Curtailing knowledge is just plain dumb

With the inauguration of the Asean Economic Community imminent and with Thai students’ scores generally in decline on international tests, it is confounding that the government might want to shut down three established “knowledge centres” in Bangkok.

Deep concern colours recent speculation that the government is contemplating closure – or at least radical cutbacks – for the Thailand Creative and Design Centre, Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park) and National Discovery Museum Institute (Museum Siam).

All three public facilities are operated under the auspices of the Office of Knowledge Management and Development, and the government has asked the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission to see whether the country is getting its money’s worth.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday said he had asked Public Sector Development to assess operations at the three centres and more than 30 other public agencies. He’s giving them three to six months to prove their merit.

An appraisal of efficiency in operations and spending is smart, and any corrective measures deemed necessary would be acceptable. But if the actual aim is to close the centres, the authorities are on the wrong track entirely. To deprive the public of these educational facilities would a shocking step backward. Is the intention to see Thailand “dumbed down”?

Mainstream news outlets picked up the ripples of alarm coursing through the social networks after acclaimed architect Duangrit Bunnag – one of the founders of the Creative and Design Centre – declared on Facebook that it might be closed, along with the other two facilities. The Design Centre in turn acknowledged on Facebook there could soon be a “change”. 

These knowledge centres were born of noble aims. Thailand needed to – and still needs to – become more competitive internationally. The Design Centre has sought to foster innovation, not just among design professionals but also entrepreneurs. TK Park has got more kids reading books at libraries across the country than any previous effort. Museum Siam, with its cheery science exhibitions, shows youngsters that it’s fun to learn.

Noble ambitions can of course become skewed, as witnessed with the rice price-pledging scheme and the “one tablet per child” policy, both poorly handled at the administrative level. Those undertakings, though, were fraught with inefficiency and lack of transparency – problems that ruined their chances of success in the long term. The same cannot be said of the knowledge centres, about whose worth there is no doubt in the public’s mind.

In 2007 the Surayud Chulanont government, another post-coup regime, also took aim at the Office of Knowledge Management and Development, specifically over “extravagant spending”. The budget was slashed and executive salaries cut. Spending levels are subjective, however, a matter of how much importance is attached to the purchased services. 

Singapore’s founding president, Lee Kuan Yew, knew that no investment in education is too costly when it improves a country’s standing in world affairs. The results of his vision are now plain to see.

Prime Minister Prayut has repeatedly stressed the importance of learning, and he seems to understand that kids learn better when they’re having fun. Why he’s had an apparent change of heart isn’t yet clear. Surely he has ample, far more serious issues on his plate than saving a few hundred million on education. 

Surely Prayut isn’t thinking in terms of saving money. The three organisations are sharing a Bt711.5-million budget this fiscal year, a tiny amount compared to what’s spent on arms purchases. 

Is he looking for public agencies to single out for poor performance? He should look at the police, or his own military. Should they too be scrapped? Just as the police and military provide the country with physical security, the Design Centre, TK Park and Museum Siam offer intellectual security. Why disarm them?