

3 Nong Khai, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Nakhon Si Thammarat

Support shipyard industry

Arts and Crafts Colleges 2 Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon

Support workers involved in handicraft

Kanchanapisek Golden Jubilee Royal Goldsmith College

1 Krung Thep Maha Nakhon

Support workers related to the gold industry

Total 404

Table from information available on www.vec.go.th The data presented above shows the fragmentation of technical and

vocational education in Thailand between private and public colleges, and between different fields and institutions. The double-headed administration of the vocational education under the OPEC and the OVEC is sometimes problematic to implement full-scale plans. Moreover, it is also worth noting that despite the vocational and technical aspects of education, other ministries are not involved in the management of vocational education. It would have not been off-


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board to see the Ministry of Agriculture or the Ministry of Industry involved in it. But this is not the case.

1.3 The present status of Vocational College in Thailand From informal interviews we had, it appears that vocational and technical

education in Thailand does not hold a high status in people’s mind. They think technical and vocational educational institutions are mainly for students with poor family background, or for students who have failed to join or stay in general education. This general feeling we sensed in Thailand is supported by the following pie chart that shows the proportion between general and vocational education students.

Proportion of Thai students in general and vocational education

69 %

31 %

General Education Vocational Education

Source: OEC (2008), Education in Thailand 2007 Thai students are more attracted by general education. The government is

well-aware of it and has implemented a strategy to attract more (and more talented) students in the technical streams (Sawaaengdee, Rindfuss et al. 2004).

This involves enhancing the image of technical education (hence the fix-it

centres, presented in Chapter 4 of this Occasional Paper), or giving the opportunity for technical students to further their studies in higher education institutions (hence the setting up of Bachelors of Technology, and plans to develop technically-related Masters and Doctorates in the near future). They want to reach a students’ balance of 50:50 and solve the problems of not properly qualified workers in the labour market.


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1.4 The role of vocational education in economic development

There is a gap between the needs created by the technological changes and

the level of education of the Thai workforce. The majority of workers have at the best finished primary education. This is far too limited in an economy that requires more and more engineers and middle-range technicians.

Therefore the development of a quality technical and vocational training

system has been seen as a solution to fill the gap. This is in line with a competency-based approach of education and training (CBE) 59 that moves education away from a teacher-focused approach to a student and/or workplace focus 60: “In competence-based VET academic disciplines are no longer the starting point for curriculum development” (Wesselink, Biemans et al. 2005). The outcomes of this kind of education should be directly linked to the development of human resources 61.

Competency-based approach: the role of vocational education in economic growth

Economic Growth

VocationalEducation

Human Resource Development

Competency-based approach

59 การศกษาและฝกอบรมแบบฐานสมรรถนะ [gaanseeuksaa lae feukohprohm baeepthaansamatthana] 60 Velde, C. (1999). "An alternative conception of competence: implication for vocational education." Journal of Vocational Education and Training. 61 For an overview of the Thai approach on CBE in vocational and technical education, see Gasipaa, C. (2006). Gaanseuksaa lae feukohprohm baaep thaan sa mat tha na [Competency-based Education and Training]. Bangkok, OVEC Office of Vocational Education Commission (year 2549). Paosopa, J. and M. Phrohmpheht (2005). Gaan phat tha na moh dules baaep thaan sa mat tha na [Developing Competency-Based Modules]. Bangkok, OVEC Office of Vocational Education Commission (year 2548).


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Vocational education by providing the needed competencies and skills required for human resource development can contribute to economic growth 62.

Some studies listed the skills needed by Thai students 63 to fill the current

requirements of the employers: operational, technical, but also social, communication and organizational skills. As a consequence, some subjects should be emphasized during the school training: Thai language, English language, business administration, mathematics and technology. In order to fit with the competency-based approach, students should also be well aware of their environment. Current technical students in Thailand appear to have a low potential, and solutions should be developed to attract talented students away from the general education stream. This would allow vocational education to match the demands of the labour market.

Another option seen as essential is to develop collaboration between the

different ministries (Ministry of Education, Labour, and Industry) and also partnerships between educational institutions and entrepreneurs. This is what DVT has tried to develop but also what the co-operative education programmes in Thailand have supported for the last few years.

2. Cooperative education in Thailand 64 Cooperative education is the designed series of experiential learning

opportunities whereby students gain practical work experiences from real working situation, hence facilitating the students’ school-to-work transition. It is an alternative way to structure education combining classroom-based learning with practical work experience. With the belief that experiential learning can encourage student’s growth and development, cooperative education provides 62 See Sawaaengdee, Y., T. Wohngsaaycheuua, et al. (2005). Aa chee wa seuk saa gap raaeng ngaan khoon na phaap [Vocational Education and Quality of Labour]. Bangkok, Institute of Population and Social Research, Mahidol University. 63 Wohngboonsin, G. and S. Suwaanee (2004). Thak sa raeng ngan Thai nai a naa khoht thee pheung bpra sohng [Desirable Skills of the Future Thai Labour]. Bangkok, Chulalongkorn University Press, Thai Research Fund TRF. 64 This part is based on Dr. Chitrlada Burapharat’s research and professional experience at the MMIT, CAMT, Chiang Mai University (see presentation of contributors for more details). See also Burapharat, C. (2003). Patterns of learning and knowledge exchange in Thai work teams: a study of team members communication and relationships etiquettes. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Toronto, University of Toronto. Doctor of Education.


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opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and skills gained from classroom-learning into real work situation.

Since 1932, Thailand has developed modern education, following a 6-3-3

structure or six years of primary education, three years of lower secondary education, and three years of upper secondary education. As presented in the first part of this chapter, at the upper secondary level, schools are divided into 2 major tracks: general (academic) and vocational. Students in general education can follow a regular academic track into four years of higher education. The style of teaching and learning offered at any level of schooling is based on traditional pedagogy whereby students are taught lectures given by lecturers in front of the classroom.

Traditional pedagogy is limited and can not fully develop student

knowledge applications. However, most of the time when talking about education reform, it is the educational structure that is the focus, whereas actually it is the way education is delivered to the students that should be the most important element.

In the past two decades, Thailand has undergone rapid social and economic

transformations, evolving from a predominantly agriculture-based, government-subsidized economy to an emerging industrial, market-driven economy. The fast development of technology was closely knit with economic and political plans but, as noted above, Thailand has a significant shortage of technically skilled workers and basic education is not enough to prepare entry-level employees (APEC 2000). Inevitably, this has fuelled persisting questions about the quality of education in Thailand and whether it produces adequate graduates to support business requirements in the existing work environment.

As an example, a number of international industries in Lumphun Industrial

Estate confirmed the unsatisfactory quality of fresh graduates who, when hired, will have to be retrained at least for a year 65. The information could create small argument with the CELS study (Tangchuang 2007) which stated that between 1997 and 1999 Chiang Mai University graduates got a job within 3 months. If investigated further, these two pieces of information could raise the question of the match between the field of education and the job graduates obtained.

65 This information relies on informal interviews carried out by the author with the related companies.


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Since earlier attempts of reform, Thai education quality has still suffered broadly and has been talked about in wider audience. Education programmes have been modified to include specialized skills needed by the industry, such as computer science, managerial skills, environmental engineering and medicine. The aim is to prepare young people equipped with adequate knowledge and skills, while “21st century requires the education and training of knowledge workers - one who is able to use logical-abstract thinking to diagnose problems, research and apply knowledge, propose solutions, and design and implement those solutions, often as a team member” (Wilson 2003). Working as a team member is a top requirement for today’s workplace, therefore a vocational education which focused only on producing trained workers for manual work (Oudin 2007) is inadequate when looking into the requirements of the 21st century competencies demand.

As a consequence, problems in education should not only be solved in

terms of the number of graduates produced, but should also take into account the quality of the education offered by institutions. In that respect, cooperative education seen as an alternative form of education has been promoted in Thailand since 2006. The aim has been to create a dynamic learning process, and support industrial requirements by strengthening the cooperation between university, enterprises, labour market and local community. However, the concept alone cannot solve the problems of Thai education; the true understanding of the quality of education and of the learning process magnitude is the real challenge.

