on February 26-28, 1997, at the Manila
Statement by
His Excellency Mr. Sukavich Rangsitpol
Minister of Education of Thailand
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all I would like to congratulate and thank you again for Minister Gloria on the acceptance and being Chairman of this SEAMEC, and thank you again for your marvelous hospitality that you have given to me and our participants.
I think I would like to address some issues pertaining to human resource development. As you know, or you may not know that Thailand, since 1952, have started to implement our plan on the economics and social development, and each plan consists of five years.
And up to current year, it’s starting to eighth plan. In the only seventh plans after 35 years, we have developed our country situation from under developed country to the level of developing country.
Although this is true that Thailand economy has rapidly grown for many years, particularly the last ten years, we almost have double digit growth in economy.
However, our economic growth is based on low base; so improving the quality of life of all Thai people is still in question because the distribution is not well enough.
Moreover, we could not narrow the gap of the rich and the poor as what we think we could reach. And finally, on this eighth plan what we really concern in human resource development. So, our eighth plan is mainly aimed for human resource development, which is easy to say, but difficult to do and to accomplish.
The stability of the country is based on four principles.
first is education,
second is health,
third is the security,
and fourth is justice.
Your probably understand what I mean. Even you have a good teacher, a good curriculum, a good school, the ability to produce good students is still in question, because it depends on the ability of human being or your citizens.
The health doesn’t mean that you improve your health by trying to build the hospital, given equipment and have a good doctor. As I said earlier, if most of 40,000 schools don’t have water, and no water for agriculture, we don’t think we can have good health.
If the country doesn’t have security and you are going out to any place somebody is going to steal your things, you will be worried because someone may rob you and criminal cases, and I don’t think we have country stability.
And the justice is also important, because if the is still monopoly, and there is still influential people in the country who rip off the general public/general citizens, we don’t believe that we would have country stability. I believe that the economy can only be good if it has led by strong politics. Politics is to give guidance what the economy is going to be.
I would like to tell our participants that Thailand is aiming for quality basic education of 12 years of school.
In the meantime, we need to give proper education to kindergarten level, before they are going to primary school.
We believe that if we do not give proper education to the kindergarten level, you will never have good quality of education in the primary school.
And with this education reform in Thailand, we discover that on the higher education we only teach the basic education.
The higher education we only teach the vocation school level, high school level and sometimes primary school level.
I do not see the evidence that the higher education of university in our country has the ability and capability o research and development.
I do not believe that higher education can continue to teach the basics of the high school and primary school.
So, the quality of education has to aim for 12 years education. And when they go to universities they should not learn basics anymore. They should be able to work.
Unfortunately, all of our universities in Thailand, except the medical centre or hospitals they teach medical doctors they put students to work, but none of the social and engineering university level has assigned students to work.
This is why it is the big shortfall when students graduate from the university and they cannot adapt their skill to the industry, and a lot of people complain about it. And this will be big shortfall of human resource development for the next four or five years to come.
So, I wish SEAMEC, SEAMES, please look into this problem, the quality of education for kindergarten and the quality of the education for high school, vocational school.
I wish that the students in the high school level, for decades to come, they graduate from the high school, or vocational school, the level of their knowledge should be equal to at least second year university level.
Then, we do not have to bother anymore with the higher education quality.
Thank you.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060504185549/http://www.seameo.org/vl/library/dlwelcome/publications/report/thematic/97sym32/97syman3.htm 
His Excellency Mr. Sukavich Rangsitpol
Statement by
His Excellency Mr. Sukavich Rangsitpol
Minister of Education of Thailand
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all I would like to congratulate and thank you again for Minister Gloria on the acceptance and being Chairman of this SEAMEC, and thank you again for your marvelous hospitality that you have given to me and our participants.
I think I would like to address some issues pertaining to human resource development. As you know, or you may not know that Thailand, since 1952, have started to implement our plan on the economics and social development, and each plan consists of five years.
And up to current year, it’s starting to eighth plan. In the only seventh plans after 35 years, we have developed our country situation from under developed country to the level of developing country.
Although this is true that Thailand economy has rapidly grown for many years, particularly the last ten years, we almost have double digit growth in economy.
However, our economic growth is based on low base; so improving the quality of life of all Thai people is still in question because the distribution is not well enough.
Moreover, we could not narrow the gap of the rich and the poor as what we think we could reach. And finally, on this eighth plan what we really concern in human resource development. So, our eighth plan is mainly aimed for human resource development, which is easy to say, but difficult to do and to accomplish.
The stability of the country is based on four principles.
first is education,
second is health,
third is the security,
and fourth is justice.
Your probably understand what I mean. Even you have a good teacher, a good curriculum, a good school, the ability to produce good students is still in question, because it depends on the ability of human being or your citizens.
The health doesn’t mean that you improve your health by trying to build the hospital, given equipment and have a good doctor. As I said earlier, if most of 40,000 schools don’t have water, and no water for agriculture, we don’t think we can have good health.
If the country doesn’t have security and you are going out to any place somebody is going to steal your things, you will be worried because someone may rob you and criminal cases, and I don’t think we have country stability.
And the justice is also important, because if the is still monopoly, and there is still influential people in the country who rip off the general public/general citizens, we don’t believe that we would have country stability. I believe that the economy can only be good if it has led by strong politics. Politics is to give guidance what the economy is going to be.
I would like to tell our participants that Thailand is aiming for quality basic education of 12 years of school.
In the meantime, we need to give proper education to kindergarten level, before they are going to primary school.
We believe that if we do not give proper education to the kindergarten level, you will never have good quality of education in the primary school.
And with this education reform in Thailand, we discover that on the higher education we only teach the basic education.
The higher education we only teach the vocation school level, high school level and sometimes primary school level.
I do not see the evidence that the higher education of university in our country has the ability and capability o research and development.
I do not believe that higher education can continue to teach the basics of the high school and primary school.
So, the quality of education has to aim for 12 years education. And when they go to universities they should not learn basics anymore. They should be able to work.
Unfortunately, all of our universities in Thailand, except the medical centre or hospitals they teach medical doctors they put students to work, but none of the social and engineering university level has assigned students to work.
This is why it is the big shortfall when students graduate from the university and they cannot adapt their skill to the industry, and a lot of people complain about it. And this will be big shortfall of human resource development for the next four or five years to come.
So, I wish SEAMEC, SEAMES, please look into this problem, the quality of education for kindergarten and the quality of the education for high school, vocational school.
I wish that the students in the high school level, for decades to come, they graduate from the high school, or vocational school, the level of their knowledge should be equal to at least second year university level.
Then, we do not have to bother anymore with the higher education quality.
Thank you.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060504185549/http://www.seameo.org/vl/library/dlwelcome/publications/report/thematic/97sym32/97syman3.htm