Education Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech has backed the Association
of University Presidents' resolution that Thai universities should start
semesters in the next academic year at the same time as those in other Asean
nations.
Mr Suchart said the beginning of
the semester at Thai universities should be synchronised with universities in
other Asean countries in order to prepare for the launch of the Asean Economic
Community in 2015.
The minister's remarks follow a
recent meeting of university rectors at Burapha University in Chon Buri to
discuss postponing the start of the semester.
They agreed that the first
semester of the academic year 2013-14 will be shifted from June 2013 to between
Aug 15 and Sept 15.
Mr Suchart said the change would
help Asean students who wanted to enrol in universities in different member
countries.
''I think the country's semester
periods for higher education should be standardised to conform with
universities in other Asean countries, except for the open universities of
Ramkhamhaeng and Sukhothai Thammathirat,'' he said.
Mr Suchart said there was no need
for the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) to adjust the semester
periods of the schools it oversees as Mathayom 6 (Grade 12) students would have
more time to prepare themselves for entering universities.
Currently, Mathayom 6 students
are required to take university admission tests before they finish their
education, he added.
However, Rajabhat universities'
rectors have rejected the association's resolution, said Preang Kitratporn,
rector of Phranakhon Rajabhat University and president of the Council of
Rajabhat Universities of Thailand.
He said the semesters of Rajabhat
universities should be in line with the Obec's semester schedule because most
Rajabhat students come from schools overseen by the government agency.
More importantly, he said, all
students at Rajabhat universities' faculties of education are required to
undergo teacher training in schools, so the timeframe of the teacher training
and the universities' semesters needed to correspond.
Rajabhat universities are higher
education institutions that mainly produce teachers and professionals in the
education sector.
Mr Suchart will meet with Obec
executives, some Rajabhat universities rectors and rectors of some state-run
universities today to discuss how to resolve the issue.
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