EEC and Pearson to train on S-curve

The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Office has teamed up with Londonbased Pearson Education to design a training programme and curriculum to create a skilled labour force for S-curve industries.

The EEC scheme spans three strategic provinces — Chachoengsao, Chon Buri and Rayong — and is positioned as the new special economic zone for 11 targeted industries under the S-curve policy, which is set to upgrade to next generation industries with technology and innovation.

The 11 targeted industries are cars; smart electronics; affluent, medical and wellness tourism; agriculture and biotechnology; food; robotics for industry; logistics and aviation; biofuels and biochemicals; digital; medical services; and defence.

Kanit Sangsubhan, secretary general said this partnership is aimed at increasing manpower and skilled labour to match demand from industrial operators in the S-curve policy.

Aviation and smart electronics were chosen for the first training programme with Pearson.

“The EEC and Pearson will design the business and technician education council [BTEC], which is a well-known programme accepted by many vocational institutes worldwide,” said Mr Kanit.

Pearson Education is an education publishing and assessment service for schools and corporations, as well as directly for students. Pearson owns educational media brands, including Addison-Wesley, Peachpit, Prentice Hall, eCollege, Longman and Scott Foresman.

Founded in 1998, Pearson had 32,000 employees as of 2017.

Mr Kanit said Pearson staff recently visited the EEC provinces, including staterun technical and vocational institutes such as Sattahip Technical Institutes, Chachoengsao Technical College and private educational institutes such as IRPC Technical College, which is under PTT Group of companies.

“We will choose educational institutes that are capable of upgrading and developing with the new BTEC programme.”

“The government expects this model will be successful and plans to expand the programme to other provinces in Thailand,” Mr Kanit said.

Labour Ministry reported that about 23,000 Thais are capable of working for the S-curve policy. But this number is insufficient for further EEC expansion.

Once t he EEC has been implemented fully, the government plans for both state and private sectors, about 100,000 employees, will work in the 11 targeted industries.