Old teaching styles holding back students

       Old school styles of textbooks and examinations are the main reason Thai students still graduate as mere "reciters of text" rather than analytical thinkers, a seminar on the second round of educational reforms was told yesterday.
       Existing teaching methods that are "influenced by the centralised educational authorities" are the reason analytical skills cannot be fully conveyed from teacher to student, said Chulalongkorn University education lecturer Sompong Jitradab.
       He said even modern tests like the Ordinary National Educational Test (ONet), the General Aptitude Test and the Professional Aptitude Test were designed with the old ways in mind: based heavily on textbooks and failing to evaluate students in new competency guidelines.
       "Teachers should be given more academic independence through decentralisation of the entire education system like they are now under the influence of the central power. At present, the Education Ministry grants only 40percent independence to schools," he said, without explaining.
       "A curriculum focused on analytical teaching should be taught on a longterm basis, not for only three years like it is now. Teachers' skills in achieving such an objective should be further enhanced."
       Those tests are not fully able to evaluate students with different skills, he said.
       "For example, students studying at schools outside of Bangkok are not taught sufficient mastery of analytical skills, unlike those living in Bangkok, and they find the ONet very difficult. In most cases, these students cannot score above 50 per cent on it," he said.
       Former Chulalongkorn rector Suchada Keeranant said language skills were not sufficiently taught in schools, neither Thai nor foreign languages.
       "It's difficult for students who cannot yet do well in comprehensive reading and summarising to have full analytical skills and convey their messages to others," she said.
       Education Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said intensive teaching in analytical thinking should begin next year, when new curriculum guidelines take effect. They will focus on five skills: communication, problemsolving, using technology, living a good life and analytical thinking.
       He said the ministry would train all 500,000 government teachers to enable them to teach students to master these five skills.
       He voiced support for reducing classroom lectures and increasing outside lessons.