THAILAND
By Rattana Lao*
The Bangkok Post-Mar 23
The wind of change is blowing with a great speed, velocity and intensity. Disruptive technologies, such as the Internet of Things, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), automation and robotics, are no longer science fiction. In fact, these emergent technologies are fast becoming part of our everyday reality, creating profound changes for industries, workers and our daily lives.
These changes are known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a term coined by Klaus Schwab to encapsulate the social and economic transformation brought about by rapid technical and digital innovation.
The question is what does this mean for ASEAN? What can ASEAN, a region with more than 630 million people and the world’s fifth-largest economy, do to weather these revolutionary changes? What kind of human resources do we need? How can the education sector keep up and remain relevant in light of ever changing technology?
Particularly, what kinds of skills are conducive to preparing ASEAN students, citizens and workers for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
To discuss these complex and confounding questions, Wilton Park, a non-profit agency organizing international forums for strategic discussion, last week held a dialogue on Asean education in Bangkok entitled “Skills for jobs: Maximizing potential in Asia”. Funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Wilton Park brought high level experts, educators, practitioners and policymakers from the United Kingdom and ASEAN countries to Bangkok for an intensive, rigorous and thought provoking dialogue to find ways in which countries in this region can keep pace with this socio-economic whirlwind.
The message at the forum was clear. Education is the heart of preparation. But it is not just any kind of education. There was a consensus at the event that technical and vocational education and training, known simply as TVET, must be the focal point of the education reform effort.
The benefits of TVET are paramount during this era of rapid technological advancement. That is because TVET provides hands-on, practical and skills-specific training for students, enabling them to become the skilled employees that industries need.
Despite all its promise, the TVET sector faces daunting challenges across the region.
First, the perception of technical and vocational education is a significant issue. Unlike traditional academic and general education, the public has a low interest in the TVET sector or even holds a negative perception about it. Voices across ASEAN countries echoed similar concerns that TVET is treated as a second-class choice for students. With a poor public image, students lack motivation to pursue education in this area while society in general lacks confidence in the sector. Consequently, TVET struggles to attract the best and brightest students.
The limited quantity and quality of students coming into the TVET system causes the second problem — the skills gap and mismatch between what industries want and what technical and vocational colleges provide.
In Indonesia, for example, industries report that TVET graduates lack the relevant skills, such as computer literacy, English and critical thinking, needed for modern work environments.
Similarly, in Thailand, while there are more than 120,000 TVET graduates each year, there remain up to 35,000 technical jobs that cannot be filled. In Vietnam, workers badly need technical training to acquire comprehensive information technology skills required in the digital economy.
Part of the problem with this skills mismatch is the lack of communication, collaboration and linkages between industries and the education sector. The communication gap impedes the possibility of TVET schools and colleges developing students with the right kind of skills for industries. There is limited technological transfer from companies to schools, which results in obsolete pedagogies, technologies and laboratories being used to train workers and technicians.
Given all these challenges, what are the options to improve TVET systems so that they can upskill the ASEAN workforce?
While TVET systems in ASEAN are diverse and face different challenges, one critical solution to tackling these complex problems is greater collaboration and coordination between the public and private sectors. The public can provide platforms, regulatory frameworks and enabling environments to promote greater investment from the private sector.
The private sector can play a pivotal role in improving technical and vocational education quality through technology transfer, industry specific skills training and, most importantly, rebranding of TVET as an excellent pathway for students to obtain a 21st century career.
Corporations such as Chevron, Temasek, Toyota, BMW and CP All are amongst the leaders in pioneering initiatives to promote technical skills and empower teachers in ASEAN. Critically, their branding enhances the image of TVET colleges and raises awareness for the skills students need to compete in the modern economy.
These are the great starts. But more opportunities for public and private partnerships are needed in terms of investment, internships and improved curricula and teaching practices. Currently, there are more TVET students than opportunities available for graduates in this field.
Issues of scaling up and sustainability in terms of opportunities, technical assistance and resources must be discussed at the regional, national and local levels to ensure the quality and effectiveness of technical and vocational education and training.
ASEAN has a lot of work to do to catch up — no longer just with the West but with the world — because cheap and unskilled labor is no longer the answer to economic growth. To continue attracting foreign direct investment, expanding its economies and ensuring societal sustainability, ASEAN needs to commit serious attention, energy and resources to strengthening the TVET sector.
The future of ASEAN rests upon the skills and insights of its citizens, to paraphrase Robert Reich. Such skills and insights depend on how well and how quickly the TVET sector adapts to the unremitting wave of technological change that is all around us.
And the clock is ticking.
*Rattana Lao, is a senior consultant at Kenan Institute Asia and a recipient of the Ananda Mahidol Scholarship.
(first published in Bangkok Post – https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1433586/asean-needs-vocational-skills-boost-now)
