THAI TALK
Why education reform must be driven by the private sector
Suthichai Yoon
The Nation
BANGKOK: — When the country’s top 25 business tycoons met Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week, they probably discussed the full range of “opportunities” available to the government and business leaders. Which topics were discussed behind closed doors wasn’t disclosed, though senior officials did “leak” one story.
It was hardly dramatic information. Nor was its disclosure politically motivated, coming as it did from an unnamed source who was obviously close to Deputy Premier Somkid Jatusripitak, who had engineered this “event” at Government House.
The leak revealed that a common concern shared during over three hours of chit-chat was the “quality of education”.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t make any headlines – rather than a “sexy” topic, it was more like flogging a dead horse. But the fact that education came to the fore offered hope that the one issue which could make or break the country’s future is being taken seriously at a high level.
I was thus disappointed to discover that there was no official record of the much-hyped meeting’s final decision on the subject. We are still in the dark over how big business, with all its power to finance the country’s most important reform agenda, will play a concrete role in overhauling the country’s education system.
The leak also revealed that some businesses had proposed admitting university students for internships. Others suggested partnering with the Ministry of Science and Technology to promote innovation, research and design in education. Meanwhile owners of major shopping mall chains proposed putting SME products on their shelves to help small businesses survive the tidal wave of competition.
There was no doubt that good intentions were expressed and good will was exchanged. But will nice gestures from some of the country’s most wealthy people lead to real changes in the country’s education system?
If the past is any indication, the answer is no. Yet the power the nation’s business leaders possess, if properly tapped, could make desperately needed education reforms a reality.
I am not suggesting they can shake up the highly bureaucratic education agencies. In fact, any attempt to launch reform from within the Education Ministry would be futile from the outset. Decades of efforts along these lines have either been nipped in the bud or have ended in abysmal failure.
Change to the country’s entrenched education system can only come from outside – and the private sector, which has become the most obvious victim of the failure to boost education standards, must take a pro-active role.
The private sector is all too aware of the failure of the country’s universities and vocational schools to meet the fast-changing demands of the job market. As both parents and employers, the realisation must have dawned on businesspeople that our schools and higher-education institutions have not been able to produce the “citizens with sound minds and hearts” that are so vital to the creation of a truly democratic society.
If critical thinking and a culture of innovation are crucial to pulling Thailand out of the “middle-income trap”, the country’s business community must play a more active role in providing the necessary support in terms of funding, incentivising and aiding the design and implementation of new education models that fulfil the requirements and aspirations of the 21st century.
The traditional Corporate Social Responsibility activities are no longer sufficient. Handing out scholarships and planting trees in the name of “doing good for society” have become counter-productive, used by some companies as mere publicity gimmicks with no clear measurement of whether society really benefits from such gestures.
The country’s top businesses have a responsibility – which must now be backed by commitment and a sense of duty – to contribute to education reform in ways that demonstrate originality, devotion and sacrifice.
Philanthropy is only a very small fraction of this new initiative. The private sector must seek the prime minister’s commitment to break down barriers, open new doors and build bridges between government agencies so that the private sector, non-government organisations, and professional bodies can move together to reverse the decline in our education standards.
If the future of the country is innovation, research and design, the government must let the private sector lead the way. That will not happen spontaneously, no matter how many “summits” are held between the PM and the tycoons. The first draft of Thailand’s 21st Century Education Model must come from the country’s business practitioners, professionals and marketers.