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| Faculty Seminar 1998. | |
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This year's seminar was held jointly at the adjoining Montien and Merlin Hotel at Pattaya During May 27-29, 1998. The theme of the seminar was "Towards the Global Univesity" and the following are excerpts from the tightly packed agenda.
Keynote Address 1 : Graduates in the 21st Century by Rev. Bro. Visith Srivichairatana, Vice Rector, Student Affairs. Keynote Address 11 : New Trends in Higher Education towards the 21st Century by Rev. Bro. P. Martin Komolmas, Rector. Registration System: Past-Present-Future by Registrar Mr. Kamol Kitsawad. Keynote Address111 :Quality Control : Institutional Application by Dr.Chantavit Sajatanind, Director, Bureau of Private Higher Education. Orientation to Institutional Application of Quality Control by Rev. Bro. Bancha Saenghiran, Vice Rector, Acadamic Affairs.
Rev. Bro. Visith next touched upon the quality of education being provided in schools and universities today. He made profuse use of charts and statistical tables to show that in spite of vaunted claims of progress in the field of education, the situation was far from satisfactory and that Thailand was still lagging behind of our neighbours in the region and other advanced countries such as Japan, U.S.A. etc.
"When people ask for education: they usually mean something more than mere training, something more than mere knowledge of facts and something more than a mere diversion". "May be they cannot themselves formulate precisely what they are looking for: probably they are really seeking ideas that would make the world and their own lives intelligible to them. When a thing is unintelligible, one has a sense of estrangement". "We cannot live on the human level without ideas. Upon them depends what we do. Living is nothing less than doing one thing rather than another". "What then is education ? It is the transmission of ideas which enable man to choose between one thing and another, or, to quote Ortega again. "to live a life which is something above meaningless tragedy of inward disgrace". "But, will this study also help the person to apply their knowledge itself ? In other words, is knowledge being transmitted to students in the optimal manner so that wisdom, and not just information be acquired?".
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Rev. Bro. Visith Srichairatana opened the proceedings by explaining that the President was discussing important issues with members of the National Education Commission in Bangkok and that he would arrive later in the afternoon to address the gathering of faculty members. Bro. Visith then dealt extensively with the historic aspects of educational development in Thailand beginning with situation some 30 years ago to the present-day concepts and the mission and vision extending to the next century. He said that it used to be considered appropriate and adequate to teach from the textbooks and make the students learn by rote and if they could memorise a number of theories or formulas and pass the exams the results were accepted as satisfying the needs as well as the aims and objectives of education. He said that there is now radical change in concept and that universities were expected to produce graduates with not only reasoning and analytical aptitudes but also possessing artistic and aesthetic qualities and moral values. He explained that according to the latest evaluation as comprised in the Delors Report education will have to be organised around four pillars:
The next keynote speaker Dr. P. Martin Komolmas dealt with the philosophy of and the rationale for education. He quoted chapter and verse from the writings of famous philosophers such as Schumacher and Ortega and here are some excerpts.
The next keynote speaker Dr.Chantavit Sujatanond, Director, Bureau of Private Higher Education underscored the importance of higher education in the pursuit of national development and the critical need to maintain high standards through quality assurance. She said that it took the Ministry of University Affairs nearly a decade to come up with the MUA Policy Announcement on Quality Assurance in 1996 which is based on twin principles of academic freedom and academic excellence. She said that the essential elements of quality control are system, rules and regulations, manual, monitoring, teamwork, concrete procedures and external evaluation. At the conclusion of lecture the meeting was thrown open for questions which came in a veritable barrage and the guest speaker painstakingly explained the points raised by faculty members.