Education for dummies

In the meantime, the commercial reality of modern tertiary education has passed without comment. The reality is that across the world we have seen the growth of private universities. These are first and foremost business concerns, and the inevitable consequence of this is the compromising of academic standards. In Thailand, I regret to say, this situation is very widespread.

I worked for some years at two of Bangkok's leading private universities and was under constant pressure to give students passing grades. One head of faculty actually came right out and said: "They have paid their money, and they and their parents expect them to get their degree." The reality is that many universities are accepting students who are intellectually, emotionally and educationally unsuited for tertiary education. But they do have the cash!

Some years ago, I attended an international seminar organised by one of these universities, and sat while a senior officer of the Thai Ministry of Education waffled way past her given time about all the wonderful initiatives her department had introduced and was planning for the future. At question time, I stood and made the comment that it was my firm conviction that I could wheel a shop window dummy, suitably dressed in university uniform, onto the campus of a private university and successfully enrol it - as long as I had stuffed its pockets with the requisite fees. I further stated that in four years' time I was confident I could wheel the same dummy up the aisle to receive its degree.

I received a hearty round of applause from the audience, glares that would kill from the ministry official, and a firm rebuke from my dean when I returned to work the next day for daring to suggest such a thing.

David Brown

Rayong