Higher education in Thailand has undergone dramatic changes in the past four decades, reflecting three major global trends: massification, privatization, and internationalization. The country now has a total of 150 higher education institutions and 19 community colleges with approximately 2 million students in 2010 (UNESCO 2011).
There are 80 public higher education institutions consisting of 14 autonomous universities, 16 traditional universities, 40 Rajabhat universities, nine Rajamangala Technical universities and one Pathumwan Institute of Technology. Besides, there are 71 private higher education institutions and 19 community colleges. Continued efforts have been made to allow traditional public universities to enjoy greater autonomy and academic freedom. The remaining traditional public universities will soon be transformed into public autonomous universities (UNESCO 2011). Rajabhat Universities are traditional teacher training colleges in most provinces. Programmes include courses in teaching methodology, school administration, special education, optional specialization, supervised practical teaching experience, and the general education subjects of language and communication, humanities, social science mathematics and technology. Rajamangala universities are educational institutions which accept the holders of a diploma/certificate in vocational or technical education. It provides two-year programme learding to the higher diploma in technical education (IBE 2011).
TVET in Thailand is provided in three forms: the normal programme; the dual-vocational training (DVT) programme; and non-formal programme. Three levels of vocational education are offered: the Certificate in Vocational Education (Por Wor Chor) which is taken during the upper secondary period; the Technical Diploma (Por Wor Sor), taken after the Certificate, and the Higher Diploma upon completion of(?) which admission to university for a Bachelor degree programme may be granted. As at 2010, the OVEC of the Ministry of Education administer 415 public colleges, 427 private vocational schools and colleges around the country (UNESCO 2011).
Nearly 2 million students were enrolled in higher education institutions in 2010, of which almost 90% were enrolled in public higher education institutions. According to the 15-year Long Range Plan on Higher Education (2008-2022) developed by the Thai government, it is projected that demographic changes will result in a decrease of participation in higher education, and the main focus of higher education will shift to quality issues. The Government of Thailand has initiated a programme called “One District, One Scholarship” in order to increase the access of disadvantaged group of students to higher education. This programme provides opportunities for outstanding students from remote areas to pursue quality higher education. From a gender perspective, about 64 % of the recipients in 2004 and 2006 were female, which also reflects the gender gap in learning achievements (UNESCO 2011).
In 2010, nearly 0.7 million students enrolled in TVET colleges governed by OVEC of the Ministry of Education, and approximately 0.4 million students were studying in private vocational schools and colleges. As Thailand is entering the ageing society, the number of students in basic education is decreasing, and manpower will be in short supply in future. There is a lack of middle-level skilled manpower. The tendency in the decrease of graduates with vocational certificates can be mainly explained by the negative value and reputation accorded to vocational education, including wage differentials that are directly associated with level of education (UNESCO 2011).
The higher education sub-sector has to respond to needs for increasing economic productivity of the working population, and put an emphasis on continuing education to respond to changes and creation of new professions. However, employees with college degree or above represented only 10% of total employment in the enterprises surveyed in 2007. Many job vacancies arise because the majority of applicants lack both basic and technical skills required by the enterprises. The government tries to improve the quality of higher education set out in the 15-year Long Range Plan on Higher Education (2008-2022). Specific strategies and intervention programmes to improve the quality of higher education developed by the Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) include programmes for: (1) new age citizens; (2) new age teachers; (3) educational institutions and new age sources of learning; and (4) new educational management programmes (UNESCO 2011).
Vocational education provision must be in line with the National Economic and Social Development Plan and National Education Plan (2002-2016) in order to produce and develop vocational manpower at levels of technical and technological skills that can serve the demands of the labour market. So far, however, it appears that TVET in Thailand has not been able to provide sufficient highly-qualified and well-trained technicians for a rapidly changing economy. The qualifications of manpower that are lacking include: communication skills, computer and ICT-using abilities, management, calculation skills, problem solving, team work, responsibility, honesty, tolerance, discipline, punctuality, and leadership (UNESCO 2011).
The administration and supervision of higher education is under the Office of the Higher Education while the Office of the Private Education Commission supervises and subsidizes private educational institutions. Both offices are under the Ministry of Education’s administrative structure. In accordance with recent educational reforms, public universities have become autonomous and they exercise greater control over the management of their own affairs to enhance efficiency and accountability (IBE 2011).
Vocational education is administered by the Office of the Vocational Educational Commission (OVEC). The Commission administers and manages vocational education at the national level by formulating long-term plans and major policies related to TVET. Over 400 public colleges and around 500 private vocational schools and colleges are operating in this sub-sector. OVEC aims to develop a strong partnership with the private sector, mobilize resources and develop demand-driven programmes to meet local needs (IBE 2011).
The Ministry of Education of Thailand has engaged in serious strategic scoping about future reforms in the higher education and TVET sub-sectors so that it can produce capable workforce that is needed in the creation of a knowledge-based economy. These reforms will respond to three major rising problems in the country: (1) declining population of main workforce; (2) ageing population; and (3) critical needs for highly-skilled technical workers. In higher education, improvement of quality is prioritized although there are many other target areas such as performance-based funding in the sub-sector, and increasing collaboration between the universities and the private sector. Overall, it is planned to increase the ratio of vocational to general academic track at the secondary education level from the current proportion of 40:60 to 60:40 in the next 10 years so as to produce sufficient numbers of graduates from TVET with technical skills and knowledge (UNESCO 2011).
