Education standards must be improved long-term
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Although we've had absolute military rule for over a year, our social divide remains as deep and wide as ever - which is why the junta dares not return our rights of speech and assembly to us.
I suggest that like the blind men and the elephant in Aesop’s fairy tale, none of us knows everything – and each has valid points to make. Instead of trying to impose our views on others, we should first make good-faith efforts to understand other viewpoints – for this good faith has been conspicuously missing from all sides.
Led by civil society institutions, we should examine the main causes that divide us, and seek win-win, long-term solutions that attack the roots of our problems. For example, about 45 per cent of all Thais own a total of only 10 per cent of our gross national product, which is highly unstable. Having a quality education is one of the most rewarding ways of increasing long-term income. Thus, our major schools of thought should vigorously come up with recommendations as to how our education system could rival that of Singapore, say, in a decade. Universities and professional societies would rigorously moderate discussions, promoting tolerance and freedom of speech, so that the talks shed light and not heat.
To reconcile, seek to understand other points of view.
Burin Kantabutra
