Thailand: Verbesserung der beruflichen Bildung weiterhin notwendig

Improvements still needed in vocational education and training

Thailand still needs to make improvements in the area of vocational education to enhance collaboration between state and private sectors, a recent conference was told.

The conference included discussions on how to build up knowledge and enhance Thailand's Vocational Education and Training (VET), especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in order to elevate the Thai educational system to solve the problem of workforce shortages.

The strengths of the Australian and the Malaysian VET systems were also discussed at the event, entitled "Special STEM Thailand Forum", which was organised by Chevron Thailand and Kenan Institute Asia earlier last month.

Rob Stowell, director of the Chisholm Institute in Australia, said the key factors for the success of the Australian VET system are it lets the industrial sector guide the system, outlines the courses that will suit the learner's achievement and ensures life-long education.

"The industrial sector is covering over 90 per cent of the occupations for vocational students, so the industry is making the decision about what skills they need. This is why the vocational education needs industry to guide what they will teach in vocational schools," Stowell explained.

This point is incorporated with Haji Baharudin Haji Abdullah, executive director of the Sarawak Skills Development Centre in Malaysia, who pointed out that the cooperation between the vocational education and the industrial sector is crucial.

"Not only is the partnership with the private sector important; the teachers themselves also have to be the professionals about the business, so they can properly teach the students to understand the world of the career they will work with after graduation," Abdullah said.

"It will make sure that the students will get a job after they leave school."

Stowell said the next strength point of the Australian VET system is the training providers, whether they are schools, colleges or companies, have developed a training programme to suit the needs of all different learner groups.

"In other words, we don't have a one size fit all approach to training, we make sure the training is customised to fit the needs of every individual learner," he said.

He stated that the last and most important factor is to ensure that the graduates have the choices to choose their pathway. The graduates can apply their skills in different careers and make sure they can be retrained in the later stage of their life to work in other job fields.

About the situation in Thailand, Puntrik Smiti, director of the Skill Development Department, revealed that the government is currently encouraging the business sector to take the lead in vocational education.

"We now have the Dual Vocational Training to let the vocational student have real experience by training in the partnership business. We also encourage modern industry in order to avoid the middle income trap," Puntrik said.

She pointed out that the major problem in Thailand is the low income in the technician field, which could be solved by increasing the payment rate according to the skills of the workers.