Education Minister Narong
Pipatanasai walks among the pre-college students who are now going
through a military-style “boot camp” to teach them discipline, morals
and ethics.
Patcharapol Panrak
Former Royal Thai Navy commander-in-chief Narong Pipatanasai was
back on familiar ground in Sattahip, this time as education minister, to
open the second military-style “boot camp” for pre-college students
aimed at teaching them discipline, morals and ethics.
Eighty-one students from Samut Prakan Technical College, Kanchanapisek
Samut Prakan Technical College and Samut Prakan Polytechnic College
attended the camp at the Navy Rating School, the second batch of
students set to attend their first year at the vocational schools.
The camp program was developed in the wake of a string of high-profile
brawls between vocational school students. The navy and the Office of
Vocational Education Commission jointly set up the two-phase program.
The first phase was a pilot training course, which ran last month, and
the second is the 26-day camp that runs from Nov 12 to Dec 7. In all, 97
students will have gone through the “boot camp.”
The goals are to adjust students’ attitudes and behavior; instill
discipline and unity; teach them to live creatively and with good social
skills; and to create self-worth and pride.
Narong said having people live together harmoniously is an important
goal of the government. He also noted that the labor market has a high
demand for vocational-school graduates.
Narong emphasized the “boot camp” is not to turn the students into
military personnel. But it is hoped that it will eliminate or greatly
reduce the fights that have grabbed headlines this year. There have been
so many brawls between warring colleges that Prime Minister Prayut
Chan-o-cha has threatened to close down colleges that don’t rein in
their students. Two schools have been closed for a month already.
Attending the camp is not punishment, as many presume, he said. It is to
fulfill what is missing in society and individuals so students can be
more complete.
