BANGKOK: -- A leading academic has outlined the role of higher education in preparing graduates and lecturers for the Asean Economic Community (AEC).
It is important for students in today's world to create the questions likely to confront them, and then figure out answers to the questions, he said.
"After they know the problems, they will adjust themselves before the changes come. They can't wait until the changes affect them," Chulalongkorn University Vice President Assoc Prof Pornpote Piumsomboon said at a recent seminar on improving the capacity and quality of universities ahead of the AEC.
The seminar was held at the National Institute of Development Administration by the International Institute for Trade and Development and attended by representatives of universities and several educational institutes.
Pornpote said students had to learn to create questions, find answers on their own and prove if the answers worked or not. "This would improve their thinking skills, which are necessary at present."
He added that by doing so, students would discover how to seek knowledge by themselves from research-based learning and learn to adjust to changes.
On the other hand, Pornpote challenged lecturers to change the way they teach -- from passing on knowledge to students directly to providing support as facilitators to help them find the answers.