BANGKOK, 26 February 2013 The Department of Skill Development is aiming at creating 300,000 skilled and language literate labors by the end of this year to prepare them for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.
Department of Skill Development Director-General Mr. Nakorn Silpa-archa said a budget of 2.1 billion baht will be spent on running programs to improve language and vocational skills for Thai labors.
These programs, according to the Director-General, are aimed at teaching English and other languages spoken in ASEAN to Thai workers while, at the same time, preparing the new generation of workers for the professional work environment, future skill improvement and freelance opportunities.
The programs have been established under the cooperation between the Department of Skill Development and the private sector, including the Federation of Thai Industries and various skilled labor associations. Language centers have also been set up in all 77 provinces across Thailand to train workers, especially those in the tourism industry.
The move, Mr. Nakorn said, is to raise the standards of Thai labors before the AEC takes shape and is also a way of laying down requirements for workers of other ASEAN nationalities to achieve if they wish to gain employments in Thailand.
So far, labor skill standards have been officially announced for 22 professions out of the total of 200. The Director-General expressed his hope that, from now on, the standards will be laid down for 25 more professions each year.
