Suphat hits out at OAG study claims
Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) secretary-general Suphat Champatong has hit back at claims by the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG), that more than 2,000 university courses are substandard.
He says the figure is an over-estimate and the real figure is likely to come to just 1,790 courses, which he admits failed to meet required standards.
The problem stemmed from a shortage of quality instructors and too many students in a class, and could be addressed, he added.
The OAG earlier said it conducted a probe into Thai higher education courses and claimed that 2,030 out of a total of 8,949 broke Ohec regulations by either being oversubscribed or not having enough qualified instructors.
According to an OAG statement, some 150 out of 154 universities had submitted performance reports for examination.
Some reports were not fully complete, making it difficult for the agency to analyse, it said.
“I do not know where the figures provided by the OAG came from and from which semester,” Mr Suphat said, demanding the agency clarify its information.
He said Ohec had conducted a special audit of several private universities after it received complaints claiming many institutions were accepting too many students on courses.
According to Ohec, the 10 private universities and colleges found offering 98 substandard courses for bachelor’s and master’s programmes have agreed to cut 59 of the courses.
The OAG recently called on Ohec to weed out all substandard programmes operated by higher education institutions to improve quality.
As for doctoral programmes, university councils have ordered unacceptable courses to be suspended pending quality improvement, Mr Suphat added.
Mr Suphat said Ohec has ordered universities with unacceptable courses to improve quality for the sake of students who have enrolled on the courses.
Universities were responding well to Ohec’s directives, as the changes to substandard courses would ultimately benefit students and the sector at large, he said.