Bangkok – Thailand’s Ramkhamhaeng University has defended the integrity of its courses following 40 of its class plans being rejected by the Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC), noting the data used by the office was outdated.
Dean of Ramkhamhaeng University, Wuttisak Lapcharoensap, affirmed in a statement that his institution maintains quality and standardized practices and pointed out that 23 of the 40 courses the OHEC decided to reject have already been cancelled, with another one not existing at all.
He further explained that six of the courses have stopped accepting new students and the rest listed by the OHEC are in the process of being revamped.
The OHEC disapproved of the courses during its evaluation due to a lack of teaching staff, finding most were to be taught by instructors now in retirement. Wuttisak stated that, in applicable cases, new instructors had been hired.
The dean added that courses which were rejected due to their content had actually been revamped as recently as 2017.
Wuttisak assured that any impacts from the OHEC assessment would not affect the university’s graduates but stated it would seek to counteract the detriment caused to its image.
Meanwhile, Minister of Education, Dr. Theerakriat Charoensettasin, defended the OHEC, saying it is the body’s duty to assess and announce any educational courses that do not match national standards in the interest of the country’s students. He confirmed nonetheless that the action is not done to pressure or influence institutions.