2.1 The concepts of co-operative education Cooperative education has been designed to provide an alternative form of

education at higher education level in Thailand. Its distinctive features are to incorporate classroom learning with work-related assignments to match individual academic and career goals. Also the cooperation among educational institutes, students, and enterprise is more accurate and more realistic to fill in the gap of competencies dissatisfaction.

Cooperative education requires to be looked at as a process of

development, based on construction of learning through experience. In cooperative education, activities incorporated in the process need to be crafted out while exposing students to a professional work environment with some transferable skills such as machine handling, managerial skill, or project management.


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2.1.1. Experiential learning and self-reflection Cooperative education is a structured educational strategy integrating

classroom studies with learning through productive work experience in a field related to students’ academic and career goals. The students are assigned a certain job description and take part in a project. By doing so, they have a chance to learn at work and to extend their knowledge and skills while working. “All of the experiences that people have in their daily living, including paid employment, offer a context for learning”(Gerber 1998).

Marton et al. (1993) and Saljo (1979) reveal some interesting advantages of

learning that way: A learner can understand what is learned by integrating it into his own worlds by comparing and contrasting, i.e. abstraction of meaning. More advantages of experience-based learning is the stimulus for learning; and ways in which learners, with different learning styles, construct their own experience (Boud, Cohen et al. 1993). And of course an individual can use more than one way of learning in its work, depending on a variety of circumstances (Gerber 1998).

With the emphasis on the concept of experiential learning, the method of

self-reflection shares its unique feature to enhance the synthesis of learning, to gain insight and act more appropriately. Reflection is based on the belief that individuals can come up with creative solutions to problems, without the need for experts and lecturers. “Learning would come out of sessions of mutual inquiry and exchange among colleagues would be more useful for the participants, as it would relate to their current challenges” (Revans 1982). It is necessary for the students to question their own experience to advance their own learning.

2.1.2. Tri-party cooperation and assessment scheme Throughout the past decades in Thailand, educational institutions have

stood alone to deliver content, and cooperation with entrepreneurs has been quite limited. With the implementation of cooperative education programmes in the kingdom, the involvement of employers in the process of students’ development is required as co-op is meant to be a partnership involving the students, the academic advisor (university supervisor), and the enterprise mentor with special responsibilities devolved to each party66.

66 On this topic, see the comprehensive website designed by the US National Commission for Cooperative Education, available at www.co-op.edu


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This process helps students to build their insights, self-assessment for holistic systems thinking, and assists students in refining their learning and academic goals. The tri-party cooperation is an advantage in implementing student assessment since a student can rely on the group to provide insight into self-development such as behaviour in certain social environments as well as how to solve work problems. It is not just only about helping students to enable a network with individuals in their fields. During the assessment process the three parties will discuss and provide positive criticism on student work behaviour, skills and attitude.

Having described the concepts of co-op education, we will now focus

specifically on Thailand.

2.2 Importing co-operative education in Thailand In recent years, there have been 43 countries with over 1,500 institutions

implementing the idea of cooperative education. Many leading European countries have incorporated cooperative education programmes into their education system for a long time, such as Germany, France, and Switzerland, whereas the University of Cincinnati is claimed to be the first university to have offered such education schemes 67. These countries have also taken important part in transferring cooperative education know-how to other countries and especially to Thailand.

Cooperative education, as an alternative educational strategy, was first

implemented in Thai higher education at Suranaree University of Technology (SUT) in 1993. Currently, there are many cooperative education curriculums in various universities in Thailand such as Walailak University, Kasetsart Univeristy, Sripathum University, Bangkok University, Chiang Mai University, etc. Most universities have adopted the cooperative education process from a model originating from the United States and European countries.

Generally, cooperative education implemented in Thai universities allows

students to have a cooperative period for one semester (4 months) or two semesters (8 months). The period can be the first or/and the second term of their fourth year. Similarities among all these universities’ cooperative education programmes are the use of 6-9 credits, delivered for one or two cooperative education courses. There are a couple of universities that implement 15 credits 67 See their website www.uc.edu


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for three co-op semesters (approximately 16 months) such as the Modern Management and Information Technology (MMIT), College of Arts, Media and Technology (CAMT), Chiang Mai University.

The initiative of the MMIT seems to be different from the other co-op

programmes in Thailand. Its cooperative education programme has applied the process from French Instituts Universitaires de Technologie (IUT), suggested to be a more advanced process 68. The IUT perform as a network for cooperative education throughout France, using 125 education institutions as a centre in the different regions. The network offers more than 600 career-based programmes. The MMIT has adopted cooperative education in partnership with the Institut Universitaire de Technologie Lumière (IUT Lumière), based at the University Lumière-Lyon 2. The IUT Lumière indeed offered cooperative education programmes in line with the MMIT objectives and requirements which were responsive to the economic development of the Northern Lanna Region, especially the Lumphun Industrial Estate.

The cooperative education process also needs to be crafted out in

cooperation between university and enterprises to define the schedule and the process. In that respect, the Thai educational system has adapted the concepts of co-op education to its own national environment and requirements. For instance, cooperative education normally requires as a whole two to three years of study, whereas Thai education system still fixes that students spend four years attending the University. Training organization patterns between the university and the enterprise offer varied alternatives, such as every alternate 15 days or alternate semester. Normally, cooperative education is implemented at higher secondary level while in Thailand it is at the undergraduate level.

The Office of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has aimed to extend

cooperative education scheme to Rajamangala Universities, Rajabhat Univer-sities, and Community Colleges, while creating a network between forefront universities such as Chiang Mai University, Khon Kaen University, Walailuk University and these universities to respond to the industrial requirements in each area.

68 IUT: Instituts Universitaires de Technologie; Higher education institutions in France that provide two-year technical programmes based on cooperative training; their website in French: www.iut-fr.net


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One of the pitfalls of implementing co-op education in Thailand lies in the lack of flexibility of the “system”. In implementing cooperative education at the undergraduate level, academic institutions face the overall structure which does not allow different requirements between general education and cooperative education. For example, the time frame favourable to cooperative education training period can be in conflict with courses offered at the university. Moreover, sometimes, the students cannot start their cooperative education training on time due to the enterprises not being ready or administrative formalities within their academic institutions.

Another pitfall is that most programmes focus on sending the students into

enterprises, and the assessment process is usually done only at the end of the students’ cooperative education period. This assessment usually comes only in the form of a final report required by the university. Without close guidance during their training period, many students have no opportunity to learn how to further develop themselves. Such incidents have caused Thai enterprises to feel burdened to host students, though most enterprises are very glad Thai education institutions have adopted cooperative education as they would like to employ more workable employees.

At MMIT, the assessment was designed to work out differently with an

assessing process throughout the whole period of cooperative education. Once every two months, three parties – students, advisor, and supervisor – would sit together, assess the students regarding their work behaviour, skills, attitude and quality. Such opportunities helped tune in the three parties together, especially providing opportunities for them to openly talk about an individual student’s improvement on a fair meeting basis. The students could learn, present their progress, listen to work requirements, and ways to adjust themselves. It is a lot of work to track and record the students’ progress but it can yield a lot of benefits if done properly, with the help of an attentive university advisor.

In that respect, the university advisors are demanded to understand

elements of alternative teaching and learning in order to cope with ways in which to apply and integrate experiential and self-reflection into each steps of implementing cooperative education. Unfortunately, this seems to be the weak point of the Thai education system that rarely exposes educators to alternative teaching and learning methods that differ from the traditional classroom learning style. To improve and achieve a cooperative education of excellent standard, the quality of university advisors is the primary condition.


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Conclusion Organizations in Thailand have gone through transformations due to the

development of high technologies – biotechnology, nanotechnology, information and communication technology, to name a few. Thai organizations are struggling to keep up the pace with market demands in the form of market competitiveness and the innovation of new products.

Pressure is put on educational institutions to produce qualified graduates

who are equipped with higher levels of responsibility and the ability to use logical-abstract thinking, to diagnose problems, research and apply knowledge, propose solutions, and design and implement those solutions, often as a team member requiring critical thinking ability. Such abilities can only be developed through individual learning and development, and the processes that encourage this must begin in educational institutions, especially at the undergraduate level.

