Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
Education authorities will provide more financial support for a better academic performance and higher ranking of Thai universities.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about the project.
More funds will be earmarked to support research, technology and innovation at universities to help them improve their placing in the world university rankings, Education Minister Dapong Ratanasuwan said.
WORLD-CLASS AMBITIONS
Speaking after a meeting with the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT), Dapong said the Education Ministry plans to ask other state agencies to transfer some of their research & development (R&D) budgets to support its “Pushing Thai Universities to be World Class Universities” project.
“State agencies have a total R&D budget of around 40-50 billion baht. I will talk with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and see how much we can get,” Dapong said.
FALLING RANKINGS
In the latest QS World University Rankings released last September, top Thai universities have fallen from their previous rankings. Chulalongkorn University retained its lead in the country at No. 253 on the list, down 10 places from last year. Mahidol University came second at 295, down from 257 a year ago. Chiang Mai University was in the range of 551-600, down from 501-550 in 2014.
In the Times Higher Education World Rankings, a separate survey released at the beginning of October, Mahidol University was the top university in Thailand, ranked in a group of tertiary institutions worldwide at 501-600, while other Thai universities were grouped in another range of 601-800.
LACK OF PAPERS
Dapong said the ministry and CUPT agreed Thai universities’ falling performance in the global rankings is a reflection of their lack of academic research papers.
“Compared to their foreign counterparts, Thai universities have fewer researchers and papers, especially in English. So, if we want to climb up the global rankings, we need to invest more to improve our research performance,” Dapong said.
MISSING MANPOWER
“If Thailand fails to promote its universities’ competitiveness at the international level, the country will be viewed as not having quality manpower, which will affect other aspects of its development,” said Prasart Suebka, the CUPT’s chairman.
Suphat Champatong, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC), said his agency has set up a 10-year plan to help the country’s top six universities obtain a better university ranking and break into the world’s top 100 in the QS Rankings.
Exercises
Read the story and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. According to the latest QS World University Rankings, Mahidol University remained No. 1 in Thailand.
……………….
2. Chulalongkorn University was ranked No. 253 in the latest QS World University Rankings.
……………….
3. CUPT stands for the Centre of University Presidents of Thailand.
……………….
4. Prasart Suebka is the CUPT’s chairman.
……………….
Vocabulary
- earmark (v): to decide that something will be used for a particular purpose
paper (n): an academic article about a particular subject that is written by and for specialists
manpower (n): the number of workers needed or available to do a particular job
