BANGKOK, 20 July 2011 – The new government is encouraged to support more budgets including scholarships for lecturer quality development in order to uplift the education standard of universities in the provinces.
University of Phayao President Prof Dr Mondhon Sanguansermsri asked the new government to revive the lecturer development fund to enable more lecturers to take further studies both inside and outside Thailand because the quality of lecturers is crucial to university development.
The lecturer development fund was established in 1993 but was terminated due to the 1997 economic crisis.
Prof Dr Mondhon explained that granting scholarships for lecturers to study abroad and come back to teach in their universities will help improve the quality of national education. He raised his university as an example as over 100 lecturers are products of the lecturer development fund of his university.
The president continued to say that many universities at present must use their own incomes to support lecturers to continue their studies at postgraduate levels; however, new universities and provincial ones including those under the Rajabhat network, do have budget limitations.
Prof Dr Mondhon suggested that the new government should increase salaries for university employees by 5% similarly to government officials while salaries for lecturers should be increased by 8% similarly to government teachers as state universities are also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education.