Vocational education and co-operative ways of learning have been put in

the spotlight to achieve these goals. Introducing co-op education into Thai universities has aimed to produce an individual who is more self-directed and autonomous as, according to adult learning theory, “as a person matures, his self- concept moves from dependency to self-directedness and autonomy” (Ozuah 2005, p.86).

Cooperative education, by itself, is an excellent effective alternative to

deliver education to the students. Students have the opportunities to gain genuine and practical work experience through the process of the cooperative education programme. DVT in technical and vocational upper secondary education and cooperative education at higher education level help students to make an efficient school-to-work transition. Other than that, it can help create a dynamic learning programme to support the industrial requirements and strengthen Thai national innovative systems by an enhanced cooperation between the university, enterprises, the labour market and the local community. However, these efforts have been facing major issues, not the least being the rigidity of the educational system and the difficulty for educational staff to adapt and train themselves to suit the new requirements.

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Chapter 4

Fix-it centres: Adaptation and outcomes of the “clusters of the poor”. A case study in Chiang Mai

Audrey-Baron-Gutty and Supat Chupradit

In the same vein as industrial cluster programmes, fix-it centres were launched in

Thailand in 2005 by the second Thaksin administration to develop interactions between vocational colleges, community, and local government. The first aim was to boost economic development and, on the top of that, political goals were added such as decentralization, community empowerment or self-sufficiency. Despite all of this, fix-it centres were endowed with limited resources, which led us to name them “the clusters of the poor” or “grassroots clusters”. The hybrid structure that consequently evolved has had to deal with uphill challenges, and, to assess the achievements of the fix-it centre programme, we focused on a case in the Chiang Mai area. The results have proved to be very different both from genuine clusters and from the outcomes planned by Thai policymakers.

Introduction In 2001, Michael Porter, a famous American economist, was invited to

Thailand to present his theory on industrial clusters. The reception made by Thai officials was very positive, clusters were widely acclaimed and the concept was used to launch a full bunch of new industrial policies and projects.

It was believed that clusters would solve major problems Thailand was

facing: It would strengthen the national innovation system and allow Thailand to jump on the bandwagon of the knowledge economy; it would boost economic growth; and it would even solve the issues arising from the territorial imbalance between an hypertrophic Bangkok and the other regions of the kingdom (Baron-Gutty, Figuière et al. 2009).


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Thailand was not the only country to be lured into cluster-based policies: “cluster” was a widespread catchword among industrial policies worldwide, with the support of international organizations, such as the World Bank or the UNIDO 69. Thai industrial policymakers based their programmes on the UNIDO definition of clusters: “[s]ectoral and geographical concentrations of enterprises that produce and/or sell a range of related or complementary products and, thus, face common challenges and opportunities” 70.

This approach fitted perfectly with the vision of Thaksin Shinawatra, then

Prime Minister of Thailand, who launched a dual-track policy to boost economic development by reinforcing both international competiveness in export-oriented industries and increasing the competencies of domestic and rural economics. Launched in 2003, under the supervision of the NESDB, clusters in Thailand were granted substantial political and financial support (Baron-Gutty 2006).

Parallel to the mainstream clusters, a programme was launched in 2005

called “fix-it centres” 71. It is clearly derived from the cluster initiatives as it aimed to link together in a dynamic interaction community (companies, inhabitants), educational institutions (vocational colleges) and other actors (ministry, provincial authorities, Local Administrative Organizations). Though the structure resembles the one of a cluster, we argued it should be dubbed “the clusters of the poor” or “grassroots clusters” as we will elaborate in this chapter.

Although the Thai governments and the prime minister have since 2005

changed many times, the “Fix-it centres” are still going on and were included in the 10th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2550-2554/2008-2011). Their continuity alone is worth an analysis. We wanted in this chapter to compare them with clusters, but also to investigate how the programme has been implemented in reality and has put education at the services of economic development.

To assess the results of the project and analyse how it has been put in

practice, we had a qualitative approach by reviewing related literature and interviewing key informants from one fix-it centre located in the Chiang Mai area. Interviews were done in one vocational college (director of the college, teachers, students), the related Local Administrative Organization (person in

69 United Nations Industrial Development Organization 70 www.thaiclusters.com 71 ศนยซอมสรางเพอชมชน [Suun saawm saang pheuua choom chohn]


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charge of the project at the orbortor 72 level), and among community stakeholders (leader of the village, users of the fix-it centre). The interviews were conducted between February and April 2009.

1. Fix-it centres and the cluster policy Fix-it centres refer to a programme well-known in Thailand that associates

vocational colleges with their surrounding community, aiming at supporting knowledge creation and transfer, and community development. It is govern-ment-supported and applies to all vocational and technical public colleges under the supervision of the OVEC (Office of the Vocational Education Commission), Ministry of Education. We argue that this programme is clearly a cluster project but with significant differences in terms of structure and objectives.

1.1 The theory of industrial clusters When Michael Porter came to Thailand in the early 2000s, he presented his

theory on clusters to Thai officials. For him, clusters are “a geographically proximate group of interconnected companies and associated institutions in a particular field linked by commonalities and complementarities. Clusters encompass an array of linked industries and other entities important to competition (…) including governmental and other institutions – such as universities, standard setting agencies, think tanks, vocational training providers and trade associations” (Porter 1998). The emphasis here is put on interwoven linkages and in-depth cooperation between all actors.

Porter’s works arose from a long research tradition (Andersson, Schwaag-

Serger et al. 2004), started with the writings of Alfred Marshall on geographical concentration of factories. Marshall (1890) linked factories’ economic efficiency with their location and explained this phenomena by pointing out the role of externalities and proximity.

This research interest was never abandoned with focus for instance on

industrial districts, and the approach was renewed when academic research focused on the success of the Third Italy in the eighties (Becattini 1990). Whereas traditional industrial zones in Italy were declining, small groups of geographic-

72 Orbortor: TAO Tambon Administrative Organisation


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ally close SMEs were doing pretty well in sectors such as shoes or furniture. Their success was based on their potential of reaction and their ability to innovate quickly in terms of production and quality.

The idea of spatial grouping and dynamics in industry was reiterated with

emphasis put on “growth” or “development poles” (Perroux 1988), and then on clusters. The source for that was the Silicon Valley in the United States. Famous for its high-tech companies, it showed an industrial structure different from the one experienced in traditional industrial districts. It specifically showcased the importance of social capital and social networking in corporate success (Granovetter 1973).

Michael Porter was the spearhead of the clusters’ theory because he linked

in one comprehensive analysis the rationale of a cluster and its concrete functioning. He designed the diamond theory that describes intertwined relationships between the context of the firm strategy, the factor conditions (inputs in terms of human resources, capital…), the demand conditions (local demand, anticipation) and the related and supporting industries (suppliers, finance…) (Porter 2001). This induces strong linkages between different actors located in a geographically close area.

Categories of Cluster Actors

Adapted from Andersson et al. (2004) With the effective collaboration of all four actors and the coordination of

the IFC, the cluster creates its own positive synergy. The purposes of clusters are knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, innovation and quality, but also a flexible working organisational structure.

Companies Government

Financial Institutions

Research Community

Institute for Collaboration

IFC


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1.2 Fix-it centres: a cluster-related organisation In Thailand, the fix-it centres are clusters that focus on the development of

innovative potential and resources by favouring the linkages between vocational colleges, community and government.

Their primary purpose was knowledge and they involved educational

institutions, where knowledge shall not only be transferred but also produced. As stated in the report made by the OVEC (2008), fix-it centres shall:

- create knowledge 73 through technical colleges and community collaboration; - transfer knowledge 74 from school to community, mostly through the repair of machinery, or the maintenance of household items. The second aim explains the name of the programme, “fix-it” meaning

“repairing”. The fix-it centres were also explicitly linked with another project, launched

by the Thaksin administration: The OTOP (One Tambon, One Product) 75. Stemming from the Japanese development policy of “One Village One Product", the OTOP scheme wanted to stimulate grassroots activities. Each tambon (sub-district) had to map its resources and then launch a related development scheme 76. The fix-it centres were meant to support the OTOP projects, through database preparation and collating. Then in a second phase, they would have had to support the OTOP development in terms of knowledge creation and transfer. In other words, they were assigned the task of increasing efficiency of community production and collecting database about available resources (OVEC 2005), intertwining local and global challenges.

