ประเด็นด้านการศึกษาจากพรทิพย์

ประเด็นด้านการศึกษาจากพรทิพย์ 

         ผมได้รับ อีเมล์ จาก ผอ. พรทิพย์ กาญจนนิยต แห่ง Fullbright Thailand อยู่เสมอ    มีแง่มุมดีๆ ให้ได้เรียนรู้    วันนี้ขอนำเรื่อง Cost Disease ที่เธอเล่า   นำมาลงบันทึกไว้

Today, I'd like to brief for you an article on ‘Offshoring: The Next Industrial Revolution?’ by Alan S. Blinder from Foreign Affairs, March/ April 06 ka.

 

It increases our understanding about the world trend that will see more and more movable jobs being sent offshored, especially from the West ka. These jobs include education and health sectors ka.

 

The author discusses the ‘cost disease’ of the personal services which will grow more and more expensive over time…this is called ‘Baumol’s disease’ after the economist ‘William Baumol’ who discovered it ka.

 

The prediction of this disease is that ‘the prices of personal services, education and entertainment included, will rise relative to the prices of manufactured goods and impersonal services (such as cars and phone calls). Changing trade patterns will keep most personal-service jobs at home while many jobs producing good and impersonal services migrate to the developing world….which means future is ‘brighter for luxury personal-service jobs such as plastic surgery and chauffeuring, than for ordinary personal-service jobs such as cutting hair and teaching elementary school’…interesting na ka.

 

The author said that people should specialize ‘in the delivery of services where personal presence is either imperative or highly beneficial’. In education, it needs to ‘prepare workers for jobs that will actually exist in their society……….requires to train more for personal services and fewer of many impersonal services and manufacturing’ ….and ‘…..nonroutine tasks and occupational change.’

 

He pointed out that people’s skills would be more important than computer skills and creativity would be prized.

 

I chose this article to share with you because of several reasons. If you recall the article about call center jobs in the Philippines, it’d be sad if we earn our income only from offshoring jobs when we have so much more to offer.

 

I’d love to see our country go in a different direction. Thai people are very creative, have lots of interpersonal skills, and are very capable to deliver personal services. How could our education offer opportunities for our teachers and students to nurture these unique qualities……of course while retaining our gentle service delivery with our ‘hearts’ na ka.

 

We need to change how we offer our education and we need to act to change!

Any hope out there mai ka?

 

As a graduate from an education faculty, I hope and pray (hard) that faculties of education nationwide'll be more proactive to take the lead for our desirable changes!

 

For my next email, I’d like to talk about several education articles on ‘The Tyranny of Citation’ and ‘The Gray Zones of Higher Ed. in the U.S.’…….naa sohnjai mak mak loei chai mai ka? Prod tidtarm ka.

 

Until next email na ka.

Porntip

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