by Mayuree Charupan

               In the present world fraught with unforeseen and crises, it has become imperative that the vision of educational development be expand beyond the previous quantitative targets to include objectives of qualitative enhancement and the attainment of each individual's full potential.  Indeed the competitive edge among different countries to provide the people with quality education largely  rests on teaching learning achievements both in schools and outside of the schooling system. To achieve the successfully improve educational quality, several  demands will have to be met, and the most important requisite of all is an unfailing supply of teachers, who account for the learning achievement of the students.

               As it is said, one of the most important factors in educational development is the teacher.  Involved with many aspects of the children development, teachers play a significant role in building up the future generation.  The quality and efficiency of the development of teachers, therefore, is an urgent task for educational  development. 

              The National Scheme of Education 1992, serving as a general framework for educational management in the country, outlined a clear policy in reforming teachers training and developing in - service teachers.  It aims at improving the people's faith in the teaching profession, developing teachers conscience, raising the standard of both academic and professional abilities of the teachers, and improving the status of the teaching profession.  This can be carried out by changing the training procedure, continuously developing in - service teachers and educational personnel, as well as improving welfare for educational   personnel at all levels, and raising moral and security in the profession.

Present  Situation  and  Problems

1.  Present  Situation
               1.1  Over the past 5 years, the number of staff in education sector has  been quite stable at  the average of 800,000 , or 2.5 % of the overall national workforce.  It is estimated that the number will be the same until the year 2001.  Out of the total number of 800,000 , 600,000 are teachers , of which 350,000 are teaching at primary level and 120,000 are at secondary level.  The number of lecturers in the university is 25,000.
                1.2 Among the 144 teacher training institutions in the country, 97  institutions are under the Ministry of Education, the rest are under the Ministry of University Affairs (Faculty of Education).  The number of teachers graduated from these teacher training institutions during 1992 - 1996 was between 20,000 - 25,000 annually.
               1.3  The estimated government budget allocated on education is at 200,000 million baht (or 5,000 million $US) per annum, which accounts to 25 % of the total government budget.  Half of this amount which is about 100,000 million baht per year (2,500 million $US) is allocated on teacher salaries.

2.  Problems
                Main problems concerning teaching profession are as follows :
                2.1  Students do not regard teaching as an attractive, desirable profession.  The present recruitment system which is the channel of receiving students into teacher training institutions can not bring in capable students to be future committed teachers. 
                2.2  The present system can not retain high - quality teachers, because most students who entered into the institutions do not want to be in the career.
                2.3  Teacher salaries are low when compared with some other professions, such as medical science or engineer.  Teachers have to find extra money from doing some side - line jobs ; resulting in the inadequate attention to their main career.
                2.4  Teaching profession in Thailand, is not conceived as an honourable and respectful profession as in the past.

3.  Current  Crisis  of  Thai  Teachers

                3.1  In addition to the problems mentioned, the economic crisis of the country which started in 1997 has put more pressure on the government.  In this connection, the government has outlined certain measures and conditions to help lessen the undesirable effects on the teaching profession. Some of the     measures and conditions are as follows :
                      3.1.1  The intention of the government to bring about a betterment     in teaching profession can be clearly seen in the New Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand.
                      3.1.2  The government policy to limit the size of workforce in public sector, including teachers, by diminishing the retired position by 80 %.
                      3.1.3  The conditions outlined in ADB loan project which have  a direct impact on teachers as well as other educational personel are as follows :

   - reduction of teacher : pupil ratio (at primary level) from 1 : 18
      to 1 : 25 by the year 2002. 
   - training of primary teachers before turning them to teach in 
      secondary classes.

Crisis  1  :   the  decrease in number of primary teacher  by  70,000

                        3.2.2  On  the  production  of  teachers
                        From the year 1997 - 2001, the teacher training institutions      in Thailand are going to produce 20,000 - 25,000 graduates at first degree   and 20,000 at higher degrees.  After putting all graduates in their positions,  there will be 120,000 graduates who will not be able to get work and left unemployed.

Crisis  2 : 95 % of  New  graduates  from tracher training  institutions will be unemployed

                      3.2.3  On  the  teachers  in  shortage  areas
                      Outstanding students who have been recurited to train under special project for teachers in shortage areas (the number is about 3,200 students) will be unemployed , due to the cut off of the available positions.

