With foreign schools pounding on the country's doors, longdormant local institutes are now faced with an unprecedented, urgent need to adjust in more ways than one by SOMPORN THAPANACHAI

Many Thai industries have already felt the pinch from liberalisation and more open markets under freetrade agreements. Now it is the turn for operators in the services sector to test their capability of withstanding competition from foreign players.

Among them are operators of both stateowned and private educational institutes, who need to sharpen their competitive edge against foreign institutions that might proliferate in the country after the sector is fully liberalised.

Hence the numerous efforts at educational reform in recent years, albeit with varying success.

Faced with the new challenges and state pressure, local universities have found changes are no longer an option. For example, next year they must adopt a new Income Contingent Loan (ICL) programme to eliminate the financial barrier to higher education.

The ICL will provide larger loans to university students than ever before, covering both tuition fees and living costs. For once, students can finish education in their desired fields through the admission system without having to worry much about their pocketbooks. The repayment terms are also more flexible and lenient. Students can start paying back after they make some steady earnings, starting with small figures.

Public universities are also facing the dilemma of whether they should become autonomous, free from government control. Many lecturers and university executives remain doubtful about the benefits they will receive after decades of security and comfort, financial and otherwise, under the government's wings. Despite the encouraging example of King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, which was successfully transformed into an autonomous university, others are still reluctant to follow.

Wanted Innovative young thinkers

Asst Prof Dr Chuangchote Bhuntuvech, the rector of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU), said that while universities were eager to improve their efficiency, there remained several limitations as to how much they could progress. Many universities still had no clear direction and flexibility to implement the changes in both academic and management aspects.

He said many universities were also still struggling to tailor their curricula to keep up with the fastchanging developments in certain areas such as information technology or sociology.

SSRU believes it has improved its curriculum and management in keeping with globalisation while still managing to attract new talent. Its enrolment ratio is still one admission to 12 applicants. In addition to the recently introduced English programmes, the university has focused on quality management courses for a few years.

Dr Chuangchote believes universities need to adopt good practices and governance to ensure efficiency, transparency and responsibility to students.

"Large staterun universities in Thailand receive government budgets in comparable amounts to those enjoyed by universities in Malaysia or Singapore but they cannot achieve the same level of management efficiency. Some universities have never even calculated the cost per head," he noted.

Universities, particularly large staterun ones, should take a leading role in internationalising and upgrading lecturer standards and curricula to attract students from neighbouring countries. Currently, Assumption University is the only one that can be counted as an international institute in Thailand.

In 2003, there were 82 international colleges and universities, 90 international schools, 115 bilingual schools, 11 vocational schools with miniEnglish programmes and 59 shortcourse schools, according to statistics from the Department of Export Promotion of the Commerce Ministry which is responsible for promoting international education.

The department said that of the 41,800 university students taking international courses in 2004, 35,000 were Thai and the rest other nationalities such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese, American and Lao. The schools with the largest numbers of foreign students are Assumption University, Asian Institute of Technology and Mahidol University.

Faced with the prospect of more foreign universities setting up branches in the Thai market after liberalisation, Thai universities have to elevate themselves academically. More students could turn to take courses at foreign schools as it is widely perceived that they would at the very least improve their English skills, according to Dr Chuangchote.

"It's an important period for Thai universities to adjust in order to survive after liberalisation," he said.

Some universities have found ways to provide outstanding courses that have proved popular nationwide such as the cooking courses of Suan Dusit Rajabhat University or engineering courses of Mahanakorn University. More have worked with private organisations to provide onthe job training to arm their students with real work experience.

Piyamitr Rangsitienchai, chief executive of the executive search firm Prompt Resources & Services Co, which has also worked with university students on career development, says today's undergraduates have different lifestyles from their predecessors as they have grown more independent and resilient.

"University students have a quick way to learn something that is good for the job market. Yet they get bored much more easily than in the past because they don't want to get stuck with routine work or repetitive tasks," he said.

"One problem is that many students are spoiled by their parents who are from a welleducated generation and who can afford to support their children for life, regardless of whether they choose to enter the workforce or not. These students won't work unless they get the jobs they really want."

Sharing that view is Sittidej Leemakadej, managing director of Velocall (Thailand) and a parttime lecturer in ecommerce at Naresuan University in Phitsanulok. He noted that too many students had been pampered by their parents and grown to be so fragile and impatient that they were not ready to take tough jobs.

The shift in business strategy to outsourcing more backoffice work to specialised companies is also changing the face of the labour market. It has created more freelance jobs which matches the demand of some new graduates who want to work independently.

Mr Piyamitr believes that despite the influence of foreign educational development, only minor changes had been seen among Thai educational institutions to adapt the class participation system to produce students with qualifications that match the demands of the Thai job market.

Mr Sittidej said many lecturers were still reluctant to part with the old methodology and grading system, which were sometimes stifled the imagination and creativity necessary for students to further develop their knowledge.