Phongthep Visits Kamphaeng Phet

(21/03/2013)

The Minister of Education, Mr. Phongthep Thepkanjana, visited Kamphaeng Phet and explained educational policy to school administrators and educators on 17 March 2013.

Mr. Phongthep and ministerial staff went to Kamphaeng Phet Technical College to open the Coffee & Bakery, a training center for students. Then, they visited the Borirak Thai Center where students' and teachers' works in traditional Thai art s and culture are housed. Finally, the Minister admired students’inventions, namely an energy saving car, a multi purposed cabinet for dog cleaning and a bed for patients with paralysis.

Finally, Mr. Phongthep explained educational policy to students, teachers and executives of the college, saying that vocational colleges have to create students to suit the needs of employers. Bilateral education is one way to do so because students can study and have training with the company where they want to work after they graduate. In this way, vocational colleges do not have to spend as much money buying learning and teaching materials but can learn more about how companies want them to shape their students.

Afterwards, the Education Minister and delegates went to Kamphaeng Phet Rajabhat University and explained educational policy there. He said that Thai students spend 1,200 hours a year in studying while UNESCO required only 800 hours a year. The more they study, the more the students are stressed out. Teachers thus have to teach them to think analytically and creatively. Students should be able to find solutions to problems by data collection, not by reciting from a book. Moreover, language skills should be taught to students more often.

Mr. Phongthep added that academic institutions had to create the personnel to suit the needs of the employers, especially foreign investors in Thailand. There needs to be an increase in graduates in general sciences and mathematics because the country requires them for national and economic development.