Inefficiency is hampering education, not lack of cash
Ref: "What takes place in Thai schools is not education", Letters, yesterday.
I salute Keith Barlow’s candid and indisputable view on Thailand’s education in support of the editorial view of August 21.
Thais are simply devoid of a reading habit and inquiring mind. Reading in public is a norm in Europe, Japan and America. Rote education is predominant in Thailand and is killing all inquiring minds and the reading habit.
The main culprit is the inefficiency of our system and not poor funding. The education budget has always been a top government expenditure of our tax dollars and yet we do not get our money’s worth.
A revolution is called for – not an evolution. A case in point is the reluctance to change semesters from July-March to the of September-June system similar to most AEC countries.
They disagree because it is too hot to attend lectures in April but no one ever argued that Singapore and Malaysia, where it is even hotter nearer the equator, and they have been able to study during April for decades.
Unfortunately, those holding the power to reform are all products of the system. Thank you, Keith, for your fair and constructive observations. We need polite and refreshing input like yours.
Songdej Praditsmanont
