Teacher numbers face curbs

Training shake-up to respond to demand

Teacher education and development is set for an overhaul to cope with increasing demand and changes in technology, a recent meeting hosted by the Education Ministry was told.

Education permanent secretary Suthasri Wongsamarn said the meeting agreed to draft strategies proposed by the Office of the Education Council (OEC), including big changes to undergraduate courses in teacher training, developing their academic capabilities, conducting research on bodies of knowledge and innovations.

“The key goals are to upgrade teachers to be more professional in their careers, to meet international quality standards and obtain characteristics required of teachers in the 21st century, especially technological skills,” she said.

The Office of the Higher Education Commission (Ohec) also proposed teacher development must be a “closed” system, allowing non-education graduates to enter the profession only in specific areas with a shortage problem.

“We must conduct a survey to identify teacher shortages by subject areas so we can train new teachers in response to demand and avoid oversupply in some subject areas,” she explained.

OEC secretary-general Piniti Ratanakul said the steering committee on educational reform, chaired by Education Minister Adm Narong Pipatanasai, has urged a limit on teacher training based on demand and state employment vacancies.

He admitted that oversupply had previously occurred in some subject areas and vacancies in state schools could not support the increased figure.

Discussions on subject area demand over the next five years should be held among key state agencies such as the Office of the Basic Education Commission, the Office of Vocational Education Commission, the Office of the Teacher Civil Service and Educational Personnel Commission and the Teachers’ Council of Thailand, Mr Piniti said.

The meeting also discussed ways for graduates to obtain a teaching licence. Under the plan, a licence would be divided into primary and secondary categories based on major subjects.

“We are also searching for a new project to produce quality teachers over a period of at least 10 years by providing scholarships and job guarantees. Importantly, we must avoid adopting any political party policies, for the sake of continuity in nurturing teachers,” he said.

The new project will replace the former New Generation of Teachers Project which ended last year.

Preparation work will wrap up next month in time to recruit teacher students for the 2015 academic year.