Bid to improve STEM education, English-language training
THE Education Ministry has agreed to cooperate with the Association of Thai Professionals in America and Canada (ATPAC) on English-language training, science and technology education, and on a reappraisal of the national centres of excellence.
Deputy Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin met with ATPAC representatives last week to discuss ways to improve the Thai educational system and decided to work on the three projects.
Methi Wecharatana, professor and associate chair for Graduate Studies at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and adviser to ATPAC’s board of directors, said the first project involves the use of an application developed from Apple’s Siri virtual personal assistant program to provide interactive English-language learning courses for Thai students.
ATPAC has also been assigned to work with involved authorities to help upgrade science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, as well as to help evaluate the work of the centres of excellence.
Thailand currently has 15 national centres of excellence, 11 of which come under the Education Ministry and the four national research centres on biotech, material sciences, computer and nano technologies under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Methi said these centres are crucial to the development of the Kingdom and if they can perform their tasks well, “they will change everything” for the country.
ATPAC, in conjunction with the Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) and the National Science and Technology Development Agency, will hold a seminar on “the Role of the Higher Education Institutions and Private Sector in STEM Education in Thailand” on Monday.
Teerakiat will give an opening address to the conference. Other speakers include Yada Mukdapitak, deputy secretary-general of the National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office; OHEC secretary-general Aporn Kanvong; and Pailin Chuchottaworn, former CEO and president of PTT.
