This book explores the history of higher education in Thailand, and the ways in which excellence and equity have played out over time. Classed as a developing country, Thailand has implemented wide-reaching legislative and regulatory responses relating to the purpose, character of and access to higher education. The authors investigate these changes by interrogating the mechanisms and reciprocities that have operated at the international level to trigger this decision making, and acknowledge that these changes have often run up against long-standing cultural norms and ideologies. Thailand has a highly stratified society, and maintains a strong commitment to the preservation of Thai identity and traditional values: tensions and pressures are likely to arise when history, culture and ideology are not aligned with political decree. Importantly, the push and pull between equity and excellence within the education system are likely to lie at the heart of those tensions.
Author(s): Penpisoot Kwan Maitrarat, Roger Openshaw, Margaret Walshaw
Series: Palgrave Studies in Excellence and Equity in Global Education
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 232
City: Cham
Series Preface
References
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Tables
1: Introduction: “…A Kind of Noveau Export Commodity” (Luke, 2005)
Overview
Context
Thai Higher Education and the West
Thai Higher Education Today
Purpose
Sources
Discourse and Truth
Policy Borrowing
Chapter Overview
References
2: “…Giving Them New Knowledge” (Interviewee)
Introduction
Traditional Thai Education
Importing European Models
The 1932 Revolution and Its Aftermath
The Potential of Education
Establishing New Universities
The Limits of Education Reform
The Beginning of American Domination, 1945–1970
UNESCO and Its Contribution to the Donor-Recipient Order
Summing Up
References
3: “… In Accordance with the Manpower Needs of the Country” (Nimmapheminda, 1970)
Introduction
The First Development Plan (1961–1966)
The Second National Economic and Social Development Plan (1967–1971)
The Privatisation of Higher Education
The Third National Economic and Social Development Plan (1972–1976)
The Establishment of the Ministry of University Affairs
Unprecedented Expansion of Higher Education
The Introduction of Open Access Universities
Consequences: The Students’ Revolutions 1973 and 1976
The Fourth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1977–1981)
The Fifth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1982–1986)
The Sixth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1987–1991)
Summing Up
References
4: “…A Volatile Context for Policy Change” (Lao, 2015)
Introduction
The First Long Range Plan on Higher Education (1990–2004)
The National Education Act 1999
Diversifying Operations
The Introduction of Performance-Based Assessment
Autonomous Institutions?
The Second Long Range Plan on Higher Education (2008–2022)
(a) Expanding Higher Education
(b) The Push to Enhance Quality
Promoting Research?
Financial Contraction
Towards Internationalisation
Summing Up
References
5: “…Fundamentally the Wrong Medicine” (Sydney Morning Herald, 2010)
Introduction
The Contemporary Context
Administrative Efficiency: The New Truth
Growth and Changing Organisational Practices
The Commercialisation of Higher Education
Internationalisation, Power, and Knowledge
Modernity and Tradition
Political Inconsistencies
Democratic Provision: An Unrealised Goal?
The Decentralisation of Universities
The Problem of ‘Over-Democracy’
Budgetary Inconsistencies
Graduate ‘Over-Supply’
The Debate Over Values
Commercialisation
Academic Inflation
Quality and Standards
Performance-based Assessment
Surveillance and Regulation
The Dominance of Teaching
Corruption
Research Difficulties
Four Major Issues
Summing Up
References
6: “…An Obsession Towards the Culture of Borrowing” (Lao, 2015)
Introduction
The Higher Education Environment and COVID-19
Enhancing Effectiveness
Hierarchies Within the Civil Service
Patronage and Corruption
Difficulties in Acquiring New Funding Sources
Exploring Potential Through Internationalisation
The Impact of a Weak Infrastructure
Democratic Practices and Processes?
Asymmetric Relationships Between Universities
The Impact of Uneven Provision
What Kinds of Values Are Needed for the Future?
Fundamental Student Values and Attributes
Staff as Conduits of Desirable Values and Attributes
The Proposal of a New Discourse
The Struggle for Better Quality and Standards
Teaching
Research
Performance Accountability
The Immediate Effects of Covid-19
Summing Up
References
7: “…A Dichotomy Between Two Values” (Openshaw and Walshaw, 2019)
Reflections
Towards a Better Future
References
References
Index
