China to offer more help to Thais studying Mandarin

China to offer more help to Thais studying Mandarin

PARIS : Education ministers from Thailand and China have agreed to work together to improve the study and teaching of Mandarin in Thailand.

Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang and his Chinese counterpart Yuan Guiren discussed educational cooperation between the two countries recently at the 37th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) General Conference.

Attended by several heads of state and about 150 ministers and delegates from all 195 Unesco member countries, the conference is being held at Unesco headquarters in Paris until Nov 20.

"We agree to co-conduct a study of Chinese-language learning, teaching methods and curricula in schools to develop Chinese education in the country and improve our students' performance in foreign languages," Mr Chaturon said.

The number of Thai students who study Mandarin Chinese as a second language is increasing every year.

"Thai students who have studied Chinese are suffering the same problems as those who have learned English as they are unable to fluently communicate in the language despite several years of study," he said. "Conversation courses, standard curricula, proper learning tools, quality teachers and learning-friendly environments are not yet provided.

"More high-quality Chinese volunteers will be sent to Thailand to teach Chinese, especially conversational skills at schools.

"Our target is not to increase the number of students who learn Chinese, but improve the quality of language education."

It is not the first time that Chinese volunteers have been sent to Thai schools. About 1,600 volunteers were sent to teach Mandarin in the country last year.

He said the countries are also looking to extend education cooperation to cover university level and vocational education and training.

The ministry would then consider in more detail what Thailand should learn from China's education system and what we can share with them.

Following an official visit by China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Thailand last month, several memoranda of understanding were signed, including one on educational cooperation.

At the Unesco conference, Mr Chaturon declared a shift in Thailand's educational focus from learning for degrees, to learning for labour markets. He said vocational education development has been focused on meeting the country's manpower needs.

At present, 60% of Thai students opt for general education and the rest for vocational studies.

"We would like to shift the balance to 50:50, and eventually to 40:60," he said.

"With a better-educated workforce we will be able to increase productivity, make better use of natural resources, and better meet the needs of the market."

He also announced that Thailand will host a high-level Education for All meeting of Asia-Pacific nations next year.

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