Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University welcomed Dr. Amporn Pinasa, General Secretary of the Basic Education Commission (BEC).
Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul, M.D., President of Khon Kaen University conveyed the welcoming address while Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sumalee Chaijaroen, Dean of the Faculty of Education reported the objectives of the meeting on: “Building Academic Collaboration between the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) and Faculty of Education of Khon Kaen University”. The meeting was held on March 5, 2021 at Room 1507, 5th Floor, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University and was attended by the administrators of the Faculty and KKU Demonstration School.
In the meeting, Dr. Amporn Pinasa, General Secretary of the Basic Education Commission (BEC) explained about the direction of teacher development of the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC) and the educational reform approaches for upgrading the education quality and reducing the education gap among all schools in the country. OBEC hopes the Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University as a teacher training institution, will produce quality teachers who possess knowledge, competency and different skills for the society, in order to meet with the country’s policy. The meeting then discussed the continuing training for the graduates so that they are able to catch up with the global changes. After the meeting, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sumalee Chaijaroen, Dean of the Faculty showed the General Secretary the research works by the lecturers and researchers of the Faculty, which enhance advanced thinking skills, digital skills, coding skills, scientific skills and artificial intelligence (AI). The General Secretary then talked to the research teams in order to experiment on the innovations at the schools under OBEC. This is aimed to solve the problem and promote instruction of problematic subjects before a model for education quality upgrading can be built and extended to other schools under OBEC.
Dr. Amporn Pinasa, General Secretary of the Basic Education Commission (BEC) said that the visit to Khon Kaen University this time was to discuss collaboration between OBEC and universities in upgrading the learners’ quality since success in this respect cannot rely on just one institute, but it requires collaboration. The kindergarten kids today will continue to the primary, secondary and university levels in the future. The university is the institute that prepares graduates for the market. If the small kids have not been effectively taught, then the primary and secondary levels cannot have quality pupils. Curricula should be designed together with innovations that can solve various problems that exist. The defects at present can then be solved and changed to strengths. This will be seen in the next 20 years. The innovations presented by Khon Kaen University are clarified in terms of problem solution in some issues such as coding instruction at the kindergarten and primary levels, the teaching of chemistry or sciences at the high school level where students are not interested to learn.
The Faculty of Education has good innovations for problem solving. In order to maximize the benefits, these innovations should be put together like jig-saw so that a system is formed, starting from Grades 7 to 12. Then, an analysis can be performed to see what problems are still there at each grade. The innovations of the university can be incorporated in these jig-saws. If all levels from kindergarten to Grade 12 can be taken into account, the innovations can then be experimented on at any school under OBEC. A model for quality upgrading can then be realized. At the beginning, there may be 2-3 schools joining. Then it can be expanded in other schools in the following years.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sumalee Chaijaroen, Dean of the Faculty of Education said that the Faculty will carry out the approaches suggested by Dr. Amporn Pinasa, by planning and setting the goals and by applying the innovations to solve the problems in each grade.
At present, the Faculty has the innovations that are the outcomes of the research works of lecturers and students, including skills in digital, coding and artificial intelligence (AI). Therefore, the next step is to apply these innovations systematically. Recently, the Faculty has piloted the innovations at the demonstration school, and in the near future, they will be utilized at some schools under OBEC. After this the lessons learned can be drawn and improved as a model for education quality upgrading before implementation in other schools under OBEC.
Later at Saisuree Jutikul Room, Faculty of Education, Dr. Amporn Pinasa, who is an alumnus of the Faculty of Education gave a special talk on, “The New Normal of Education, Inspiration and Spirit of Teachers.” The General Secretary related about the working experiences in order to inspire the over 200 attendants who were undergraduate and Master’s degree and doctorate’s degree students.
News source: Petcharat Wangraha
News editor: Kanokporn Prasong
News Agency:Public Relation Department
(prd.go.th)
