Under the eyes of the law, students ponder democracy, education

WHAT IS hindering the teaching of democracy in Thai schools?

The answer, say authorities, is teachers who treat students as “children” rather than “civic people”, and Thai history textbooks that undermine the democratic regime rather than promote it.

Soraj Hongladarom, a philosophy lecturer at the faculty of arts, Chulalongkorn University, said that to promote democratic values, school authorities should stop looking at students as individuals who need protection – or as “kids”. They should be regarded as grown-ups who have responsibilities and rights, he said.

Soraj was speaking at a seminar on “democracy in schools” held by the Education for Liberation Group.

“The relationship between teachers and students in schools is a form of power relations. It is an adults-and-children relationship rather than one between civic people,” he said, adding that these issues are the challenges facing democracy in schools.

One solution, he said, would be to include students on school or university councils. The student government should truly represent all students in the school and spearhead the call for changes beneficial to students.

Besides that, Soraj said, teachers should not act as “Mr Know-It-All”, and should not hold absolute power.

“The enforcement of any rule in schools should serve the purpose of education or the mission of the school. And it should also be in accordance with democratic values and academic excellence,” he said.

Pipat Krajaechan, a history lecturer at Thammasat University, reflected on Thai history as presented in Thai textbooks. He said many contained discourses undermining democracy and promoting nationalism.

“It is important that students acknowledge how some textbooks are produced by one set of beliefs and have the purpose, more often than not, to attempt to make us believe in a central idea and not to question it.

“One of the beliefs taught through Thai history textbooks is that the 1932 Revolution was premature and that King Rama VII was already preparing to give a constitution to the people,” Pipat said as an example. He cited a high-school history textbook used in public schools throughout Thailand.

Pipat added that such a belief contradicted other versions of history written by scholars, Thai and international. It was necessary that students acknowledged there was more than one version of history, he said.

Two other speakers were Sombat Boonngamanong and Nattanan Warintarawet, an activist and a student known for supporting democracy and opposing the junta. The latter recently submitted a blank answer sheet of her high-school examination in a bid to express her resistance to the military government.

At the seminar, both suggested that asking questions in class rather than just passively listening was one of the most essential things students could do that would help develop democracy in school.

Nattanan also raised an idea of “civic education”, which she said was a process of socialisation, taking place from birth to death. It was not limited to only inside a classroom and would help shape students to participate in society in a democratic way.

She went on to emphasise that to receive such an education, one could begin by questioning, not only in the classroom but also in general. 

Plainclothes security officials were present to observe the seminar held at a coffee shop called House of Commons located in the same area as Suan Ngern Mee Ma, an alternative training centre. Owned by social critic Sulak Sivarak, it was the place where the 14 students accused of violating the National Council for Peace and Order’s instructions and committing sedition were arrested last month.

During the Q&A session, a high-schooler who had hosted the event claimed to have been contacted by police officers and questioned about why he was holding the seminar. Also, he said the owner of the coffee shop had received an instant message on the Line application asking similar questions.

The Nation approached a police officer in charge of observing the event, but he refused to speak.