NATIONAL EDUCATION ACT B.E (1999) AND AMENDMENTS B.E (2002) A GENERAL OVERVIEW

1.National Education Act B.E (1999) and Amendments B.E (2002) Section 6: Education shall aim at the full development of the Thai people in all aspects: physical and mental health; intellect; knowledge; morality; and desirable way of life so as to be able to live in harmony with other people.

1.National Education Act B.E (1999) and Amendments B.E (2002) Section 22: Education shall be based on the principle that all learners are capable of learning and self-development, and are regarded as being most important. The teaching-learning process shall aim at enabling the learners to develop themselves at their own pace and to the best of their potentiality.

Section 30: Educational institutions shall develop effective learning processes. In so doing, they shall also encourage instructors to carry out research for developing suitable learning for learners at different level of education. 1.National Education Act B.E (1999) and Amendments B.E (2002)

Section 47: There shall be a system of educational quality assurance to ensure improvement educational quality and standards at all levels. Such a system shall be composed of both internal and external quality assurance. The system, criteria, and methods for quality assurance shall be as stipulated in the ministerial regulations. 1.National Education Act B.E (1999) and Amendments B.E (2002)

Section 48: Parent organizations with jurisdiction over educational institutions and the institutions themselves shall establish a quality assurance system in the institutions. Internal quality assurance (IQA) shall be regarded as part of educational administration which must be a continuous process. This requires preparation of annual reports to be submitted to parent organizations, agencies concerned and made available to the public for purposes of improving the educational quality and standards and providing the basis for external quality assurance (EQA). 1.National Education Act B.E (1999) and Amendments B.E (2002)

Section 49: An Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA) shall be established as a public organization, responsible for development of criteria and methods of external evaluation, conducting evaluation of educational achievements in order to assess the quality of institutions, bearing in mind the objectives and principles and guidelines for each level of education as stipulated in this Act. All educational institutions shall receive external quality evaluation at least once every 5 years since the last exercise and the results of the evaluation shall be submitted to the relevant agencies and made available to the general public. 1.National Education Act B.E (1999) and Amendments B.E (2002)

The Office of Higher Education Commission issued the second Long-Range Plan for Higher Education in This plan is based on the belief that “Education is the heart of national development.” It puts an emphasis on “unity in policy and diversity in practice.” 2.OHEC’s 2 nd Long-Range Plan for Higher Education B.E ( )

According to this long-range plan, the educational institutions are classified into 4 main groups as follows: A.Community colleges. These institutions put an emphasis on producing graduates with secondary certificates. B.Bachelor-Focused Institutions. Assumption University belongs to this group. 2.OHEC’s 2 nd Long-Range Plan for Higher Education B.E ( )

C. Specialized institutions. This group is divided into two as follows:  C-1: Emphasis on graduate studies  C-2: Emphasis on undergraduate programs D.Research-focused institutions. This group puts an emphasis on researches and graduate studies especially Ph.D. programs. These institutions include Chulalongkorn University, Khonkaen University, Mahidol University, Kasetsart University, Chiangmai University, Thammasat University, Prince of Songkla University, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Suranaree University of Technology. 2.OHEC’s 2 nd Long-Range Plan for Higher Education B.E ( )

The Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion has no undergraduate students, and it puts an emphasis on graduate studies. Therefore, the Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion considers itself as belonging to Group D. 2.OHEC’s 2 nd Long-Range Plan for Higher Education B.E ( )

3.Under the Act and the Ministerial Regulations B. E (2010) Under the Act and the Ministerial Regulations 2553 (2010) internal quality assurance (IQA) is the responsibility of two parties, i.e., Office of Higher Education Commission (OHEC) and higher education institutions (HEIs).

3.Under the Act and the Ministerial Regulations B. E (2010) OHEC 1) Introduce policies and guidelines for assessment exercise starting from Program, Department, Faculty to Institutional levels. 2) Develop a set of compulsory indicators (mainly input and process indicators) and criteria of assessment, so that HEIs can use to assess themselves in all dimensions of educational administration. 3) Use internal assessment results as part of the accrediting system for private HEIs. 4) Introduce a system for OHEC/Parent organizations to monitor and audit HEIs according to their improvement plans once every 3 years.

HEIs 1)Develop their own IQA systems and implementation directions according to policies and guidelines provided by OHEC. 2)Adopt additional indicators and criteria, apart from those of OHEC and ONESQA (all ONESQA indicators are output/outcome indicators), to suit their own visions and environments. 3)Assess themselves and submit SARs to OHEC via CHE QA Online system at the end of every academic year. 3.Under the Act and the Ministerial Regulations B. E (2010)

4.National Education Standards B.E (2004) According to the Office of the Education Council three national education standards are included as follows: Standard 1: Desirable Characteristics of Thai People as State and Global Citizens: Thai people are competent ( เก่ง ), good ( ดี ), and happy ( มีความสุข ).

4.National Education Standards B.E (2004) Standard 2: Educational Administration Approach: Learner-centered approach and institution-based administration are adopted. Standard 3: Establishment of Learning/Knowledge-based Society: Learning, knowledge, innovation, media, and technology are essential factors for establishing learning/knowledge-based society.

5.Higher Education Standards B.E (2006) Higher education standards, according to OHEC, are composed of three standards: Standard 1: Quality of Graduates: Knowledge, Virtue, Good health

5.Higher Education Standards B.E (2006) Standard 2: Higher Education Administration A.Good Governance and Higher Education Administration 1)Human resource management 2)Resource management, IT, and communication 3)QA system B.Mission of Higher Education Administration 1)Teaching/learning 2)Research 3)Academic services 4)Promotion of arts, culture, and local wisdom

Standard 3: Establishment and Development of Learning/ Knowledge-based society: 1)In quest of, construction and application of knowledge 2)Knowledge management 5.Higher Education Standards B.E (2006)

6.Higher Education Institution Standards B. E (2008) 1. Higher education institution standards, according to OHEC, are composed of two standards:  Standard 1: Potentiality and Readiness in Educational Administration This standard is composed of 4 domains: 1)Physical 2)Academic 3)Financial 4)Administrative

6.Higher Education Institution Standards B. E (2008)  Standard 2: Carrying out the Mission of Higher Education Institutions This standard is also composed of 4 domains: 1)Producing graduates 2)Conducting researches 3)Providing academic services to the public 4)Promoting Thai arts and culture

2. Types or groups of higher education institutions are divided into 4 groups: 1. Community colleges 2. Bachelor-focused institutions 3. Specialized institutions 4. Research-focused institutions 6.Higher Education Institution Standards B. E (2008)

7.Thai Qualification Framework for Higher Education B.E (2009) Thai qualification standards must include at least five domains: 1)Morals and ethics 2)Knowledge 3)Cognitive skills 4)Interpersonal skills and responsibility 5)Numerical analysis skills, communication and IT literacy