Defining the Thailand EdTech Ecosystem and Predicting the Future of Education and Work
During the EdTechX Bangkok Ecosystem Event, Starfish Labz hosted a panel discussion focusing on the Thai ecosystem. The panel was moderated by Dr Prae Nanthapron Seributra, from Starfish Labz and panellists included: K.Nicha Pittayapongsakorn (TDRI), Dr Chonnikarn Jira (True Digital Park) and Dr Panachit Kittipanya-ngam (Thailand Tech Startup Association).
Firstly, the panel was asked to share their view of the current EdTech scene in Thailand. Dr Chonnikarn Jira shared her optimism saying the there are many highly skilled and qualified people who are interested in this space, so there is a lot of support and opportunity for the sector to grow. In the past two years, there has been an increasing number of accelerators and incubators focused on EdTech startups. True Digital Park in particular work with General Assembly to help career acceleration in the digital space, combining the growing use of tech and the process of acquiring the related digital skills.
Nicha Pittayapongsakorn highlighted that the EdTech scene is currently split, focusing on both the private and public sector. The two worlds are very different and very far apart and what is found in the public sector, in terms of the use of EdTech, is somewhat discouraging. For example, there are many public schools that have only 2–3 working computers. There is also a lack of teaching in IT skills, with some teachers not knowing what the necessary skills are to teach.
The government sees education as a public service whereas the startups and private sector view it fundamentally as a business. If you are looking at education from a business perspective, you will simply follow the opportunity, creating solutions for those who are buying. With the government’s view, money is limited and so spread very thin. Therefore, many EdTech startups do not focus on K12 solutions, because of the challenges in getting funding from the government to support it. This is why we see an increase in Thai EdTech startups that look more towards reskilling and upskilling. Dr Panachit Kittipanya-ngam shares that this is also because people are investing in their own continued education once they begin to work. Because education is considered more a ‘must-have’ and continuing education a self-investment, you see the EdTech react and favour this part of the sector.
Following on from looking at the education landscape today, the panel was then asked to look at what the most pressing issues seen in Thailand according to policy, school administration, teaching and learning. Furthermore, the panel then looked if any of this could be solved by technology. K.Panachit started the conversation by focusing on what can and cannot be predicted, looking at how the workforce can serve the country in five years time. The way we view and consume content will change and so that platforms that share the various content will change also. Traditional Schools versus non-traditional schools and the workplace will have a different preference for taking in information. It could be audio, gaming, a tv series or anther form. Technology is not about teaching and learning but should be with a focus on how to create a newly engaged workforce. We should be promoting how technology is being used in day to day life and mirror this in education.
K.Chonnikarn focused on the skills economy nowadays, where technology is both the enabler but also the ends. We find ourselves in a digital transformation, and the encompassing skills that are needed and considered most relevant are constantly evolving and training. Recent research by TDRI showed that the half like of IT skills is 5 years, which means that those in school 5 years ago learning IT skills, will now see half their skills be irrelevant. In addition, Thai education only brings 5000 graduates with IT skills, and in the next 11 years, the Thai ecosystem will see a shortage of skilled jobs reach one million. Technology in the future is vastly different from the technology we see today. It can enable for a more efficient way of working but we also need to better understand the technology itself and learn it more specifically, in order to be able to grow with it.
K.Nicha highlighted that K12 is where the biggest problem lies, and technology cannot solve it all. While Thailand is currently performing at the lower levels of the PISA ranking, it is not because they have the right tools, in fact, there are many students in Thailand who are achieving and performing at the same level as some of the best performing students around the world. Countries will be able to move up the PISA ranking by helping the student achieve more and better results. This doesn’t necessarily involve the best tech. For example, K.Nicha shared how she recently visited a school in remote Thailand. The teacher wanted to share her most innovative tech idea, a Lime group that connected the parents, student and teacher. The teacher would post homework in the group to the parents, to read one page of a book. The parent would inform the group that the task was completed, alongside a short video of their child reading. This then encouraged all the parents to the same. Within a couple of months, all the students could read. Simple technology, with no AI or machine learning, effectively excelled the achievements of the students. The approach to using technology needs to support human behaviour and what is right for the circumstance rather than following a particular trend or what other schools are using.
The final point shared follow on from this notion, discussing how education can improve in the next ten years. It would be challenging to see an improvement if the same approach was applied across education. Dr Panachit highlighted that we need to create a new way of learning. The remote schools in the countryside will not approach learning in the same way as schools in the cities, and so we need to stop a uniform approach to transforming education. As education does not need to look the same for every student, costs can be lowered by creating nimble and versatile solutions. Dr Chonnikarn concluded that we all need to think about education and life long learning differently, where learning is not a luxury but a right. Once we change the mindset to this, the necessary investment to achieve better education will follow.
