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Published on November 19, 2007

 With the general election just a little over a month away, academics are lamenting that not a single political party has come up with a tangible and practical education policy.

"There's nothing new. All the parties seem to share the same education policy because the content is quite similar," Usanee Anuruthwong, president of Srinakharinwirot University's Centre for Gifted and Talented Children, told a recent roundtable organised by the Nation Multimedia Group.

The seminar aimed to explore education policies and propose solutions to the new government.

Derek Pornsima, former deputy secretary-general of the Basic Education Commission, said all political parties seemed to be embracing populist policies even for education.

"Free education is much touted but then how will it be implemented?" he asked.

The country lacks efficient resource management to provide a decent education for all children, he said.

"Actually, if we can require teachers not to miss a class and principals to take full charge at their schools, students will be much better off," he said.

Politicians have yet to understand the link between education and a better quality of life, he said.

"Actually, education is the key. Educated people can get better jobs and earn more income," he said.

The government did not provide sufficient financial support to its schools, he said.

"Suankularb Wittayalai receives just Bt9 million per year from the government but runs up expenses of Bt36 million. This is another case showing budget mismanagement. How will the new government deal with budgets for small, medium and large schools?" he said.

All governments have avoided dealing with the budget for small schools that require up to Bt90 billion - half of the available budget for schools under the Basic Education Commission.

"The new government should take care of this," he said.

Usanee said the new government should also swiftly draw up a plan or blueprint for human-resource development.

"The country should set a clear direction as to where the education sector should develop or head to," she said.

Although the National Education Act was very progressive, it contained some flaws and was not efficiently enforced, she said.

Rajani Dhongchai, head of the Children's Village School, said she wanted the new government to let locals teach students folk wisdom at school to improve their abilities.

"The government should decentralise administrative power to local people, as they can manage their children's education in their community's schools themselves," she said.

She would also like it to promote home schools.

Kamolpan Cheewapansri, president of the Parent-Youth Network for Educational Reform, said the next government should reduce subjects so that students could learn other activities or skills useful for them in real life.

Vocational education should be better matched with the actual needs of the market since working-age people were facing unemployment, while business operators were facing a shortage of workers, he said.

Democrat Party member Kanok Wongtra-ngan

said his party's education policy mostly meshed

with what the academics were suggesting, such as

cutting back on students' studying, letting students learn more about their local way of life and improving vocational students' skills according to market demand.

"As education is our party's main policy, we truly will give a chance to Thai children to study without charge and also provide them free uniforms, milk and school meals," he said.

Chularat Saengpassa

 Wannapa Phetdee

 The Nation