At the operational level, the fix-it centre pattern was a duplicate of the

cluster one and was meant to be applicable by involving all technical and vocational colleges placed under the authority of the OVEC (OVEC 2005).

A fix-it centre committee was to be set up to ensure smooth collaboration

and was to be composed of the coordinator of the programme at the college level, the phuyaiban (the head of the village), and representatives of involved ministries. It was the equivalent of the Institute for Collaboration present in mainstream clusters. 73 สราง สรรค ความร [Saang san khwaam ruu] 74 ถาย ทอด ความร [Thaay thaawt khwaam ruu] 75 หนงตาบลหนงผลตภณฑ [neung dtam bohn neung phalit dta phan] 76 www.thaitambon.org accessed in May 2009


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Categories of fix-it centre actors at the operational level

The provinces (changwat) and districts (amphoe) represented central

ministries, to give expertise to the fix-it centres, and to help develop vertical links (both bottom-up and top-down). The Local Administrative Organizations were to propose projects and interact with provinces, districts and local communities.

However, on the top of this operational level a national structure was

added, not at all planned in the cluster theory. Political aims were assigned to the fix-it centre in addition to genuine, cluster-related objectives.

First, fix-it centres were to enhance community self-reliance, parallel to the

sufficiency discourse advocated by King Bhumibol in the aftermath of the 1997 crisis. This could be seen in the different missions assigned to the fix-it centre (OVEC 2005):

- allow community people to save money as far as repairing and maintenance of agricultural tools and household items are concerned; - decrease the number of people getting loans, for repairing or newly purchasing, for instance. The fix-it centre should be a way of driving communities away from

capitalism and leading them to self-sufficiency.

Companies - OTOP - Agricultural workers - Small business

Research and education institutions

Public vocational and technical college

Community - Individuals using the fix-it centre - Head of the village

Fix-it centre

committee

Government at local level

- Province and District authorities - Local Administrative Organisations


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Then it should be a component of the decentralization process. This is why in the fix-it centre committee there were province representatives, and also why Local Administrative Organizations were to be actively involved in the project.

Fix-it centre organization at national and operational levels, as presented in the manuals

Ministry of Education OVEC

(Office of Vocational EducationCommission)

Ministry of Labour Department of Skill

Development

Ministry of Interior Department of Community

Development

"Fix-it centre" committee

Fix-it centre Administrative coordinator

Representative from community (usually head of the village,

phuyaiban)

Onerepresentative

from each ministry*

Teachers + director

National level

Operationallevel

Students

Technical or vocational colleges

Provincegovernor

and head of districts

* Representatives from the Province (changwat) Department of Community Development For more details about the operational level, see the figure presented earlier in this chapter.

Chart adapted from “Fix-it centre” manuals and information available on www.fixit-center.net


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On that project, the Ministries of Interior and Labour should collaborate with the MOE to strongly link education and needs of the labour market. However, the mastermind remained the Department of Vocational Education of the MOE that designed, through manuals and regulations, the management system of the project.

To summarize, established fix-it centres resembled clusters, but there were

some differences. First, an additional level was added with political functions. Then, at the operational level, financial institutions and interrelated companies were absent. The fix-it centres were created from scratch and were not, contrary to the Silicon Valley model, a “natural” emanation from the local environment.

The plan was very ambitious: It aimed both at promoting strong linkages in

a cluster-inspired way at the operational level (companies, community, local government, educational institutions), and at actively involving different levels of governance.

1.3 “Clusters of the poor”? Coming back to the operational level, and though the differences we

pointed out, fix-it centres were meant to be functioning clusters. However they had limited scope and resources, restrictions that can lead us to present them as the “clusters of the poor” or “grassroots clusters” 77.

First, fix-it centres do not involve a genuine “research community” such as

think tanks, universities or research centres but vocational secondary education institutions. Therefore research capacities are much narrower than in the cluster approach.

Moreover, vocational education has traditionally attracted young people

with poor family background, lured by short courses and quick job opportunities, in low-skilled positions. As pointed out in Chapter 3 of this Occasional Paper, vocational and technical education in Thailand has faced many hurdles because of the disaffection of talented students towards this kind of education.

77 In Thai politics, especially under Thaksin’s administration, “grassroots” or รากหญา Rakya has been a word often used to refer to the ordinary people.


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The OVEC stated that fix-it centres shall be part of innovative processes by setting up workshops to develop skills and improve students’ experience (OVEC 2005). But right from the beginning it was stated that colleges shall be involved in the maintenance of machines used in the neighbourhood, therefore limiting the scope of the centre, in terms of knowledge creation or innovation.

Lastly, fix-it centres induced no active participation from the private sector

which was only to be involved as user, and not as a full actor. No financial institution was involved. Fix-it centres were managed and funded directly by public authorities and created as part of an overall public policy. They were totally dependent on public funding and will. In no way was there an emanation either from private companies or from the local community.

The few companies that took part in the fix-it centres were not meant to be

complementary or to have any kind of associations. Their activities were not linked one to another.

Fix-it centres were designed to support local economy and upgrade

vocational education but their impact on knowledge creation or transfer was necessarily weak. Clusters were an overseas concept imported in Thailand, and fix-it centres were themselves an offspring of this project. We have already showed that the cluster concept was adapted in terms of structure and missions to become the fix-it centres, therefore questioning the rationality and feasibility of this programme.

Fix-it centres were put in charge of tremendous missions: Boosting

Thailand’s economic capacity, strengthening vocational and technical institutions, enhancing linkages at a local level, empowering the local community… How did they cope with this? Which hurdles have they been faced with? What are their main outputs in terms of economy, politics and education?

2. Case study of a Fix it centre project in the Chiang Mai area

Fix-it centres have, as far as we know, not been the subject of research in

the Thai academic arena. To investigate how fix-it centres have worked in reality, we decided to conduct a field survey in the Chiang Mai area. Chiang Mai has been the spearhead of many pilot projects since 2001 as it was the hometown of Thaksin Shinawatra, and where the Thai Rak Thai got a strong political basis. It


84

was supposed to serve as a model of development for the Northern Region, holding a special position between urban and rural areas. It was therefore relevant to examine how fix-it centres have been taken into account there.

The fix-it centre stakeholders were identified and their linkages and

synergies analysed. Then the activities undertaken by the fix-it centre were put under scrutiny to finally discuss its outcomes in terms of knowledge creation and transfer, and community empowerment. All together, this allowed us to evaluate to what extent the fix-it centres have achieved their “cluster” and their “other” missions.

2.1 The fix-it centre stakeholders and their linkages The case study we chose deals with a fix-it centre, located in the Chiang

Mai area, and structured around a college where more than 1,300 students are enrolled, preparing for technical certificates (Porworchor, end of the secondary education; Porworsor, after 2 years of higher education). This fix-it centre started in 2005 during Phase 1 of the programme 78.

Since the beginning, the phuyaiban (head of the village) has played an

important role of coordination between college and community. A fix-it centre committee was created and involved representatives from

the college, community and provinces, as stated in the manuals. Meetings were planned twice a year. However, in practice, at the college level, there has not been one single coordinator for the project: The teachers and the director have all been in charge of the implementation, so their representative within the fix-it centre committee has varied from one meeting to another. Moreover, the fix-it centre committee appears, through the different interviews we conducted, as a loose structure. They do not meet very often and most of the actions are done by the colleges only. Its role as an Institute for Collaboration is therefore very weak, if not inexistent.

The involvement of private companies is extremely limited, either in terms

of participation or funding. They relate to the fix-it centre as users only, do not take part in its management and are not involved in a synergy process.

78 Phase 1 began in the second semester of 2005 with six-month pilot studies in different colleges and was followed by an evaluation period. Phase 2 started in 2008 under the premiership of Somchai Wongsawat. It is meant to last until 2011.


85

However, since Phase 2, colleges have been increasingly asked to provide the MOE with reports to build national database on community resources, used to screen and promote local resources and set up OTOP projects.

