British University of Nottingham scholar commented that the academic quality of Thai students is as good as academic quality as all over the world. However, Thai students still lack of English language skills, suggesting that Thai universities should focus more on expose students to research.
The University of Nottingham is one of UK’s leading university with an international reputation of excellent engineering curriculum and strong links with a lot of different universities all over the world, including the Twinning Engineering Programmes” (TEP) & Thammasat English Programme of Engineering (TEPE), Thammasat University (TU), Rangsit campus. Both the education institutions are members of the Universitas 21 (U21). On the occasion of a collaborative program visit, Dr. Steve Pickering, Associate Professor and Reader, has noted on a ten-year cooperation saying that:
“The academic quality of Thai students is as good as academic quality as all over the world. We find that some of the top students of the program are from Thammasat University. So they compare very well. In my opinion Thai students are still weak in English communication because English language isn’t so strong in Thailand as in other countries. That’s what we concern about really.”
“For Thai students who want to study abroad, they must work hard. But of course, the most important they can understand English. They must expose to English while they are here in Thailand to prepare themselves before coming to the UK by getting the opportunity to visit to the UK in summer school. That would be good but we encourage them to talk as much as possible and listen to English television.”
“Education is kind of economic development. In the UK we are encouraging more students, more young people to go to university and if the country wants to develop well in the future, we need educated population. So, it's vital. If Thailand wants to become a leading country, you have to have educated people in university level. The important thing we can do it at Nottingham, because we are strong research university. In five years of the course we can expose students to related development and researches. I think that's important as well. So Thai university need to expose to the research activity. That will make them more employable and give them good quality. I think expose student to research makes engineering very important,” Dr. Steve Pickering further remarked.
“Therefore, any leading university wants to improve its position in the world need to focus on research as well as education teaching. And also, in the global economic today is dominated by English language. So it is important that all students in Thai universities have to expose to speaking English, because leading universities around the world committing the main communication,”
About Thammasat University’s TEP Project
The Twinning Engineering Programmes (TEP) was established in 1996 as a joint effort between the Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat University and the University of Nottingham, England. This programme has proved to be successful in developing well-trained engineers for Thai and international industries.
About University of Nottingham
Established in 1978, the University of Nottingham (NU)’s aim is to provide the finest possible environment for teaching, learning, and research.
The Thammasat-Nottingham Universities collaborative program consists of six engineering curriculums including:
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Industrial Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
For more information please contact: Project Communications Team;
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