The Education of Thailand

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In terms of the vocational education,technical and vocational education (TVE) begins at the senior high school grade where students are divided into either general or vocational education. And currently 412 colleges are governed by the Vocational Education Commission (VEC). Additionally, approximately 380,000 students were studying in private vocational schools and colleges. In recent years, the government of Thailand has regarded the vocational education as a strategic development industry, and has invested lots of funds. Why the vocational education is developed so rapidly in Thailand? Firstly, in the 1960s, Thailand has set off the industrial movement,and the economy is developed rapidly. And the educational funds has increased exponentially. What’s more, the government conducted a comprehensive reform of education which focused on developing the vocational education. Secondly, the demand of modern technology talents appeared in the 1800s, the Mongkut king and his son Chulalongkorn king paid attention to the development of the technology and founded some universities of technology. So nowadays, the vocational education is still emphasized by the government and develops rapidly. As for the adult education, it is divided into three parts: basic education,adult vocational education and radio and TV education. The basic education is aimed at providing the necessary education and skills for adults. And the main purpose of adult vocational education is to teach the labor forces the vocational knowledge and skills. The radio and TV education refers that the most people can learn some knowledge about agriculture, health and hygiene, social sciences, music, English and so on. How the cultural, social and historical factors influence the adult education? When it comes to the culture aspect, I have to mention the Buddhism. The three pillars of Buddhism: intelligence,ethics and meditation, are the main factors which have influenced the adult education. In Thailand, the royal ceremonies, the national education and the daily life all adhere the Buddhism norms.And the propagate the dharma through the radio and TV.And from the social aspect, the government has realized the significance of the life-long education for adults. They attach importance on the adult learning activities and also pay attention to the resources that the people may need when they are learning. Therefore, the government enacts many plans to accelerate the development of adult education. As for the historical factors, in 1960s, the government proposed the strategic plan for education reform and development in order to suit and serve the development of the market economy. The adult education must produced talents as many as possible. So the development of adult education has a higher speed than any other education in Thailand.

I just give a limited introduction about the education of Thailand because of the words limitation.In my opinion, though the education in Thailand isn’t very perfect, there are still many strengths that worth learning.