OPINION

Blame employers

Re: "BoT blames easy loans for household debt woes", (Business, Sept 17).

The Bank of Thailand's concerns over household debt and the easy access to loans gives observers the impression that at over 78% to GDP ratio is alarmingly high and needs a solution.

Only recently a Thai economist, Chartchai Parasuk, with the article in the Bangkok Post, "Is it all the Bank of Thailand's fault?", (Opinion, Sept 12), reported that a country as wealthy as Switzerland debt ratio to GDP is well over 100% and it doesn't find it a problem. As reported by The Economist, the problem is not households or individuals taking out loans, which in most Thai households is a necessity, but more likely the ability to repay the loan.

There is no point in the Bank of Thailand laying the blame at the door of loan sharks and online shopping when the real blame should be put at the door of employers who continue to pay wages that force individuals and households to take out loans in the first place.

Broken education

Re: "Education is useless if it leads to unhappy lives", (Opinion, Sept 17).

Philipp Graf Von Hardenberg and many other sage writers sometimes forget that like everything else, education has both a social and local context and purpose. People born in different countries get exposed to their native educational systems. In most countries, the current system of education has its roots in the Western world.

The primary purpose of modern education has always been to produce an educated workforce. For the last three centuries, students have been subjected to the strict regime of Marksism (marks, grades, transcripts, degrees and diplomas). It has always been about jobs and career, not about preparation for a happy life.

Now that times have changed and young people are connected to the internet 24-7, they can learn many things on their own. However, the focus of the educational system remains the same; cram, jam and pass the exam.

Along with the education system, various other institutions, including religious, ideological, doctrine and dogma have been used to produce followers. For the last three centuries, these traditional pillars of society have forced students to follow all kinds of useless routines. There is no doubt that the current education system around the world has failed to cultivate strong interpersonal skills, work ethic, problem-solving, communication skills and teamwork.

Sadly, the advent of new technologies has also led to a widening of knowledge and a generation gap. Teachers and instructors are far behind their young students in implementing new tools and technologies to reform the curriculum and change their teaching strategies. I must agree with the writer that unless immediate action is taken, we will experience societies with broken systems, where people don't think or do what they feel is right, but do what they have learned to passively follow.

Preserve heritage

Re: "Join the warriors", (BP, Sept 16).

Regarding the terracotta warriors and other items from the Qin Dynasty currently on display at the National Museum in Bangkok, why is the general public allowed to come into direct contact with these priceless artefacts as evidenced by people hugging them in recent photographs? I thought that generally, even archaeologists would don gloves to preserve the integrity of such heritage and its dignity.