Leave politics out of it and let students learn 

I disagree with many of the current government’s policies but on this one I wholeheartedly support the Education Minister and PM Prayut’s latest effort to build a skilled and competitive workforce. 
The basic facts are that Thailand’s education is in crisis. Students’ academic performance is appalling by international standards, as are standards of teacher competency. The government is trying to address this, but faces fierce opposition from the Education Deans Council of Thailand (EDCT), who should instead be promoting innovation in education. 
We would not have this crisis today if education agencies had done their job properly. There are teacher shortages in STEM plus English, biology, physics and chemistry precisely because these subjects are difficult to master. Hence the need to recruit graduates from those fields. 
To be sure, having the necessary knowledge but also the ability to impart it to students are different matters altogether. Some teachers are “naturals”, while others don’t perform well even after years of training. What is the missing link? Passion. Teachers with passion and dedication for their students’ learning and academic outcomes are the ones deserving of praise. Although earning an education degree entitles you to a teaching licence, it does not guarantee the passion needed to gain students’ attention and respect, as evidenced by low academic achievement today. 
In the case of Thai education, the urgent need is for STEM-related graduates and English majors to enter the teaching profession – whether or not they are education graduates. First master the knowledge, then get some teaching experience and training to be eligible for a permanent teaching licence. This is exactly what the Education Ministry is attempting to do – opening up a second track for non-education graduates to teach. 
Also, the five years it takes to earn an education degree is simply too long. The Bachelor of Education course at Melbourne University – ranked 1st in Australia and 33rd in the world, is a four-year programme, with 80 days of supervised teaching practice. Most graduates receive job offers within the first four months and their average annual salary is 72,000 Australian dollars (Bt2.1 million). 
It’s time to open up education to competition. Educating the country for the future is far too important a job to be left to teachers. Just as it takes a whole village to raise a child, it takes a whole village to educate a child.   
Edward Kitlertsirivatana