REDUNDANT EDUCATION CONTENT MAY BE CUT AS PART OF REFORM

       Some 30 per cent of content taught at the basic-education level may be cut or adjusted on grounds of redundancy, Education Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said at a meeting yesterday.
       Meanwhile, academics at the meeting urged the education and other ministries to stop organising formal training for teachers, because it was found they often had to miss classes in order to attend the sessions.
       After the meeting, held at the Dusit Thani Hotel and Resort in Pattaya with education officials and academics to decide on priorities for the country's second education reform programme, Jurin said he would let educational experts work together with curriculum creators |to consider whether the ministry should cut or adjust redundant content.
       He expects it will take about a month to consider the issue, after which he will decide which path to take.
       Utumporn Jamornmann, director of the National Institute of Educational Testing Service, said she wanted training held by the ministries for teachers to be revoked, but they should instead let teachers organise training themselves.
       "Many teachers have to leave their pupils and classes to take part in the training, especially in August when much of the training budget remains," she said.
       Channarong Pornrungroj, secretary to the Council of University Presidents of Thailand, backed Utumporn's idea.
       He said it was unnecessary to have so much formal training for teachers. They should instead have the freedom and time to adjust their own training, so that it does not affect their classes.
       Jurin concluded from yesterday's discussion that three main areas of the education system should be focused upon in the upcoming reform.
       "With the need to enable Thai students to think more analytically than only being able to remember studied content, initially we'll improve three main areas: curriculum, teachers and instructional media. We'll put the conclusions of the meeting into practice and initiate policy to support them," he said.
       "In order to develop students' analytical thinking, the curriculum needs adjustment. Apart from dealing with redundant content, more education-related activities are needed for the new curriculum because this will encourage students to think more analytically. Therefore, students' timetables will also be adjusted to suit learning through such activities," the minister said.
       He said he planned to improve the quality of teaching by organising training for 450,000 teachers countrywide within one year, together with creating a better understanding with school boards.
       Jurin added that instructional media successfully produced and used in other countries would be introduced into Thailand for use by teachers. In addition, more local instructional media will be produced to facilitate their teaching.