Your Excellency Dr. Edilberto De Jesus, Secretary of Education of the Philippines,
The Honorable Dr. Erlinda Pefianco, Director of SEAMEO INNOTECH,
The Honorable Senator Teresa Aquino Oreta,
Mr. Geoff Spring, Executive Consultant of the Department of Education, Science, and Training of Australia,
Distinguished Guests and Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like, first of all, to thank the Department of Education of the Philippines, and the SEAMEO INNOTECH, for having invited me to address the assembly of eminent educators from all over the world at the Eighth SEAMEO INNOTECH International Conference.

The main emphasis of the Conference this year is how education innovation and technology can be harnessed as a new tool to increase quality and equity in learning, paying special attention to reaching out to all learning communities. As Minister of Education and as President of the Council of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education, I see this topic as being serious and very pertinent indeed. I congratulate INNOTECH for its vision and for taking the initiative to organize an international exchange of experiences on this topic, as well as on a series of rich and related sub-themes.

All of us are aware that the world has become a knowledge society with networks of diverse learning communities in all localities. Several centuries ago, the invention of printing fundamentally changed the nature of learning and culture of the world. Now the revolutionary changes in ICT has begun its profound impacts on all aspects of human life, particularly in productivity, competition and growth, and education.

In the knowledge-driven societies, education has become a big boom. Learning communities of all sorts have emerged everywhere. Although schools with formal classrooms remain the dominant system in all countries, alternative learning communities have increasingly been recognized.

“Schools,” known all over the world as places where children go to be instructed by professionals, called “teachers,” are now faced with many demands and criticisms. How can we ensure that the school’s curriculum and activities are responsive to the learners’ needs, as well as the needs of the community, the nations, and the world? How can schools continue to stimulate the intellectual curiosity, and enhance the balanced emotional as well as the spiritual growth of the children? How can schools prepare the children and the youth for the rapidly changing world of work? These are some of the questions being posed to educators all over the world. In this respect, the Information and Communication Technology, with its tremendous potentials for borderless knowledge resources and interconnectedness, has been widely regarded as a significant new tool for the reform of teaching and learning processes in the schools as well as in the communities.

In Southeast Asia, ICT has also been recognized as a new enabler to increase quality and equity in education. Most governments in the SEAMEO region, have laid out impressive national ICT Policy and Strategy for Education. If I may be permitted to cite a few examples, Malaysia is obviously a very good case with her famous “Vision 2020” calling for sustained, productivity-driven growth, based on a technologically literate, and critical thinking workforce. As we all know, Malaysia’s policy in education has recently focused on the creation of “Smart Schools” which are being planned in stages nationally to meet the requirements of the Multimedia Super Corridor and to prepare for a “Smart Society”.

Singapore is another good example in SEAMEO for her policy in ICT development for education. I recently had the opportunity to visit Singapore and was invited to observe two schools as well as to see ICT being used in the classroom activities. I applaud Singapore’s advancement and noted that her development of ICT in education was supported by the community and the private sector to provide a broad base of access to ICT for the young Singaporeans, to enhance learning in and outside school.

Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand also viewed ICT as a tool for achieving the overall national objectives in social, political and economic development. As Dr. Arief Sadiman and the Honorable Senator Oreta are here, I will not presume to speak on behalf of Indonesia and the Philippines. In Thailand, at the policy level, the vast potential of ICT is fully recognized as a gateway to wider democratic participation, to increase wealth distribution, social benefit provision, and to enhance the quality of life for all. ICT for quality and equity in basic and life-long education is, in particular, perceived as imperative. Recently, a new Ministry for ICT has been created to spearhead the translation of the ICT visions of the government into reality, a coordinated mission cutting across all issues, all ministries and all sectors.

The new Ministry has set an initial goal of increasing ICT literacy of the Thai people to 60 percent and to reduce the internet user fee so that 80 percent of the Thai population will be able to use it without much difficulty.

The urgency in this policy and goal is obviously the preparation of peopleware, and this is my major concern and direct responsibility.

The Ministry of Education therefore emphasizes first and foremost, access to the training opportunities in the use of ICT for teachers, lecturers, and professors, as well as for school and college students. This aims at empowering all teaching-learning individuals for self-paced knowledge accessing and researching, as well as for interconnecting with peers and professionals.

Creating new technological learning centers for all is another emphasis in the Ministry of Education’s ICT initiatives. The plan is to link schools, colleges, universities and libraries electronically, and to provide an enriched learning environment, making distance resources accessible to the learners and teachers, at their own time and pace.

In terms of infrastructure and hardware, the goal of our Ministry is to introduce at least one computer per 80 primary school students, and one computer per 40 secondary school students in five years. Budget has also been earmarked for the acquisition of PC’s, modems, satellite receivers, telecommunication and multimedia equipment. The target for PC density of 1:20 in secondary schools and 1:40 in primary schools is set to be achieved.