Relevant actors in this fix-it centre are public, mainly the Ministry of

Education, and the Local Administrative Organization 79. The MOE gives guidelines and budget to the colleges for the fix-it centre. The LAO ensures coordination of the programme.

We also identified, through our interviews, what we named “shadow”

institutions, namely the NESDB (National Economic and Social Development Board) and the Ministry of Finance. They were not considered at first as stakeholders of the fix-it centre project, but in reality if the Ministry of Finance does not allocate a budget, the project cannot work. Moreover, the NESDB presents plans to the current government and if this Board does not state fix-it centres as important, these programmes might be dumped. Colleges write reports on their activities and send them to the MOE that then forwards them to the NESDB.

The Ministries of Labour and Interior were supposed to play a big role in

the decision-making process. However, through our interviews, it looks like the Ministry of Education has done little to collaborate actively with them, and vice-versa.

2.2 Activities of the fix-it centre In the college we studied, the fix-it centre is organized as a workshop which

meets once a month, on Saturday. Usually there is a 3-hour session in the morning and another 3-hour session in the afternoon. This workshop is done in the college’s premises.

Due to budget constraints, not every student can take part in the fix-it

centre: Students are selected, based on their academic achievements, personality and ability to work with other people.

79 In this fix-it centre, the relevant LAO is the orbortor (Tambon or Subdistrict Administra-tive Organisation)


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Teams are structured as follows: - 3 students, 1 teacher - 5 students, 2 teachers - 10 students, 3 teachers This student per teacher ratio is meant to allow flexibility and efficient

training of students.

Organization chart showing functions and linkages in the fix-it centre programme at operational and national levels

weak/loose links key actors strong/direct links NESDB: National Economic and

“Shadow” institutions Social development board loose structure supportive institution

function within the fix-it centre functional links LAO Local administrative organization

Ministry of Education Department of Vocational

Education

Support & Advice- Ministry of Labour - Ministry of Interior

Budget AllocationMinistry of Finance

Definition of National Plan by

NESDB

Fix-it centre committee

Guidelines

College (teachers, students and

director)

Phuyaiban (head of the village – muban)

Ministryrepresentatives at

provincial level

Budget

Database & report

Items to be checked up Community (individuals,

companies)

LAOCheck-up &

training


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The main activities they deal with during this “fix-it” session are checking, sometimes repairing, small household items and motorbikes brought in by people living in the neighbourhood. Recently, people from the neighbourhood asked to be trained to fix by themselves their belongings. Therefore students and teachers have organized short-course training sessions (2 or 3 hours) on Saturday afternoon.

From our interviews and observations, it was possible to draw the

following figure that presents the linkages between the different actors of the fix-it centre we studied, at the operational level (college, community, local authorities) and at the national level (ministries, “shadow” institutions). The functions are also mentioned.

2.3 Assessment of the fix-it centre outcomes In four years, different actions have been undertaken in the studied fix-it

centre. The interviews we carried out allowed us to have a good picture of what has been going on in terms of functions and linkages, and therefore have provided us with the chance to see the strengths and weaknesses of the programme, as implemented in that college.

While we have already pointed out the inherent “poorness” of the

programme in the first part of this chapter, the situation is even worse than planned. Fix-it centres are not an ongoing process that encompasses educational institution, community and public agencies, but they are just stand-alone sessions, held once a month.

Moreover, it is not possible for every student of this college to be part of the

fix-it centre project. This is due to financial and management issues. The budget is too small. Students shall be paid for the work they do during the fix-it sessions and the overall budget devoted to the centre is not sufficient for every student to be properly involved in it. Moreover, teachers are not very motivated to come on Saturdays, they think it is not worth it in financial terms. They prefer spending time with their families. It is therefore not easy to have enough supervisors for the students.

The activities undertaken were meant to lead to knowledge creation or at

least knowledge transfer. From the interviews we did, we saw that students and teachers mainly deal with check ups, not often with repairing and never with knowledge creation. Some leads for explanation can be found in the scarcity of


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time devoted to the fix-it centre (only one day per month). Though time is limited, the fix-it centre must show its efficiency. A minimum of services per fix-it centre a day must be achieved.

Concerning knowledge transfer, teachers and students agreed upon the

idea that the fix-it centre does not help them upgrade their skills and knowledge. One student even said “for that, it is better to work in a shop or in a company”.

From these interviews, it seems that one of the dimensions the fix-it centre

has been successful in is community awareness. Teachers and students think the fix-it centre has helped them make relationships with people from the neighbourhood and therefore involved them in a wider network. The fix-it centre has been welcomed by many community members who have brought items to be checked or repaired. Though they do not really know the purposes of the project, they think it is a good idea. People are happy to have a relationship with the college located in their muban (village) and it has enhanced the image of vocational and technical education.

Regarding community empowerment, it does not seem that the fix-it centre

alone has changed the situation in favour of more decentralized governance. Even if some interviewees think that in the future the LAO will take over the responsibility and the budget from the MOE, it is not clear whether this will be effectively and efficiently achievable. However, the political dimension of fix-it centres stands somewhere else. One person mentioned: “When teachers and students are in the fix-it centre, many people also come: politicians, officials, leader of community”; politicians like making ceremonies for them to show off on TV or radio. Local politicians have used projects such as the fix-it centre as a springboard to get political benefits.

Interviewees were keen to talk about the future of the fix-it centre. Many

want the fix-it centre to become a “community learning centre”. They explained that the community needs have not sufficiently been taken into account and therefore after the end of Phase 2, new directions should be applied: Developing training and practice in other fields, such as agriculture or traditional massage; involving the college in the design of machinery needed by the community and currently purchased outside; or teaching the community how to use bio-fertilizers.


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Conclusion Fix-it centres were implemented as “grassroots clusters” or what we also

named “clusters of the poor”. The point was to create a synergy at local level to boost both local- and international-oriented economy. However, on the top of that operational level, political functions related to decentralization and community sufficiency were added.

Whereas it was already hard to create a functioning cluster while involving

secondary education institutions, the burden of additional functions led to a complicated situation, with many governance levels and multiple missions. In order not to lose face in the process, the college has focused on what it could best handle: Motorbikes and small households checking.

While these outcomes challenge the quality of secondary vocational

education institutions by bringing to the fore their inability to handle higher skilled tasks, the fix-it centre project also shows how the concept of cluster was adapted by Thai policy makers and practitioners. This study led us to question the adaptability and relevance in domestic policies of concepts elaborated abroad. Thai officials particularly enjoy borrowing ideas and using them to launch programmes back home, hence the success of the cluster catchword. Policy borrowing allows the quick political “return” especially needed in a context of high governmental turnover 80. With the buzz created around the launching of new programmes, the politicians can gain popularity and visibility.

However, it seems that policy makers acting like that do not care either of

the real feasibility of the programme they launched, nor its sustainability. The concept is adapted but only superficially; missions other than original ones are assigned leading to a hybrid political object; and the cultural, social or historical specificities of the concept or the environment where it is to be implemented are neglected. So it is not surprising that at the end the outcomes vary greatly from those expected or those experienced in other countries.

80 On policy borrowing, see Halpin, D. and B. Troyna (1995). "The Politics of Education Policy Borrowing." Comparative Education 31(3): pp.303-310.


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Chapter 5

Strengthening university-industry links through co-op education: Case studies in Thailand

Audrey Baron-Gutty & Supat Chupradit

Thailand has tried to develop co-operative education programmes in many areas,

especially those related to the industrial arena such as quality control, engineering, IT, or human resources. Though co-op programmes are flourishing, there has been a misconception of what co-op education really means. Interviews showed that there are still lots of room for improvement in terms of curriculum content, recruitment of students and university-company interactions. The research showed that the key for improvement is the development of a new actor in higher education: The university supervisor, able to handle the widely acclaimed university-company cooperation.

Introduction For some years now, Thailand has developed cooperative education 81

programmes. In that sense, Thailand has followed the worldwide mainstream that has put emphasis on co-op to develop graduates with desirable work competencies. As presented in Chapter 3, and since 2006, the Thai Ministry of Education (MOE), with the Higher Education Commission (HEC), has put a clear emphasis on co-op programmes in universities.

