Universities need to transform their curricula to equip students for the job market of the future, where many of today's jobs will no longer be needed, says the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) president Suchatvee Suwansawat.
A student receives a basic health checkup from an IAM Robot at this year's University Expo in Bangkok. The robot, jointly developed by Mahidol University and Silpakorn University, is designed to assess patients, such as by taking their blood pressure, before they are referred to a doctor for treatment. Apichit Jinakul
Speaking at a forum titled "Universities, the driver of Thailand 4.0" yesterday, Mr Suchatvee said new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and nanotechnology are rapidly changing the job market into a dualistic market in which a labour shortage appears in certain businesses while workers are left unemployed in others.
"Workers with basic skills will lose their jobs to robots and other 'smart' systems, while demand for people with complex-problem solving, critical thinking and creativity skills will increase," he said.
He said moves to cut jobs have already begun in auto companies, the banking and telecom sectors. The education sector would have to adapt itself to the changes for the sake of the workforce, he said.
"The situation is telling us to be prepared," he said.
Mr Suchatvee said many Thai universities, however, are still trapped in an old way of thinking that divides academic areas into certain faculties and students can study only in programmes which others have designed for them.
"Many world-leading universities are using a new model which students are allowed to create their own majors. Arts and science can be combined in the same curriculum. Medical students can learn engineering skills, so they can invent better medical devices," he said.
Mr Suchatvee said some Thai universities have adjusted themselves to keep pace with the changes by allowing the industrial sector to send in experts to co-develop and design courses and curricula to meet the demands of the labour market.
He added that some Thai universities have also started to increase collaboration by sharing resources and personnel.
"Thai universities should work together, not compete. Working together is a win-win situation for universities as we can share expertise and cut operational expenses at the same time," he said.
The CUPT president said the business sector and universities must join hands in transforming the country's human resources to keep up with the changes and avoid skills shortages and mass unemployment.
Mr Suchatvee also suggested universities adapt their activities to suit the advent of the ageing society, by opening up courses for people in their 60s and 70s who want to pursue new knowledge, skills and experiences.
Improving skills and retraining people would help boost the country's competitiveness and help ensure the workforce survives the new industrial revolution, he said.