Sheldon Shaeffer, former
director of UNSECO’s Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.
Urasin Khantaraphan
On the evening of June 5, Pattaya Mail sat down with the former director
of UNSECO’s Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Sheldon
Shaeffer, who retired in 2008. He worked for UNESCO for a decade and has
lived in Southeast Asia for 20 years.
For the past five years, he has been a consultant for Education
Development Advisory Services, which provides educational consultancy
services in Southeast Asia and East Africa in inclusive education,
child-friendly schools, early-childhood care, language policies, and
multi-grade teaching.
Shaeffer sat down for an interview with the Pattaya Mail to discuss
Thailand’s educational system and prospects for the future under a new
government regime.
PM: What do you think about the current political and economic
situation in Thailand?
Shaeffer: I think the situation had reached a point where it was
increasingly difficult for the various sides of the debate to find a
compromise and a way out of the impasse. As a Canadian, I believe
democracy is the best form of government, and I’m looking forward to the
time when Thailand can return to a truly democratic form of government.
This will promote the stability of the government and the economy and
therefore be good not only for the people of Thailand, but also for
attracting investors and tourists to Thailand.
Thailand must project an image of being a safe and secure place,
especially a place like Pattaya. It’s good that the curfew has now
ended, at least in Pattaya, because Pattaya will then once again be seen
as an attractive place for people to come. I find it unfortunate that so
many countries have issued travel alerts regarding what’s happening here
in terms of safety and security; it only makes things more difficult for
the tourism industry. Governments might disagree with recent political
developments in Thailand, but that doesn’t mean that Thailand should be
identified as an unsafe place.
PM: What would you like for the new Thai government to do for the
Thai people?
Sheldon: I’m highly interested in education, so I think that’s
important. The government provides 25 percent of its annual budget
towards education, one of the highest percentages in the world.
But about 10 percent of children in Thailand are not enrolled in primary
schools and, by the age of 17, only 60 percent remain in school. And
when you look at the final outcome of what the students in Thailand
achieve, it’s quite low. And if you look at international tests of
achievement, Thailand is near the bottom of the list.
For example, there’s something called the English Proficiency Index,
which is an attempt to test how well countries are achieving in English,
which is important not only for global trade, but also for ASEAN
integration. In this Index, out of 60 countries, Thailand ranks 55th and
Vietnam is 28th. In another international test, Thailand ranks 50 out of
60 countries regarding mathematics and 48th in science and reading.
So again, Thailand is considerably lower than Singapore, Vietnam, and
many other countries. This is not going to make Thailand competitive
with other countries in terms of education, especially in English.
PM: So Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia have better education
systems than Thailand?
Shaeffer: In many areas, yes, and Thailand has to find a way to
make up that disadvantage by trying to improve the quality of its
education system.
It needs more comprehensive early-childhood care and
education starting with better health and nutrition from birth, greater
use of the children’s mother tongue in the early years of primary
school, which helps children more easily master literacy in Thai, better
trained and better paid teachers, and a greater focus on critical
thinking, creativity, and entrepreneurial skills rather than rote
memorization. And it needs to focus more on making educational
opportunities more equal between Bangkok and remote, rural areas;
between children who speak Thai at home and those that don’t; between
children with disabilities and those without; and between the rich and
the poor.
Many children are not well supported by either the government or their
families, especially in poor districts. Studying in Bangkok provides
better advantages because of greater government support, but I think
that schools in remote places should be given the same opportunity. More
support for scholarships, for example, will improve the chance for all
children in Thailand to get better quality education and so reduce the
disparities that now exist in Thai society.
PM: Regarding the economy, what changes would you like to see
when the government is sorted out its issues?
Shaeffer: I think there has to be a restoration of confidence,
first inside of Thailand so that the economy is stable and can grow.
That would be more attractive to investors outside of Thailand as well.
People want to build factories, open new businesses, invest in property,
etc., in a climate that assures stability and security for their
investments.
This will actually become more important after 2015 when full ASEAN
economic integration is launched. That will mean greater competition
between Thailand and other ASEAN countries for investments. As other
ASEAN countries gain better-trained professionals and skilled laborers,
Thailand will have to convince investors that it still offers
considerable benefits as opposed to other ASEAN countries.
Thailand was once a leading country of ASEAN, economically and
educationally, but there is now much more competition from not only
Singapore but also Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and more. So
Thailand has to work hard to get back to the top.
PM: So you are retired here in Pattaya or in Bangkok, what are
you doing now?
Sheldon: I meant to be retired, but it’s better to keep a bit
busy than to be bored. I am still doing some work for UN agencies,
international non-government organizations, and other institutions,
writing papers, making presentations at conferences, and doing
evaluations. My field is education, so I’m trying to keep myself busy by
focusing on that profession.
