Concern over drop in enrolments for agriculture
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Fewer students have enrolled in agricultural fields over the past few years - and the drop in enrolments in such fields could cause Thailand to fall behind other countries, an academic said recently.
Kasetsart University (KU) president Assoc Prof Vudtechai Kapilakanchana revealed he was worried that the number of students applying for agriculture-related fields through the central university admission system had dropped over the past few years.
The decline had been seen not only at KU, but also at other universities with faculties of agriculture, he said.
“We found that many who enrolled in agricultural courses did not intend to study in those fields but chose them because the required scores for admission were low. They just wanted to have a place to study at universities – then in the next year when they joined for admission again they could enter a new faculty. They decided to enrol with the new one,” the president said.
Assoc Prof Amphaiwan Pharanuwat, deputy dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at KU, said the low number of agriculture-related careers had probably caused the decline in students.
She said there were not many agriculture-related careers available for graduates. Most compete for jobs at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives or apply to work with agricultural businesses, but there were few companies running such businesses in Thailand.
However, some whose families owned land decided to go home and make use of their property. Before they were able to go into business on their own lands. However, most had to work as employees first for four or five years, Amphaiwan said.
She added that since science was among the main subjects taught in the agricultural field, many students who were not good at it might choose other fields instead.
Although Thailand was a mostly agricultural country, the number of agricultural graduates who could help improve the country’s industry had dropped, Vudtechai said.
“Now Vietnam is able to produce 1,000 kilograms of rice per rai while Thailand is able to produce only 800 kg per rai on average. Thailand will probably be less competitive compared to other Asean countries, especially when the Asean Economic Community takes effect and agricultural produce will be needed to help the country survive,” he added.
Vudtechai said he wanted all universities to focus on promoting educational fields for the country’s needs, including agriculture, to lure more students.