Crisis  3  :   3,200 graduates from special project for teachers in shortage areas will be unemployed

                     3.2.4  Teacher  Quality
                     In addition to the problems concerning the number of teachers, teaching profession has long been facing with problems in terms of quality of work.  Most teachers need more training on continuous basis,    especially in the subjects they are directly responsible for. 

Crisis  4  :  Teachers  have problems in terms of quality of work. 

            3.3  Measures  to  Find  the  Way  Out  of  the  Crisis
            In terms of economic loss, this crisis has cost up to US$ 400 - 600 million, the government, therefore, has outlined certain measures regarding this matter.
                  3.3.1 Set up a committee to coordinate the production and development of teachers.  The committee members consist of the representatives from the agencies concerned.  The mission of the committee is to formulate a policy guideline for promoting the production and development of teachers.
                 3.3.2  Terminate all plans for setting up of new teacher training institutions.
                 3.3.3  Slow down the number of students to be accepted by    teacher training institutes at first degree level, in the field of primary education.
           Teacher Education Reform Office (TERO), under the office of the National Education Commission (NEC) is the unit responsible for central coordination of these efforts.

Innovations in Teacher Education and Teacher Reform : The Means of   the Professional Development of Teachers in Thailand

1.  TERO's VISION, OBJECTIVES AND GOALS
               The poor quality of education and the decline in the quality of Thai teachers have been long noted but right solutions have not been forthcoming.Teacher Education Reform Office, Office of the National Education Commission recognizes the urgency to overhaul the whole teacher education system and upgrading the teaching profession. This will be an enormous undertaking since the teacher system in Thailand is huge and complicated and the problems are deep-rooted. The simple vision to improve the education quality by upgrading teachers and educational personnel will be inadequate. The objectives must be clear and sharply focused. TERO has set as its objectives in the first 5 years to improve the teaching quality in high schools on key subjects, namely mathematics, science (physics, chemistry, biology and computer science), Thai and English. Our target goals therefore include 120,000 teachers, 2,500 schools and 114 teacher training institutes.

2.  TERO's  PRIORITIES
               In addition to vision and goals, there must also be priorities carefully chosen to meet the set goals. To achieve improvement of quality of teachers, TERO has set as its top priority to turn the unpopular teaching profession into one of the  most desirable professions in the country. This can only be realized by rewarding and upgrading the current working teachers and getting the best students to become teachers. So the next priorities are rewarding best teachers, providing in-service training for most teachers and developing new teacher education programs to produce new generation teachers.

3.  TERO's PROGRAMS
               The most important aspect in the reforms of teachers and teacher education is the innovations involved in designing the reform programs. TERO has instituted 6 key innovations and translated each into a program. The 6 reform programs are as follows.

  3.1   National Teacher Awards
  3.2   Academic coupons
  3.3   New generation of teacher and educational personnel
  3.4   Rating of schools
  3.5   School visits by leading Thai professionals
  3.6   Reform of TERO 

3.1  National Teacher Awards
              To keep the outstanding teachers in teaching, they must be    honored for their achievements and encouraged to help raising the teaching quality of other teachers. About 1% (1,200 teachers) of the current teachers should be selected and honored as National Teachers. Each will be asked to undertakes teaching innovation project. The duration of each project will be no more than 3 years. A National Teacher Award will consist of a supplement salary of $250/month, and a project expense of $2,500/year. There will be 3 levels of National Teacher Awards, Each will last no more than 3 years. The values of the award at the first level are as above while the values will be 2 and 3 times for levels 2 and 3 respectively. The achievement made by each National Teacher will be evaluated annually. Based on the evaluation, extension or termination of an award will be made.  Therefore, a successful National Teacher can pursue a career of quality teaching for up to 9 years.

                INNOVATION #1: The quality network of teachers will be created. By networking, outstanding teachers (National Teachers) are helping TERO in upgrading the quality of teachers.

                New feature: National Teacher Awards are not just prizes like other outstanding awards or prizes. This award is both a prize for past accomplishment and a grant to carry out a new project on improving quality teaching and quality education.

