Creation of academic opportunities, Connection of knowledge, and reduction of social inequality in all dimensions
In accordance with the resolution ratifying the workforce capability development strategy on July 18, 2017, both the Eastern Special Development Zone (B.E. 2560-2564) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) ordered that “the responsible policy committee put in motion the educational integration and development within the Eastern Region of Thailand and the Eastern Economic Corridor (ECC).” The policy committee in charge of mobilizing these development plans was chaired by the Minister of Education, with the Deputy Minister of Education leading the action committee to respond to and act on those plans. The goal was to foster educational development in two significant areas. The first area consisted of eight provinces in the “Eastern Region of Thailand,” namely, Chachoengsao, Chonburi, Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trad, Nakhon Nayok, Prachinburi, and Sa Kaeo. Primarily, Chonburi, Chachoengsao, and Rayong were located in the EEC zone and thus were required to respond to the regional strategies and development directions in line with the Thai government’s policy.
One of the concrete changes made to educational management was that the Ministry of Education approved a five-year educational development plan in the Eastern Special Development Zone (B.E. 2560-2564). The Ministry laid out four main goals in this area: to equip students with language and technological skills; to equip them with newfound industrial knowledge and with the ability to innovate and have better quality of life; to enable administrators, teachers, and academic personnel to have newfound industrial knowledge coupled with the potential to manage learning systems; and to allow them to perform their duties in real-life or simulated settings with the understanding that academic institutions would function as a learning source that enhanced workforce capability. All the pertinent domestic and international networks were mutually involved in the area of educational management. In this regard, there were many concrete operational outcomes as follows:
The Office of Vocational Educational Commission (VEC) established a coordination center aimed at building and developing vocational workforce capability in the Eastern Special Development Zone, particularly in Chonburi, Chachoengsao, and Rayong. Three primary and 10 secondary centers were created to become a liaison for vocational institutions vis-à-vis labor demands. VEC also set forth the goal of building workforce capability totaling 200,000 persons in a span of five years. This blueprint included building short-term workforce capability and educational management and making available 10 new curriculums that catered to both First S-curve and new S-curve industries.
The Office of Educational Council (ONEC) also made amendments to the National Education Plan B.E. 2560-2579 by incorporating the agenda that related to the development of the Eastern Special Development Zone and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in alignment with the Eastern Region of Thailand and EEC.
he Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) came up with projects that encouraged secondary school students to be able to pursue advanced studies and jobs in 10 targeted industries. 80 participating schools were located in three provinces: 31 in Chonburi; 30 in Chachoeng Sao; and 19 in Rayong. OBEC continued to proceed with these projects from the beginning to the end of the academic year 2020.
The Office of the Higher Education Commission (MUA) mandated a policy that allowed universities in the eight provincial areas of the Eastern Region of Thailand to make plans specific to each area. They emphasized two main points: building quality workforce capability and adjusting research processes and developing innovations that responded to area-specific development issues.
The Office of the National Primary Education Commission (OPEC) sought to develop education by promoting Chinese language learning facilitated by a team of volunteers from the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Han Ban). STEM education was also brought to the forefront, focusing on the development of science classes in collaboration with Kamnoetvidya Science Academy (KVIS) in Rayong. In addition, career development training was provided at the local level, with an emphasis on language, hotel management, tourism, gastronomy, and aviation personnel development in Nakorn Nayok, Sri Racha, and Prachinburi.
The Office of Non-Formal and Informal Education (NFE) also had a number of projects related to career advancement training and E-Commerce trading. Those projects included setting up a network of learning cities in pursuit of the economic corridor development; workshops for district-level NFE teachers on the topic of educational business; Smart ONIE Smart for Smart Farmer with the goal of providing agricultural knowledge and training to the general population; short-term English communication for career development; and learning management for elderly citizens and special target groups. In the same vein, the participating universities in the Eastern Region of Thailand had several interesting projects as follows:
Kasetsart University formulated the “Sri Racha Innovation District (SDI)” project in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Innovation Agency. The project also involved a joint effort in the field of space study with the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency.
Thammasat University signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to adjust the curriculum of automotive engineering in order to accommodate First S-curve industries. Engineering software was also designed to accommodate New S-curve industries. In addition, the university established a logistics institute to be in charge of overseeing logistics work in factories and a competency test center in Pattaya in an effort to provide English language testing services.
Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok formulated plans to adjust electric energy curricula on the subject of battery storage. All the computer-related curricula were also adjusted using the concept of Smart Electronics. In addition, the university provided workshops focusing on health promotion, food, industrial robots, the latter of which was the result of a joint effort with Islamic University in Indonesia. Thammasat University also sought to adjust aviation courses by prioritizing air traffic control and medical hubs.
Rajabhat Rajanagarindra University formulated plans to raise the level of technical skills citizens of the future need to thrive in the professional world. They worked in tandem with nine other universities in order to build and develop workforce capability through research, innovation and technological transfer. In addition, the university catapulted EEC into becoming a learning city, as well as sped up the development of a database that stored information on industrial factories in the Eastern Region of Thailand and on overall situations relevant to this mission.
King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok developed curricula related to manufacturing and service industry management for a bachelor’s degree that recognized credit transfer requests. The university established the pre-engineer school and prepared to request grants that supported the development of research and innovation workshops with an emphasis on specialized S-curve industries: industrial robots and automated systems; aeration, digitalization, and agriculture with a focus on the establishment of pilot factories.
Burapha University continued to support researchers in an attempt to accommodate 10 targeted industries, i.e., double rail line systems. The university organized an operation room with high standards. In addition, it also played the role of a network university in the Eastern Region of Thailand in charge of modifying a variety of curricula and expanding its cooperation with international universities. Burapha University sought to cooperate with other universities in the region to recruit subject matter experts as visiting professors.
Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology sought to become the leading institution of technology in the futuristic world. It planned to bring more internationally recognized professors from Germany, England, and Japan. Furthermore, the Institute also crafted operational plans in the field of energy, i.e., manufacturing batteries with long cycle life, inventing OLED displays using smart materials, adding value to waste and products of low agricultural value without polluting the environment.
Sripatum University signed an MoU with many countries. It worked with Germany to strive to become a hub able to transfer industrial knowledge 4.0; with Switzerland to allow Swiss professors to conduct classes and impart knowledge of good-paying tourism industry jobs; with India to develop Thailand’s automotive industry; with China to develop aviation and rail systems; with Japan in preparation to become a prototype development and testing center - overseen by Thailand’s Professional Qualification Institute – in the field of aviation in accordance with international aviation standards.
Source
Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education
Asia Era One Company LimitedRatchadaphisek Road, Huay Kwang,
Bangkok 10310, Thailand
