OP 11 Education, Economy and Identity Ten Years of Educational Reform in Thailand

The CELS is proud to announce the release of the Occasional Paper published together with the IRASEC.

Irasec – Occasional Paper n°11, September 2009, 114 p.

ISBN : 978-61616-90282-0-83

Abstract:

The last educational reform in Thailand, starting in 1999, has tried to balance two challenges: safeguarding the Thai culture and identity, and ensuring a solid basis for Thailand in a world economy oriented towards knowledge-based and high-tech goals.
Policy-makers have put the stress on strengthening “Thai local wisdom” and this has been put in practise through the obligation for schools to develop a local curriculum. This curriculum shall represent 30% of the overall teaching hours. This provision epitomises the search for a balanced schooling system, between indigenous wisdom, global knowledge and employability.
The other dimension of the reform has been to secure Thailand’s position in a context of high value-added industrialisation. Policy-makers have put the stress on the development of vocational and technical education, and cooperative education programmes. Their goals in terms of labour force training improvements have proved difficult to achieve.

The Editors:

Audrey BARON-GUTTY (Université de Lyon, Institut d’Asie Orientale) is a PhD Student in Political Science. Her thesis deals with the impact of globalisation 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.

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 vocational and technical institutions 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.

The Contributors:
Audrey BARON-GUTTY, Chitrlada BURAPHARAT, Kwanchewan BUADAENG, Supat CHUPRADIT, Prasit LEEPREECHA

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