The Ministry of Education of Thailand strongly recognizes that our ICT for education policy will probably not be fully effective unless a holistic and realistic approach is continuously maintained. In this connection, the following strategies are to be implemented to enhance ICT for education.

Value-added strategy.

As there are indications that the computer and network systems already invested have been under-utilized, and have the tendency to be short-lived, the following actions are emphasized

Technology Assisted Distance Learning

The services through the existing telecommunication networks, such as telephone, ISDN, satellite system, underwater cable system, and the cellular phone networks, are still not adequately available in remote areas where many schools and learning communities are located. The Thai Government therefore will continue to support the development of education radio and television for non-conventional schools and classes, and more radio frequencies will be provided for education.

The Distance Learning Programme of the Klaikangwon Palace School under the patronage of His Majesty the King of Thailand is particularly important. This Programme transmits courses for primary and secondary school levels, vocational training and other subjects including arts, science, and music from the classroom in Klaikangwon that are relayed via six Satellite TV Channels to all parts of Thailand, using special dishes and recorders. The services, operated 24 hours per day, can be viewed by UBC subscribers and can be downloaded using overnight video recorders for schools. Many non-formal learning communities and schools in remote areas with shortage of teachers are receiving the programme to enhance the equity and quality of their school education.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
As Minister of Education, I greatly appreciate ICT’s potential as effective retooling for the reform of education. However, I must confess that, personally, I rather have a leaning toward a more balanced and a more humanized approach to learning.

In the age of globalization, when social, economic, and cultural transformations are taking place in all parts of the world, and the lifestyles and behaviors of people are driven by new and powerful technologies, I feel that the human quality and the link with the natural and cultural environments need to be protected and further nourished.

The traditional forms of learning that had existed in many societies for centuries before the advent of modern education, were deeply rooted in inter-personal relationships and the shared values for cultural, social and spiritual processes of communities. Perhaps, in this globalization age, with its devastating and borderless problems of undiminished poverty, natural degradation, crime and violence, and drugs, it will be particularly important for children to learn to reconnect with nature and to strengthen the human and spiritual bond within the family and
the community.

Retooling the learning community therefore, if I may take the liberty to suggest, should not only emphasize ICT, but should stress equally, if not more, the face-to-face relationship learning, learning through exposure, exploration and discovery of wildlife, natural diversity, and the richness of the cultural, historical, and spiritual heritages of the community.

In the Thai National Education Act of 1999, such an emphasis is clearly given. Chapter 4 : “National Education Guidelines, from Section 22 through Section 30, specifies that the reform of teaching-learning processes should emphasize among other things, learner-centered education, learning in the classroom as well as informally, learning from the local wisdom and natural resources, and learning not only of knowledge, but about life skills and occupational skills, as well as moral and ethical values.

At this stage, I think it is appropriate to refer to the speech given by His Majesty the King of Thailand on the eve of his birthday last week. He said that we, in Thailand, have so many good things in our culture and in natural resources. If we could invest a little bit more to nurture, care, and improve upon our own resources and utilize them wisely and appropriately for all aspects of national development, we would not have to rely so much on foreign loans and importation.

In his particular speech, His Majesty the King was telling about a book he has just published and is now out of print, which gives an account of a family of hungry, stray dogs of a Thai breed, that he brought from the middle of a street in Bangkok, to his Palace. He patiently fed them, nurtured them and trained them in a caring and unstressful way, he particularly used the word “unstressful”, that is typical of a traditional Thai family. Now they are seen in photographs and in public, having grown up to become intelligent, skillful and loyal palace dogs, capable of performing many useful functions for the King.

Can we draw any messages from this story? As a dog-lover who has raised a few dogs of a Thai breed, and as Minister of Education, I received a message about the Thai education based on the Thai wisdom and values. The Thai traditions of learning is to provide a happy, caring, and nonstressful environment for learning, allowing each individual being to grow and develop to the best of his/her potentials. Indeed the loving-kindness or Metta of the teachers is a powerful tool, that can help transcend all learners, dogs as well as human beings. This is taught in Buddhism, for Kindness or Metta is the first of the four mental attributes that can elevate a person to the divined attainment of Promviharn.

While on the Subject of Thai traditions, I have a personal theory about some unique of Thai and Asian characteristics which have been admired by many foreigners. The important Thai characteristics, to my mind, are derived from the balance relationship between 3 elements in our society: the elders are kind and forgiving; the young are polite and obedient; the women are feminine and sweet. I often wonder whether our education is paying enough attention to the promotion of such basic qualities of the Thai people. Some modern Thai may even see
these qualities as being traits of weakness and submissiveness. But I think these are among other things the strong characteristics that have sustained the harmony of our nation for many centuries.

May I conclude by stating my belief that in all societies, there are many good things in the culture and the natural resources for the children to rediscover and explore. If we adopt the concept of an education that combines the learning of universal knowledge, new technology, scientific and natural discovery with the learning of traditional wisdom and human qualities, then our education will be “retooled”. Our education will thus provide a more balanced, relevance, quality and equity to the children in our society.

Thank you very much for your attention.