Education degrees see a jump in popularity

[Admin]

Education degrees see a jump in popularity
By Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation 2011-05-09

'Newbreed teachers scheme' seen as a key reason

The education faculty has been growing in popularity among university applicants as authorities vow to press ahead with the "newbreed teachers" scheme.

Last year the number of applications to education faculties via central university admissions was the highest among all faculties.

"This is a good thing," Prof Somwang Pitiyanuwat, an education expert, said recently.

As the chair of the panel in charge of selecting institutions for the newbreed teachers scheme, he is rejoicing in the growing popularity of education faculties.

The scheme is designed to promote the teaching profession among highcalibre students. It was launched a few years ago by guaranteeing teaching jobs to undergraduates.

This year, the scheme is going to go into fullscale implementation, offering full scholarships plus job guarantees for participants who will have to study for five - not just four - years for a teaching degree.

To be eligible, candidates must show at least a 3.00 grade point average in secondary school and must rank in the top 30 percentile of the Ordinary National Educational Test.

"We will hand out 2,600 scholarships under the scheme this year," Somwang said.

The scholarship recipients will also definitely land a teaching job at a state school after graduation, he said.

"The scheme will also guarantee jobs for 1,000 other participants," he said.

The panel is not directly involved in recruiting students for the scheme. It just selects qualified institutions and let them choose the participants.

So far 40 institutions have been seeking to join the newbreed teachers scheme.

Although Somwang did not mention any names, it is widely speculated that the education faculties of Chulalongkorn and Srinakharinwirot universities will be among the preferred ones.

This year, Chulalongkorn's Faculty of Education received 1,884 applications via central admissions for just 245 openings.

The Somwang panel is also responsible for determining how many participants each member faculty can recruit for the scheme.

The panel will release the names of the member institutions and their seat quotas later this month.

Prasart Suebkha, chairman of the Association of University Presidents of Thailand, said the newbreed teachers scheme had increased student interest in a teaching career.

"Students think about job opportunities when they choose their major," he said.

Chuangchote Buntuvech of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University said nearly 10,000 students applied to the Faculty of Education this year but only 250 seats were available.

As students show greater interest in becoming a teacher, many more institutions would launch programmes to groom teachers, he said.

For example Kasetsart University is going to kick off a programme for science teachers next academic year and Dhurakij Pundit University now offers a master of education.

Pavich Thongroj, who sits on the Higher Education Commission, does not completely agree with the newbreed teachers scheme, which is clearly planning to extend the length of study to five or even six years instead of four years.

"I don't think the extra year is necessary. The budget spent there will be more useful if it goes to training," he said.

Institutions also did not efficiently manage the number of graduates from teaching programmes.

"The government can hire just 3,000 or 4,000 new teachers each year but the programmes turn out more than 12,000 graduates annually," he said.

Somwang, however, is very optimistic, saying the newbreed teachers scheme would automatically adjust the number of students flocking to teaching courses.

"Because our scheme offers scholarships and job guarantee, students will strive to join the scheme. Very few will choose to head to institutions that are not participating in the scheme because their graduates won't be confident about their future prospects. Then, there should be a balance between supply and demand in the end," he said.