EDUCATION INSTITUTE PLAN REDUNDANT, COSTLY: EXPERTS

       Several key figures in the country's education circle have condemned the government plan to establish a National Institute of Education (NIE) to oversee organisations that produce teachers and ensure their quality.
       "I disagree with the plan because of [the amount of] budget involved," Teachers' Council of Thailand secretarygeneral Ongkorn Amornsirinan said at a seminar yesterday.
       NIE will need at least Bt2billion to start its operations.
       The Office of the Education Council held the seminar to gather opinions on the NIE plan. The information will later be forwarded to Education Minister Jurin Laksanawisit.
       Suan Dusit Rajabhat University president Sirote Phonpuntin lamented that the Rajabhat institutes had to take the flak for the perceived drop in teacher quality.
       "In the past, we had never been consulted about any upcoming change. We put academic content before teaching skills in our course. But then we were told to focus more on teaching skills. Now that the teachers do not have solid knowledge of the academic subject, we are blamed," Sirote said.
       He was against the NIE.
       "It's redundant," Sirote insisted.
       Ongkorn said political interference was a reason the country's educational reform was not successful and the teaching profession was headed for decline.
       "I think it's time we stopped carrying out educational reform in response to politicians' wishes," he said.
       Thailand Education Deans Council chairman Sombat Noprak said he would support NIE only if it was going to work like the nowdefunct Department of Teacher Education.
       The department was dissolved during the first round of the country's educational reform.
       "NIE, if established, must not compete with 100 institutes now producing teachers for the country. Also, NIE's scope of work must not overlap with that of the Teachers' Council of Thailand," Sombat said.
       Chulalongkorn University lecturer Sompong Jitradub said it would be better for existing organisations to work together in solving educational problems. "We should not establish a new organisation," he said.
       "Thailand already has so many highereducational institutes."
       Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (Onesqa) acting director Somwang Phithiyanuwat insisted that NIE works would not overlap any existing institute.
       "NIE will develop the teaching profession. It will also enhance not just the work standard but also the quality of life of teachers," Somwang said.
       NIE will plan how best to develop teachers and will channel budget to qualified institutes, he said.
       "Some institutes may be upset because they are producing too many unqualified teachers," Somwang said.
       Dr Warakorn Samkoses, who chairs a panel on teacher production and development, said no existing organisation could do what the NIE was supposed to do.