Time to step up

Re: “Open door policy is needed for foreign universities”, (Opinion, Oct 25).

There are many private universities in Thailand with foreign affiliations —Assumption, Stamford, Webster and many others.

Just like state-funded universities, they are also bogged down by red tape imposed upon them by the Office of the Higher Education Commission, the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment, and other government agencies.

Year after year, private and autono- mous universities in Australia, Europe and America and Singapore keep dominating the world rankings.

The reasons are obvious. They are able to create cutting-edge curricula, hire the best faculties and can quickly adapt and become stakeholders in new innovations, technologies and economic and social policies.

They also have stringent prerequisites for admission.

They do not waste time and resources following regulations or red tape; they lead the change.

Luring foreign universities and investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is not enough to mitigate the crisis in Thai education or achieve the desired outcomes.

The so-called feeder system or Thai school education system is in peril.

All sorts of reports, including the Unesco report discussed in the Bangkok Post (“Unesco says schools failing kids”, Oct 25), indicates that unless school education goes through major reform, it will be difficult to meet the goals of Thailand 4.0.

Reputed foreign universities are not going to establish their campuses or invest in Thailand’s EEC to provide remedial courses, certificates, diplomas and degrees to students with poor skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and poor proficiency in the English language. KULDEEP NAGI