12 schools try 'Finnish model'

The South East Asia Center (SEAC) has launched what it hopes will be a pioneering education initiative based on the Finnish model in 12 Thai schools with a view to inspiring widespread educational reform across the region.

At a press conference held yesterday, the community-based, educational and social service organisation announced its cooperation with Code School Finland, which Aringya Thaloengsri, SEAC chief capability officer and managing director, said had been carefully selected from 94 institutions around the world.

She went on to explain that in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and with digital disruption a major facilitator of change in all industries, it has become necessary to change the way Thai children are taught.

"With the strength of Finnish education, and this coding school's reputation for a world-leading education model, I believe that [this partnership] can only help to improve and develop Thai educational standards, so our children have every opportunity to grow up to be quality adults and be prepared in every dimension for the working world," she said.

"The curriculum not only focuses on hard skills such as coding, AI or robotics but also the soft skills such as learning techniques, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, business skills and user-centric ideas, which will be equally important this century."

Yuri Jarviaho, Finnish ambassador to Thailand, said this was a positive and timely step with education in its current state of flux.

He said the Thai Ministry of Education and Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture recently signed an MoU to cooperate on primary and secondary education, curriculum development, teacher training and vocational training.

"Finland has a long tradition of investing and developing its education system," he said. "In the Worldwide Education for the Future Index, we, Finland, were ranked number one.

He said developing new educational systems is a key focus of the Finnish government and it has been looking to tie that with industry links to scientific research projects and robotics.