BoI should monitor education budget: Supachai

During a speech at an event marking the 47th anniversary of the royal bestowal of Mahidol University’s name and the 128 years of its existence, Supachai said “ideal universities in the 21st century should provide freedom of thought, understand the ways of the world and invest in research for innovations”. The event was held at the university’s Salaya campus.
Universities should also invest in human resource development, work with international organisations and offer strong ideas to the government for the country’s development rather than just following state orders, he added.
Supachai also highlighted that the investment in education should also have a clear objective in terms of what schooling is actually for. Though Thailand has been investing close to 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), or 20 per cent of the national budget, the result has been nothing less than tragic, he said.
Citing the Thailand Development Research Institute’s report that Thai education management failed from the point of budget allocation, causing inequality between rural and urban people.
He pointed out that high-school students in cities had six times more chances of going to university than their peers in rural areas.
Also, funds allocated for research is just 0.25 per cent of GDP compared to 1-2 per cent in neighbouring countries, he said, adding that since the Science and Technology Ministry was planning to boost funding, research should be more closely linked to the private sector’s needs.
“I believe education development and reform are still at the core and I would like universities to offer the government ideas for the country’s development rather than just letting the government direct them. The education sector has been going nowhere because the Education Ministry has not been able to effectively manage it. Hence, to get out of this rut, the BoI, which aims to promote effective investment, should step in because education is also an investment and the ministry has invested in it in a less-than-effective manner. The BoI should ensure that the funds invested create value for money,” he added.
He also pointed out that since Thailand was part of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), Thais should be urged to become fluent in the English language and perhaps pick up other Asean languages, because being proficient in at least two languages would give people an advantage when applying for a job.
Citing a Swiss institute study of 60 countries, where English is taught as a second language, he said Thailand ranked 55.
“It’s unacceptable that Thailand has invested so much on language education, but the results continue dropping,” he said. He also pointed out that with at least 20 per cent of the Thai population becoming elderly in 10 years and the shortage of health personnel, it should not fear the influx of professionals in eight sectors under the the AEC.