3.2  Academic Coupons
                Most teachers will be encouraged to take part in in-service training regularly by a special allowance which has a value of 2% the teacher's annual salary but no more than $250. A coupon is non-transferable and non-exchangeable if it is not used within two years. Training can be provided by any competent units in government, private sector or non-government organizations (NGO), locally or abroad. Teachers will have bear any cost above the value of the coupons. 

               INNOVATION #2: Teachers are empowered by academic coupons   to receive in-service training of own choice.

               New feature: Finance for training is given to teachers (users) rather than training institutes. So teachers can choose training programs suitable to their needs instead of being sent by the schools to some training programs that are unsuitable for their teaching responsibilities. By funding the teachers, more training providers are encouraged to offer training courses. In-service training of teachers should be speeded up and not limited to only courses offered by governmental institutes. Market force will encourage quality and cost-effective courses.

3.3  New Generation Teacher Education
             Teacher education in Thailand has always been the responsibility  of government institutes. It is envisioned that new generation teachers suitable for the 21st century can be produced by new teacher education programs that are of excellent quality. This can only be realized if this program provides incentive to encourage quality teacher education programs in government institutes as well as in private institutes and NGO. Partnership among institutes of quality will be encouraged to form outstanding programs. The new programs must be of high quality. They can be at either bachelor or master degree levels, for example, combined degree (B.Sc.-B.Ed.) in 4 years or M.Ed. in 1 year. Furthermore, the new teachers from these outstanding programs will receive a supplement salary of $125/month to encourage them to do innovative teaching and research. They will be given teaching positions without taking the required placement examination. Annually, 450 new generation teachers are expected from 9 new teacher education programs. While it will take a few years to produce new generation teachers from the new programs, a shortcut can be implemented as follows. Annually, 10 new teacher graduates of outstanding quality will selected and given the salary supplement and the additional responsibility of innovative teaching and research.

               INNOVATION #3: Competition for quality teacher education will stimulate diverse providers and superior teacher education. It must also be accompanied by a guarantee of definite and rewarding career start-up for new generation teachers from the good programs.

                New feature: The new teacher education programs will be far      better than the existing programs. Quality of the graduates will be assured  and hence the employment and career of the new generation teachers can be guaranteed.

3.4  School Rating
                Teachers have to work in the school environment and school administration has a profound influence, positively or negatively, on the quality      of education. To encourage school administrators to promote quality teaching, rating of education quality by subjects, maths, physics, chemistry, biology, Thai and English will be carried out annually. The results will be publicized nation-wide.

                  INNOVATION #4: Competition will encourage management for education quality. On the basis of the rating, the public will have a fair choice, school administrators will be encouraged to improve the education quality, and   the budget bureau or school supporters can provide more cost-effective funding to the schools.

                New feature: School rating will be result-oriented whereas official school inspection tends to emphasize processes and regulations.

 3.5  School Visits by Leading Thai Professionals
                To link education in schools to the real world, leading Thai professionals will be invited to visit schools. Each visit will last 1-2 days. The visitor will hold  meetings with students, teachers and administrators. With    the students, the meeting will concentrate on the future careers and the needed education. Meeting with the teachers will focus on the relevance of education  in the real world while administrators will share experiences in school  management with the visitors. Reports on the visits will be submitted by both  the visitors and the school administrators. An annual report on the compiled  visit reports will be published. 

                 INNOVATION #5: Community participation for the school quality    and the quality education will be encouraged.

                New feature: The visits by leaders from various professions in the country will direct the accountability of schools to the public. In contrast, official inspection tends to focus on compliance to regulations.

               The various programs for teacher reform undertaken by TERO can be demonstrated as " 5 - step Career Ladder for Teaching Profession Development"

            Step 1   Alternative  Teacher  Training  System  :    to  enhance quality development teacher training and encourage alternative methods in teacher  training  in order to produce new  generation of teachers.
           Step  2   New  Generation  Teacher  :  any in - service teacher who has 1 - 3 years of work experience and process certain qualities in congruence with those specified in New Generation Teacher Standard will be supported to develop his own profession under this project.
           Step  3   Academic  Coupons  :  to encourage teachers to receive regular  in - service training of their own choices.  This is done by providing teachers with academic coupons which allow them to choose training programs  suitable to their needs.
           Step  4   National  Teacher  Awards  :  to help raise the teaching profession to be most hournorable and most attractive in the society, recall  the faith in teacher profession by praising teachers with high professional achievement.  This is done by evaluating the past perfomance of the teacher  and ask them to undertake special innovative projects for development of  teacher  training  and  expansion  of  development  network.
           Step  5   The  Royal  Academy  of  Teachers  :  which is an academic community, taking care of the development of values, standards, the body of knowledge, integrity and faith in teaching profession.  Thus, this community will    be a hub of teachers who are acceptable of the ability in education, religions,     and cultural development. Teachers in the Royal Academy includes those    teacher  awarded  as  the  National  Teachers.

