Interest in teaching courses surges

UNIVERSITIES’ EDUCATION FACULTIES AMONG MOST COMPETITIVE IN COUNTRY

University applicants are itching to be taught to teach, at least according to figures from this year’s round of undergraduate admissions.

Education and teaching degrees this year accounted for four of the five most competitive undergraduate programmes nationwide, deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday.

The most competitive was the Thai language teaching programme at Khon Kaen University’s Faculty of Education, where only one in every 108 applicants gained admission.

Several analysts pegged the rising interest in education studies to the sector’s strong employment prospects and the focus currently being given to national education reform.

The only non-education related course in the top five was Naresuan University’s dentistry programme, which ranked third in terms of competitiveness.

National Council for Peace and Order leader Prayut Chan-o-cha welcomed the news that interest in teaching careers was on the rise, saying it bode well for the future of the education system. “The prime minister is very glad to see more young people turn to the teaching profession. [He thinks] this is a good sign for the further development of the [field] and of Thai education,” deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday.

Maj Gen Sansern relayed a message from Gen Prayut to those students wishing to become educators, saying core qualifications include having wide knowledge, holding a good attitude towards the job and knowing how to encourage students to become critical thinkers and team players who hold the public interest above their own.

Gen Prayut also called on universities offering education programmes to take the opportunity to improve their teacher training programmes to adapt to new changes and the country’s development, Maj Gen Sansern said.

The prime minister hoped this was the path to success for the new generation of teachers and educators who would lead the improvement of the country’s schooling system, the deputy spokesman added.

A total of 124,648 people applied for undergraduate places at the country’s 87 universities this year, but only 91,813 have made the cut. They will still need to attend admission interviews and undergo health checks required for the final process of the admission. The admission interviews will be held over three days beginning from next Monday.

Additional rounds of admission selections will be announced later by individual universities, meaning some of those who missed out the first time will still be offered a place.