Corporate varsities gaining currency
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Labour-market geared institutions are much better placed to tackle the needs of industry, say experts.
Corporate universities are emerging as a solution to rectify the mismatch between the qualifications of graduates produced by state or private universities and labour-market demand, academics said.
In recent years, some large companies and industries have set up their own educational institutions to solve labour shortages or groom talent needed by specific industries.
Panyapiwat Institute of Technology is a corporate university set up five years ago by CP All, which operates the convenience-store chain 7-Eleven, its president Sompop Manarungsan said.
It offers work-based learning as students have an opportunity to train at the workplace and they are trained by professionals from specific businesses such as retail or logistics, he said.
“First, CP All wanted to educate its workforce in the retail and logistics businesses, and now we want to supply talent to 2,000 of our suppliers,” he told The Nation yesterday.
The university recently opened new courses in industrial engineering, computer science and management science, he said.
The institute is networking with similar universities in China. The collaboration is aimed at facilitating exchange and training of students and lecturers, he said.
Panyapiwat tries to work closely with many CP All suppliers. “We also invite specialists from these suppliers to give lectures on our students,” Sompop said.
The university also provides short-term courses such as a three-month course for company executives, he said.
The advantage of the corporate university is that it can tailor its curriculum to meet industry needs, he said. Moreover, it can give priority to the quality of the graduates.
“Unlike ordinary private universities that aim to make profits, we aim to produce a high-talent workforce to supply to industries,” Sompop said.
Nipon Poapongsakorn, president of the Thailand Development Research Institute, who surveyed five corporate universities, said these institutions served niche labour markets sought after by some industries such as petrochemicals.
However, their curriculum should not be copied by others, he said.
Studies in the West have suggested that graduates who obtain specific knowledge find it hard to adapt to new technology when their knowledge is out of date, Nipon said. A good education system should enable students to adapt or learn new technology, he suggested.
He blamed state and private universities for not providing adequate career counselling, leading to high unemployment among graduates, he said. These universities do not provide adequate training for students as they do not work closely with industries, he said.
To help students find jobs, these institutions need to collaborate with industries, he added.