81 It is also known as “co-op” or “dual” education and implies that students carry out assignments in a company as part of their university programme but also that the taught curriculum emanates from tight university-company interactions. See Chapter 3 for a more detailed presentation of the “co-op” concept and rationale.


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Co-op is now everywhere in Thailand, from the Faculty of Engineering to the Faculty of Education or Agriculture and even Political Science, and it is hoped that these programmes will enhance students’ employability and help the country be efficient by promoting links between universities and the outer world 82.

This chapter is based on interviews conducted in March 2009 among people

involved in co-op programmes in Thailand (see below for more details). The objective was to assess to what extent co-op programmes have been implemented by universities, especially in quality control, IT and human resources fields, and how it has affected students’ training and university-company interaction.

We chose a qualitative approach for that research project in order to have a

clear view of context and personal experiences. The point was not to generalize the findings we made, but more to give indication on what is going on in the field. Our approach and methodology were therefore different from the one developed by Walailak University in a report they wrote 83.

The Centre of Co-operative Education and Career Development of Wailalak

University submitted questionnaires to a large number of stakeholders (711 students, 437 companies, 125 supervisors), and their questionnaires were list of topics; appreciation was to be given using a scale from 1 to 5. Only two questions were open-ended. The results they got showed the full satisfaction regarding the co-op programmes by all stakeholders. However some answers stressed that there was a lack of budget to fully implement the programme and students complained they do not get any money when working in the companies. One closing recommendation was that university and companies should strengthen their links.

As for our research, we selected three higher education institutions

involved in cooperative programmes at the Bachelor level. One is located in 82 See Brimble, P. and R. F. Doner (2007). "University-Industry Linkages and Economic Development: The Case of Thailand." World Development Vol. 35 (No. 6): pp. 1021-1036. Schiller, D. and I. Liefner (2006). "Higher education funding reform and university-industry links in developing countries: The case of Thailand." Higher Education. 83 See The Centre of Cooperative Education and Career Development Walailuk University (2007). Khwaam khit hen khaawng sa thaan bpra gaawp gaan aa jaan ni thaeht ngaan lae nak seuk saa dtaaw gaan bpa dti bat ngaan sa ha git seuk saa bpe gaan seuk saa saawng haa see bpaaet [Opinions from Workplace, University Supervisors and Students regarding Co-Op practice in 2548], Walailak University (year 2550).


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Northern Thailand, one in the Northeast, and one in the South. We named them North Thailand University, Northeast Thailand University, and South Thailand University. They are public universities but are now all under autonomous status84. Their main co-op programmes deal with engineering, quality control, human resources, and new technology (IT).

Our research was based on interviews conducted by telephone. The

interviews followed pre-established open ended questionnaires and were conducted in Thai.

Head of

programme Companies* Students

North Thailand University 1 10 5 N-E Thailand University 1 5 5 South Thailand University 1 5 5 Total 3 20 15

* Head of Human Resources During these interviews, three major aspects were brought to the fore: The

recruitment of students in the co-op programme, the content of the curriculum delivered to students, and the assignment at the workplace. Though co-operative education has been presented as a key for national economic and educational development, it has faced many hurdles, not the least being the training of university supervisors to ensure the follow-up of the programme.

1. Recruiting students for co-op programmes The first actors of co-op education are of course students. They are expected

to acquire at the university and in the company the needed skills and knowledge to act efficiently in the labour market. Investigating where the students come from and how they had been selected to join the co-op programme therefore seemed essential to grasp some key features of co-op in Thailand.

84 On the autonomy of Thai universities, see Johngjakphan, G. (2003). Mahaawitthayaalai nai gam gap khaawng rat buaak reuu lohp gap oo dohm seuksaa Thai [Autonomous university: Positive or Negative points through higher education in Thailand]. Bangkok, Dok yaa Group Publishing (year 2546). Khanaajarn Chulalongkorn Mahaawitthayaalai (2008). A naa khoht oo dohm seuk saa Thai phaay dtai gra saae gaan khaa saeh ree khaam chaat [Future of higher education based on Free Trade Agreement FTA]. Bangkok, Chulalongkorn University Press (year 2551).


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1.1 Background of the students Most students we interviewed came directly from secondary education.

Most of them finished in Mattayom 685 (Mo6) and then directly got into the university. They are therefore rather young and have very little job experience, apart from part-time jobs during holidays or week-ends.

Most students joining the co-op programmes we studied came from the

general education stream. Only very few of them came from technical education. In Thailand, the majority of pupils in secondary education level are in the general stream (see Chapter 3). Moreover, most pupils from technical or vocational colleges would not go to general universities but more likely to higher educational institutions delivering technical oriented diplomas, usually a 2-year less-than-a-degree diploma.

General universities are therefore not attracting lots of technical and

vocational secondary students; all the more that nowadays these general universities are in competition with other more specialized higher education institutions that have recently accessed to the rank of university. Since 2004, Rajabhat Institutes and Rajamangala Institute of Technology are indeed universities86 and have developed a curriculum to attract more students, including technical students.

Another feature of the students we interviewed is that they come from the

neighbouring area. They chose the university they study in, because it was close to their home place and because their parents agreed with their choice. The willingness to stay close to their home place can be understood in family terms, but also, maybe mostly, in financial terms. By being able to study near their parents’ home, students do not have to find and pay for another lodging option and can save money on transportation.

Most of the companies we interviewed regretted the lack of knowledge,

either basic or specific, of the students they welcome. This idea was backed by

85 The Thai education system is structured as 6/3/3: 6 years for primary education (these years are called Prathom 1 to 6, also named Po1, Po2, Po3, Po4, Po5, Po6), 3 years of lower secondary education (Mattayom 1 to 3, also called Mo1, Mo2, Mo3), 3 years of higher secondary education (Mattayom 4 to 6, also know as Mo4, Mo5, Mo). For more information, see OEC (2008). Education in Thailand 2007. Bangkok, OEC-Office of the Education Council, Ministry of Education. 86 In 2004, the Rajabhat Act was voted by the Parliament.


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students themselves with, for instance, a student deploring the low quality of his classmates: “many dropped out after first year because students from Arts cannot pass basic courses”. Students and companies’ head of human resources added that high quality students are needed for co-op education because they will have to handle efficiently both academic requirements and job assignments. As one company said, “Low performance students are an overload for companies”.

To attract good students, one company suggested that “it is important to

inform many secondary pupils about the opportunity of co-op programmes”. North Thailand University has also tried to attract part-time students, coming mainly from companies. But it has been very hard for them to follow the programme and emphasis has now being put on full-time students. These few remarks show us that though the scope of recruitment of students shall be wide, selection is needed to attract high-calibre students.

1.2 Selection process The selection process at the entrance of the co-op programme is two-fold,

from students and from universities. Students chose to join the co-op programme in that university first, as

mentioned earlier, not only because the institution was close to their home but also because it was famous. They expressed the feeling that the public university they chose is both famous and good.

Students chose to follow a co-op curriculum to get practical skills and have

the chance to get experience in a company while studying. They all emphasized this willingness to gain both academic knowledge and skills in the company. They also said that by joining a co-op programme, they will work while they study, and therefore get some money. This will be valuable for them in financial terms, but also academically and professionally. They have a very positive attitude towards co-op education, thinking it can be a way to join together many facets of education and financial inputs.

Students need to pass the national university entrance exam to get into

public universities. This admission system has been widely criticized during the last years 87, however it still remains the main key of entry into public 87 See for instance Sanitsuda, E. (2009). University admissions: a tragic mess. Bangkok Post. Bangkok and also (2009). Editorial Exam system must change. Bangkok Post. Bangkok.


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universities. We interviewed only public universities and therefore we asked about the selection process to join co-op programmes.

South Thailand University and Northeast Thailand universities said that all

their programmes include a “co-operative period”, so, in addition to the national entrance exam, there is no specific selection to get into them.

During the last couple of years, North Thailand University focused on

specific programmes to implement co-op and a selection was made to screen students for them. Concerning the programme we analysed there, the selection was based on GPA (Grade Point Average). GPA refers to the grades pupils got in the last year of secondary school. This is a way to take into account their former academic achievements. Students also took an additional test submitted by the university. At the time of research, it was a multiple-choice test, but the head of the programme said it would be better to screen them in other ways, to have the possibility to assess for instance the critical thinking and self-expression abilities of students.

