Most of our planet is covered in water; however, we can only drink 2.5% of it. Some educational commentators suggest that this could be a metaphor for our education budget from the government. A Bangkok Post article outlined the issue from a different perspective...

The original article by Sawai Boonma on 31st March explained that there wasn’t a shortage of water in Thailand, but a shortage of brain power. It concerned water conservation and asked why provinces in countries such as India had less rainfall and coped better with drought. I couldn’t help but draw a comparison with water conservation and our education system in that the money is there; however it seems that it is not spent wisely.

With cooperation, a technique called rain harvesting can be used to save water. It involves many landowners collaborating to dig a large number of ponds on their land. For some reason this doesn’t happen in Thailand; and there certainly does not seem to be much cooperation between universities or even faculties come to mention it.

So many economies of scale would come into force if there were more collaborative projects between universities, faculties and schools. The money saved could be invested in more educational materials and infrastructure, thus easing the burden on our already overworked and underpaid teachers.

The sharing of resources and knowledge would result in a form of cross-pollination where all participants would benefit. Unfortunately, the competitive nature of human beings and the selfish way in which some educators hoard knowledge and resources for themselves without sharing, result in a lack of cohesion and the failure of knowledge to cascade down to where it is needed most.

There are some educational establishments which buck the trend and see cooperation and collaboration as a way to move their institutions forward. I was recently at Khon Kaen University International College and was suitably impressed by comments made by the Dean Dr. Yupin Techamanee.

According to Dr. Yupin, the university sees the use of faculty staff working in one another’s faculties as a matter of course. Faculties and programmes benefit from the teachers best suited and experienced to teach the relevant courses. In my opinion, I am sure that this practise does not detract from the competitive nature of individual faculties and I believe that the students, teachers and universities will all benefit in the long term.

Moreover, if you add to this the chance to collaborate with other schools and universities, not just in Thailand, but overseas, it is obvious that with the blinkers off, there is much more to see and do with a little courage and conviction.

On the subject of courage and conviction, the front page of 8th February’s Bangkok Post detailed complaints about kickbacks surrounding a new multi-billion baht centre in Phuket under the government’s stimulus package.

It transpires that payments were demanded by state officials to the tune of 41%. Thammasat University was retained to design the centre for a fee of 100 million baht and refused to pay the outrageous amount of 41 million baht tea money. That’s a lot of tea by anyone’s standards.

We read about corruption and graft all the time in the newspapers; however, very rarely have I seen an article where money was not paid. I commend Thammasat University for being honest in their endeavour and hope that other educational institutions follow their lead in refusing to contribute to the 40% of budgets that are allegedly used to grease the wheels of our industry. 
 
 

Waving or drowning; it’s difficult to tell sometimes.
(Unedited article published in the Bangkok Post 1st June 2010)