FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Thailand needs more qualified researchers

Thailand needs more qualified researchers

Few doctorates in science or technical fields; Ohec unable to control quality

In order to improve Thailand’s competitiveness and improve the quality of its education, research is needed. However, there is a shortage of qualified people to conduct this research. 
Assoc Prof Kamjorn Tatiyakavee, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Higher Education Commission (Ohec), said that though several people were completing their doctorates, not many of them were studying the sciences.
He added that Ohec was focusing on trying to get more people to enter the fields of science and social science. 
“The number of doctorate students has risen in all fields, but Thailand needs a larger number in specialised fields to contribute to research,” Kamjorn said. 
Producing graduates with advanced degrees is not part of the national agenda, and those who do graduate with high degrees usually take up teaching positions in universities, Kamjorn added. Few opt for the corporate sector or other agencies. 
Also, with no clear plans, there is a risk of producing too many people with doctorates in subjects that are not needed. This is another reason why research suffers, Kamjorn explained. 
“Thailand lacks doctorate-degree holders in the areas of science, technology and education. More doctorate holders are needed in these subjects as Thailand needs to develop its science and technology to become more competitive,” Assoc Prof Amorn Petsom, dean of graduate school at Chulalongkorn University (CU), said.
“We want doctorate graduates with research skills to work for educational institutes,” Amorn added. “With the region opening up, it is necessary to have a highly-skilled workforce if we want to remain competitive.” 
He said Chulalongkorn had openings for 1,000 students to enrol in doctorate programmes, but only half of these seats are usually filled. 
“It is difficult to achieve the enrolment target as Chulalong-korn has seen a drop in the 
number of students applying for masters and doctorates. Other universities are also having similar problems. We’re investigating to find out why Chulalongkorn had fewer applications this year,” Amorn said. 
Another reason for this scarcity of researchers is the quality of education being offered at the many new, unverified programmes on offer. 
“There are no measures in place to control the number of graduates. Once the fees are paid, each university has its own council that dictates the opening of new programmes and their quality,” Kamjorn said, adding that Ohec was not able to control them due to decentralisation laws. There-fore, he said, Ohec needs to issue ministerial regulations to bring back its power of inspecting the quality of doctoral-degree programmes.
He said Ohec should also be given the authority to inspect doctoral theses, the number of doctorate students enrolled and the graduates along with newly opened programmes at universities suspected of providing low-quality courses. 
“I receive one or two complaints every month from doctorate students saying their universities are not teaching them anything,” he added. 
In the April 2011 edition of the weekly science journal Nature, an article entitled “Education: The PhD Factory” said that those who attain a PhD have the right to be proud because they have gained an entry to the academic elite. However, this elite is not as it once was.
The article said the number of science doctorates earned each year had grown by nearly 40 per cent from 1998 to 2008, with as many as 34,000 graduates in countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. 
This growth shows no sign of abating as most countries build up their higher-education systems considering educated workers are key to economic growth. However, in much of the world, science PhD graduates may never get a chance to take full advantage of their qualifications.
The article also said the num-ber of PhD holders in China was going through the roof, with some 50,000 people graduating with doctorates across all disciplines in 2009 – and by some counts it now surpasses all other countries. 
However, the main problem is the low quality of many graduates. 
Singapore and India are also investing in higher education to produce more PhD holders, Nature said. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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