All interviewed universities receive many applications and therefore they

do not have problems in filling up their programme. Students are attracted by the fame of the university but also by the specificity of the programme taught there. They have high expectations regarding this curriculum.

2. Setting up a relevant curriculum The different co-op education programmes we took into account in our

study deal with IT, Human Resources (HR), Quality Assurance (QA), and Engineering. They are taught at a Bachelor Level (4 years).

Companies are interested in those programmes because they, and this is

one of the first reasons, want to set up partnership with universities. They chose to be involved in that particular programme because it was taught by that particular university. We can assume it is a way to enhance their image, and this idea is also conveyed by the fact that many companies brought to the fore that co-op education was part of their “corporate social responsibility”.

Though the fame of the university is important and the willingness to be

linked with it are also a major explanation for their involvement, other motives


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are of course to be taken into account. Companies want to attract good students before they graduate so as to be able to keep them when they finish their studies.

The companies we interviewed indeed underlined the difficulties they face

in recruiting skilled labour, and especially middle-range managers. They think by joining together with the universities they can contribute to the training of the labour force Thailand needs, and also benefit from that effort. In that respect, they think cooperative education is more interesting than internships, mainly because it is spanned over a longer period of time.

Companies also mentioned their desire to bring into the company updated

knowledge from students and expertise from lecturers. They want to seize the opportunity of co-op education to create innovation and realize a win-win situation for universities, companies, and students. Achieving this relies on one the hand upon a strong curriculum, and on the other hand on an appropriate assignment in the workplace. We will first focus on the curriculum, and section 3 will deal with the company’s assignments.

2.1 Developing human skills for the working environment The remarks below are based on the interviews of companies and students.

They both have expectations as far as the curriculum of the co-op programme is concerned. They emphasize the need for students to have the following human skills:

- coordination; - communication; - personality and leadership; - sense of responsibility and self-confidence; - adaptability and problem-solving; - creative thinking. Though companies see the above mentioned as essential, they do not

reckon all students have them. It seems actually to be the opposite. They think students have deep lacks as far as these skills are concerned and they strongly regret it. They also consider that students are not ready to face the assignment within the company.

“The curriculum should prepare students to work in co-op” “Students are quickly stressed when assigned new tasks”


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Companies think this could be solved in two manners: Selecting students at the entrance of the programme to only keep the ones with the desired profile, and organizing during the university period short-course trainings to develop human skills. For instance, workshops could be arranged for students to develop their communication skills or their ability to work efficiently in the work place.

In a sense, companies deplore the lack of links between what the

curriculum teaches and what is required when at the work place. However, we can wonder whether the university is the place or not to acquire this kind of human skills. Is not it asking too much from this institution? Should not universities concentrate upon delivering a relevant curriculum, of course linked with the assignments to be performed when in the company? Universities should focus upon basic knowledge as it is their primary mission especially as far as co-op education is concerned.

2.2 Buttressing basic knowledge When involved in a co-op programme, students expect to be in a win-win

situation whereby university and companies work together to teach students the knowledge and the skills needed. In that respect, it is logical to think of the university as the place where basic knowledge is taught.

Companies quoted different knowledge they see as “basic”, meaning every

student should have it: Languages (English, Japanese); IT; and Reporting, Presentation abilities. To select students endowed with those skills, some companies, especially the big ones (mainly multinationals but not only) interview the students in English. This is seen by most students as a great challenge, and they do not feel ready for it.

IT skills mentioned by companies refer to the computer skills asked by

companies for students involved in QA or HR streams. Companies regret that many students are not computer literate, one company even saying: “The company had to teach students how to use Word and Excel”.

Companies would like the university to organize site visits for students to

understand the environment they are going to be involved in. They also think that a preparation to the assignment within the company should be carried out as early as possible during the training. They indeed think students lack basic knowledge but also a certain grasp of what job requirements and expectations are.


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The different interviews we undertook showed that many students lack knowledge seen as “basic” by companies. Adding up to that, the lack of what was defined earlier as “human skills” seems to present a wide gap between company’s expectations and students’ abilities. However, adding to all of this, the range of specific knowledge displayed by students should also be assessed.

2.3 Inculcating specific knowledge In that section, “specific knowledge” refers to knowledge related to one

particular field of study. When students start their company’s assignment, usually in the last year of their programme, they have been specialized in one field. In the sample we studied, it related mainly to QA, IT and HR. As such, companies expect them to be experts, or at least very knowledgeable, in that particular field of study.

Companies wait for students to bring update and accurate knowledge from

their school into the company. However, in practice, students lack core knowledge in their specific field. One company said: “Some students focusing on Quality do not know about TQM, or ISO 88”.

Companies think this is because the scope of the curriculum is too wide.

Focus on a major should be done from the first year of study. Regarding North Thailand University, companies said that the curriculum was not appropriate, and the emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach was not relevant for this kind of programme. Regarding South Thailand University, companies regretted that the curriculum was largely out-of-date.

To remedy it, companies and students offered to focus the curriculum

quickly on one major but also to organize short-course training on specific topics, for instance industrial standards (ISO).

All of this and the mismatch between the companies’ expectations and the

university’s offer reveals a real misconception of what co-op education is. Co-op should be the result of an intense collaboration between companies and universities, to share in a relevant and appropriate way, the teaching responsibilities, contents and duties between company and university. This discrepancy is epitomized in the fact that universities talk about “co-op period”, bordering “co-op” only to the period spent in companies, and this is well 88 TQM: Total Quality Management; ISO: International Organization for Standardization


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depicted by companies as shown in the following quotes: “The curriculum should link theory in university and job in the workplace”; “Curriculum should be elaborated collaboratively with companies and universities”; “Guidelines should be elaborated in cooperation with the head of the company”

According to the interviews we did, there has clearly been extremely little

(if no) links between university and company as far as the elaboration of the curriculum was concerned. If it is a widespread feature in the country, it is a serious issue for cooperative education in Thailand.

Another side of co-op education is the assignment done in the workplace.

We will deal with this in the following section.

3. Assignments in the workplace: The key role of the university supervisor

The principle of co-op education is to share the knowledge transmission

process between educational institutions and companies. Through our interviews, the curriculum delivered in universities has proved to be weak in many aspects. What about the period spent in companies? Every Thai university is showcasing its co-op programmes, but what is going on in reality?

3.1 Internship vs. co-op If the universities we interviewed all underlined their co-op dimension, it

appears that many programmes and diplomas labelled as “co-op” actually only refer to the introduction in the academic curriculum of a short assignment within a company that resembles a mere internship.

The shortening of the period can be explained by the fact that not enough

companies are taking part in the programme. Universities try to solve the issue of the lack of company involvement by sharing the job assignments (and the companies) between students, therefore shortening the time spent in the company.

At least one year in each co-op programme we studied is meant to be

devoted to a job assignment in a company, but in practice students can get a co-op certificate if they spend only a few months in the company (e.g. one semester


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or even just the summer session). For instance, in North Thailand University, only the best students are sent for a long assignment within a company. Students regret that situation, as exemplified in the following quote: “all students should be offered co-op; now many students can only have internship, which is of lower value”.

As there are not enough companies to welcome every student, companies

screen the students. They rely upon GPA results but also cover letter, CV, and job interview, sometimes conducted in English. In big companies, the most attractive for students, it is similar to a real job application process. Students want to join big companies because they are famous but also because they pay more.

During their job assignment, students should be paid, according to the

manual drafted by the Office of the HEC and the Thai Association for Cooperative Education (2009), 200 baths a day. However, some companies, mainly SMEs, do not pay anything. So the pay students can get from their job ranges from zero up to 200 and 250 baths, depending on their experience and qualifications. Some interviewed companies said that because they take part in this programme, they should be granted some tax exemptions or advantages by the government.

From the information we gathered, it appears that some assignments in the

company are not always related to the curriculum followed by the students. They talked about their “Xerox” duties (making copies), or helping in other departments for general administrative and office tasks. One company even incidentally backed up this idea by saying that co-op assignments decrease “workload of the company in general work”.

