Population Policy

The Fourth National Economic and Social Development Plan
 (1977-1981). Part II, Chapter 5, p.106-109.

Date:     1977-1981

Source:     Office of the Prime Minister, National Economic and Social Development Board, Bangkok, Thailand

Subject:     population policy, human resources development, formal education, non-formal education, vocational training, manpower development

The Government has been developing the quality of human resources in Thailand for a long time, mainly through the provision of public health services, education and training. Nevertheless, the quality of the human resources in Thailand is still not as high as it should be, due to many factors. Among the most crucial factors or problems are those related to food and nutrition, public health and manpower development. The first two problems and recommended solutions to these problems are dealt with in detail in the chapter on the distribution of social services (Chapter 7, Part III), so only the issue of manpower development will be discussed further in this section. Manpower development concerns both the development of formal and non-formal education, as well as general and vocational training. The main problems encountered in each of these issues and recommended approaches are presented in the next sub-sections.

3.1.1   Formal Education. Considerable problems and obstacles can be found at all levels of education. The most crucial ones include shortages of schools, classrooms, textbooks, teaching equipment, equipment for conducting experiments and qualified and experienced teachers. Moreover, formal education in the past could not be expanded to cover the whole country while higher education tended to produce the kinds of manpower that did not match the demand of the employment market. In addition, the weaknesses of the administrative system tended to aggravate the problems of formal education. For these reasons, reforms of the education system must be implemented. These measures are presented in detail in the sections relating to educational development in Chapter seven of Part three which deals with the distribution of social services.

3.1.2   Non-Formal Education. The supply of non-formal education to be discussed here refers only to the short-term vocational and general training that prepares people for the labour market or provides knowledge and experience to the unemployed and soldiers who have been relieved of their duties. Those who are trained are expected to be able to practice their newly-learnt vocation within a short period of time. For those who are already employed, such non-formal training should enhance their ability and enable them to earn a higher income.

The main problem of short-term vocational training projects in the past were discrepancies between the types of training provided by government agencies and the needs of the labour market or contents of the training courses and actual on-the-job requirements. While Thailand is basically an agricultural country with about 80 per cent of its population in the agricultural sector, the vocational training programmes organized by various agencies mostly emphasise activities in the industrial and service sectors as shown in table 5.5 below.

The quality of the training with only a few exceptions, must be considered to be below standard are not geared to the needs of the labour market. This stemmed from the lack of the practical experience on the part of the teachers in charge of these training courses and their lack of knowledge of the modern technology that is being applied in various industries. Moreover, about 50 per cent of the trainees in the short-term vocational training courses that have been organized by government agencies, especially in the courses that were offered to the people in general, dropped out before completing the courses due to lack of financial support for the purchase of learning materials and lack of interest in the subjects taught. These training facilities which were designed to assist poor people who previously lacked the opportunity to acquire certain skills for earning a higher income thus did not achieve their envisaged targets. Employers, however, have shown interest in these training courses and have sent a number of their workers to attend these courses to upgrade the skills of their workers.

3.2.1  Target Groups

During the Fourth Plan the content and direction of training courses will be improved significantly and charges will be made to ensure that course contents are consonant with the needs of the labour market and the economy. Vocational training facilities should reach the following four important target-groups:

1. those in the low-income group both in urban and rural areas
2. newcomers to the labour force looking for employment
3. the unemployed with little skill and knowledge or those with skills that do not meet the requirements of labour market
4. handicapped people, such as convicts, blind persons and prostitutes

3.2.2  Operational Guidelines

Vocational training projects and plans which are include in the Fourth Plan should, besides attempting to reach these four target-groups aim at the following objectives.

1. to strike a balance between the manpower requirements and the existing manpower plus the manpower to be produced both in terms of quantity and quality
   
   

2. to provide additional knowledge for those in rural areas which would be of use to their main occupations as well as supporting activities so that they can increase their incomes and raise their standards of living
   
   

3. to improve the skill of the urban labour force to enable them to earn higher incomes
   
   

4. to alleviate the problems of labour unrest by improving labour relations.