                In addition, TERO has also initiated another 2 projects for the teaching profession development.  The first project is the "School Rating Project"  to encourage the educational personnel as well as the general public to realize the importance of the capability and quality of schools in providing education which leads to the overall quality development of education of the country.  Another project is the "School Visits by Leading Thai Professionals" : this project concerns with the initiation of leading Thai Professionals in various fields to pay visits to      the schools.  By this means, the involvement of the community is encouraged.

               As already mentioned , the ladder for teaching profession consists of projects leading to the development of teaching profession introducing new    forms of alternative methods in enhancing a concrete development for teachers,    with the hope to help solve the negative effects of  the crisis on teaching profession.

3.6  Reform of TERO
              The 5 innovative reforms outlined above require an effective administration which cannot be provided by a government unit working under complicated regulations. Thus, to be effective in implementing the reforms, TERO must be free from the governmental regulations but yet supported by government budget. In addition, a teacher reform fund will be established to solicit support from the public. The fund will balance the government control of TERO. So, TERO will become an independent agency: Teacher Education Reform Agency (TERA).

4.  The New Career Ladder for Teachers in the 21st Century
              The 6 innovative reform programs together will form a new career path    that will be quality-based. In contrast, the current government career path for Thai  teachers is seniority-based and does not value merit and quality. However, if  the new quality-based career path resulted from the reforms is combined with  the security of the government career, teaching will become a very attractive profession because the teachers will have both the job security and the appropriate financial incentive. They should be strongly motivated to provide quality education. Consequently, current teachers should remain in the teaching profession and the best and the brightest students will be attracted to become new generation teachers. So, teaching will be the career of choice in the 21st century. Ultimately, much-needed improvement of the quality of Thai education will be realized. Thais will be better educated and the country will be better prepared to meet future challenges.

5.  The Cost 
                Any reform will fail if its cost is unrealistic and its sponsors cannot be    found. To facilitate fund-raising, the total cost for the proposed reforms is estimated as follows.
            REFORMS for 120,000 teachers in 5 years     in  million  dollars
 

              The estimated cost for the reforms is $92.5 per teacher per year.  In comparison to insurance premium for a car, a house, health or life, this amount is not outrageous. Therefore, the reform cost can be considered as an insurance premium for the quality of teacher or the educational health of the country.
           Conclusion
              Quality of Thai education needs to be improved. The best way to achieve this is through teacher and teacher education reforms. To do so, 6 strategic programs have been formulated, based on the vision that good teaching profession is the key to transform the negative image of teachers and to attract new generation teachers. The reforms will take 5 years and will cost $92.5 per teacher per year.

               In the borderless world that has been brought about by information technology revolution and enhanced by the global open-market policy, countries with better educated population will have the advantages and will out-perform those with poorly educated citizens. Knowledge will ever be expanding faster    and becoming ever more diverse. No education program can ever provide complete knowledge to the students. Hence, students will have to continue learning after finishing their formal education. To stay competitive in the future,a person has to keep on educating oneself throughout life. So, "Education for Life" should be more emphasized than "Education for All". Teachers of the 21st century will have to recognize this new paradigm. Teachers can no longer just be the only source of knowledge. Knowledge can be found outside of classrooms, in the fields, in the mass media, at home, in temples and work places. Teaching "what to learn" from the professional teachers must be replaced by teaching "how to learn". The role of teachers in schools will be one of facilitators or managers of learning. Students will replace teachers as the center of learning. In addition, good teachers in the 21st century must be team players as knowledge will be more integrated. They must also be technologically competent in order to use new educational tools efficiently and effectively. They must be able to communicate clearly in their own language (native tongue) and in at least one other language (English mostly).