It is not easy to make sure that students will be involved in relevant tasks,

and not, for instance, be employed at the front desk, as happened for one student when assigned in a hotel. Efficient supervision during the period spent in the company is therefore essential, both from the company and the university sides.

3.2 The role of supervisors Students involved in a company assignment are supervised by a mentor

within the company and by a supervisor from the university. The role of mentors in companies is typical of the in-house training process,

as explained by the heads of human resources during their interviews. When a new worker comes in, he is briefed in and coached by a mentor. When the


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company hires a new employee, the training period usually lasts 3 or 4 months. Regarding the period spent by students in companies as part of their co-op programme, the company uses the same pattern. However, companies complained this is a heavy workload for mentors and “university should support the company and give financial support for mentors in the company”.

Interaction between company and university is essential to ensure success

in terms of knowledge acquisition and transmission. It is therefore necessary to build a strong relationship between the two components. Companies and students alike mentioned that more communication between university and company is needed. What was true regarding the curriculum (see section 2 of this chapter) is reiterated as far as the assignment within the company is concerned. There is not enough consultation between company mentors and university supervisors. Students also mentioned the lack of follow-up by their supervisor during their time spent within the company. “The supervisor from the university should come more than once per semester to solve problems” and in some cases, “the supervisor did not come on site during the co-op period”.

Supervisors often do not come to the company directly. Companies are not

always located in the neighbourhood of the university and site visits are a cost that cannot be borne by some universities. Some supervisors only do follow-ups over the phone, meaning that in some cases, students do not come face to face with their supervisor during their company assignment at all. In Northeast University, the students we interviewed felt mostly left on their own while in the company.

When supervisors do come to the company, still there are some problems.

They do some evaluations but companies deplored that assignment grids and criteria do not match the reality. They are designed solely by the university, and so are the company’s assignment guidelines. Companies regret not being involved in the processes of elaborating these documents.

Moreover, evaluation and supervision are made by lecturers but they lack

experience regarding working with and within private companies. “The supervisor should talk more when he/she comes for a site visit to understand the context of the job”.

Co-op is a recent concept in Thai education, and lecturers are not familiar

with the supervising duties involved by it. Interviewees explained that university supervisors should clearly know what their students are doing in the workplace, the related job description, and also how work is organized in companies.


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Conclusion Though the sample we had is far too narrow to give a broad scope of co-op

education in Thailand, it has underlined some features and issues. Most students joining co-op programmes come from general education and

selection at the entrance is not specific. Concerning the curriculum taught by universities, it looks like there have been many lacks in terms of human skills, and basic and specific knowledge acquisition. Concerning the company’s assignments, many students do not spend a long period at the workplace and the duties they are assigned with resemble the one of a low qualifications internship. Supervision during their time within the company is scarce and university supervisors lack experience and knowledge to deal with their supervising duties.

From the interviews we made, it seems there has been in Thailand a

misconception of what cooperative (or dual) education is. This kind of education should induce a partnership right from the beginning, e.g. right from the designing of curriculum. However, companies have been left aside. Improvements need to be done by efficiently involving companies in the design and the enhancement of the curriculum.

It also raises the question of the role of universities and companies in co-op

education. It appears from the interviews that strengthening basic knowledge should be the main focus of universities. Human skills should be screened at the entrance of the programme and then improved both at university and within company. Concerning specific knowledge, if they are directly job-related and specific to a particular company, they can only be acquired on the field. If they are not specific, they refer to basic knowledge, to be buttressed in universities. If the basis is not strong, the construction can only but fail89. From the interviews we made, the quality of education delivered by universities is very questionable.

89 See the forthcoming book written by the CELS team (Centre for Education and Labour Studies, Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai University): Mounier, A. and P. Tangchuang (2009 forthcoming). Educational dilemmas in Thailand. Chiang Mai, Silkworm Books. See also Tangchuang, P. (2006). Thai Labour Competencies: Lessons learned from Interviewing Employees and Managers [in Thai]. Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, CELS Working Papers No3.


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Another key issue is to train the trainers, meaning to prepare university supervisors for their tasks and duties. It is hard for them to deal with an environment they are not familiar with. This situation puts corporate and university cultures face to face and it is essential to build bridges between them to allow understanding and efficiency.

Taking all these elements into account, it looks like co-op education in

Thailand still has a long way to go to efficiently train future workers. However, Thailand needs to react quickly if it does not want to be overtaken by its competitors in terms of foreign markets and investors (Baron-Gutty to be published). Without strong human resources, Thailand will not be able to stand firm in the international arena with countries such as China, and now Vietnam fiercely in competition in the same competitive niches as Thailand.

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Conclusion The Need for a Real Educational Reform

Audrey Baron-Gutty and Supat Chupradit “Neither economics, nor politics, nor civil society exists in a vacuum” (Girling

2002): We are tempted to apply this statement to education to conclude our Occasional Paper. The educational reform launched in 1999 stemmed from a wind of optimism and modernity that wanted to turn its back to authoritarianism and give a voice to civil society and local communities. However, education cannot be considered in isolation from its environment, either economic, political, or cultural, and the missions assigned to the educational reform were tremendous as it aimed at dealing with all of these dimensions at the same time.

The possibility for educational institutions to develop or implement their

own curriculum to suit their needs and resources was a major breakthrough towards community empowerment. However, it was amidst contradictory goals and desires and inappropriately backed up by the administration which launched it. It did not lead to major innovations in terms of educational development as the same people were consulted without giving the opportunity for newcomers to voice their concerns or ideas.

Adapting state-led education to local communities is also a biased mission

right from the beginning because the system wants to reproduce itself and keep the national patterns unchanged. This is especially acute in the situation of hill tribes: Though modern instruction has proved unable to help children either to live well in their local environment or to interact effectively with their lowland counterparts, solutions are hard to find. The involvement of civil society actors, such as NGOs and POs can be seen as an optimistic manner of handling the problems but actually shows the failure of the state in that area and the lack of coordination between all actors.

As stated, education does not exist in a vacuum and more and more stress

has been put on the educational system to train the workers needed by the national economy. In that sense, the government has emphasized the role of technical education and cooperative programmes. However, by doing so, politicians have imported concepts and programmes from abroad, such as


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“clusters” or “dual education”. Though this policy borrowing was apparently meant to quickly solve the problems Thailand was faced with, leading to fuzzy situations, such as those presented in Chapter 4 and 5. As the authors pointed out, it questions the rationale behind all of these programmes, and the attempts made to solve the problems sound more populist than genuinely geared towards economic and social development.

The Thai modern education system was maybe historically efficient for

nation-building and basic knowledge inculcating, but has not succeeded in answering the needs raised by a knowledge-based society. Mentalities are slow to change between the respect of traditions and the requirement of good behaviour. All of this does not facilitate innovation or changes. One example was presented with the case of implementing co-op education in universities.

Co-op programmes are a totally new way of understanding education as it

requires full participation and collaboration of private companies, different administrations, and educational institutions. Educators need to be open-minded, meaning ready to accept and put in practice alternative ways of educating people. Courses should be dynamic and oriented to the audience, to entice students to be full and active actors of the knowledge transmission process. Moreover, educators are meant to be supervisors, and this is also totally new to them. However, the training of teachers, either initial or in service, does not seem able to catch up with these changes and needs. So called co-op programmes can be launched but if nothing is done to implement them as such, they will remain empty shells and the outcomes will not be those expected, in terms of educational achievement or economic upgrading.

The reform attempted since 1999 was very wide indeed, taking into account

that this Occasional Paper has not dealt with other important dimensions, such as the autonomy of public universities, the reshuffling of the Ministry of Education or the enforcement of quality assurance into educational institutions. As such, the reform was far too large to be achieved, and relied on imported recipes that were not adequately grasped. The very rationales behind them should have been analysed, together with the environment they originated from, before even thinking of incorporating them into domestic policies. Failure to do so has led to an educational system that is still facing the same challenges as 10 years ago, if not more or worse. By avoiding in-depth introspection and being unable to cure the roots of the illnesses, the situation has not changed for the better, while at the same time Thailand has faced more and more issues, either economically or politically. It is now time to embrace a real educational reform at a feasible scale.

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Documents

Education, Economy and Identity: Ten Years of Educational Reform in Thailand