Thailand to produce more skilled vocational workers

BANGKOK, November 2 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Education, is encouraging the private sector to help produce more skilled vocational workers to meet growing market demands and ensure jobs for students. Government Spokesman Major General Sansern Kaewkamnerd told journalists on Monday that the government is speeding up vocational education reform by joining forces with the private sector to offer returns to business operators who participate in the joint personnel production project, with the degrees of their returns reflecting the levels of workers’ skills. In 2015 alone, the spokesman said, 10,527 companies have participated in the project, an increase of 2.75 times from 2012, and the number of vocational students has risen to 91,448. The spokesman pointed out the figures showed that the Thai government has successfully encourage more students and parents to shift to vocational education. According to the spokesman, Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has assigned the Ministries of Education, Labour and Industry to let students in the general education system additionally take vocational courses on an extra school term, while participating students will obtain certificates for both general and vocational education when they finish their high school study. Besides, the Thai government will pay for their additional tuition fees, learning instruments and travel expenses. The spokesman noted that vocational schools and business operators will initially introduce courses on maritime navigation, railway transportation, petrochemical operations, molds, electricity generation, tourism and food safety. In the 2017 school year, the spokesman stated, there will also be courses on petroleum, auto parts, electronics and hotels, acknowledging that the number of schools in the project will reflect local economic and industrial potential. The spokesman revealed that Thailand will also send vocational students to serve one-year apprenticeships on railways in China and will introduce railway transportation courses to support the government's railway projects. (TNA)