Fears over varsity autonomy moves
The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) committee on public participation held a seminar yesterday on how universities could better serve the public and whether state universities should become autonomous institutes.
Most participants at the seminar suggested that bills that push for state universities to be transformed into autonomous institutes should be suspended pending further studies. They also believed students, lecturers and staff at each university should have a say on whether such changes should take place. The NLA committee said it would forward the information from the seminar to NLA Speaker Meechai Ruchuphan and other NLA members. Uthai Dulyakasem, dean of Walailak University's Institute of Liberal Arts, said most students at the top faculties of prestigious state universities came from well-off families. "Sometimes, we wonder if taxpayers' money is used to subsidise the education of children of well-off families," he said. Walailak University is an autonomous institute.
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