BANGKOK, 14 August 2015 – The Ministry of Education has reaffirmed that it has no policy against vocational students wearing tattoo or having their ear pierced, but rather suggests schools to pay extra attention to these individuals before enrolling them in the new academic year, in a bid to improve the overall image of vocational students.
The statement was made by Permanent Secretary for Education Kamchorn Tatiyakawee after a meeting with the Association of Private Technological and Vocational Education Colleges of Thailand. He stated that the ministry has a firm policy to improve the image of vocational students along with the quality of vocational education.
According to the association’s report, graduates who had tattoo or ear piercing were often denied jobs by workplaces and usually took part in violent street brawls with students from other vocational schools. In the latter case, most of the detained students were found to have tattooed the school emblem on their body.
The Permanent Secretary said the Education Ministry was not rejecting these students but would rather advise vocational schools to evaluate them on a case by case basis before their enrollment. He warned the schools to make sure the students would obey their institution’s regulations.
