Unleashing the potential

The YouthSpark initiative aims to foster future Thai innovators and boost entrepreneurship

The opportunity divide is more oppressive than the digital divide. While information technology is believed to be able to empower young people, its real benefits can only be achieved when it also unleashes future innovators and increases employability.

Young people face unemployment as their capabilities are incompatible with the demands of the job market, according to Siriporn Pajharawat, Microsoft (Thailand) director of Developer & Platform Strategy.

Citing the Quality Learning Foundation (QLF), Siriporn said that 6.4 million youths in Thailand lacked proper education and this is the crux of the opportunity divide that stems from missing skills, lack of experience and connections to employment.

Microsoft last year introduced YouthSpark, a global initiative designed to tackle the opportunity gap by creating openings for 300 million young people over the next three years. There are currently 14.3 million Thais aged 16-30 and that demographic is expected to grow. The programme’s approach is to empower youths by expanding digital inclusion; to foster future innovators by giving youths the inspiration and necessary tools; and to boost employability and entrepreneurship. Microsoft is working with the government and NGOs as well as the business sector to promote Thai youths’ access to education and technology through the “Innovate for Good”, “THE YES” and “Give For Youth” programmes.

Through the “Give For Youth” scheme, Microsoft is working with the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) to provide technology for youths in upcountry areas. PDA chairman Mechai Viravaidya noted that at present, 30% of young people who are educated are able to find jobs, while the remaining 70% are self-employed. Yet he pointed out that the students with the lowest O-Net results scored less than 50% in all four subjects.

“It’s a total failure of the Thai education system and it must encourage a change in our education institutes,” he said.

Mechai Pattana School, run by the Mechai Foundation, has become a development centre for students, parents and members of disadvantaged communities. A website called chumchon.net has created opportunities and channels of ICT usage in order to eliminate poverty in rural areas by setting up a satellite centre for 30 communities around the school in 30 villages in Buri Ram and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces in the Northeast.

The centre is managed by trained youths and has an IT committee consisting of villagers. Teenagers who have received training in turn become trainers for students in other rural schools.

Students are given opportunities to sit on the school’s administrative council and to learn by experience, such as spending time in a wheelchair to feel what it’s like to be a disabled student.

They also run a “poverty-free” farm where each team take cares of 1 rai, growing out of season lemons and mushrooms _ so far they have generated an annual income of 72,000 baht.

Co-organised with the National Council for Children and Youth Development (NCYD) under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the “Innovate for Good” scheme enables youths to collaborate, inspire and support one another while using technology to make a difference to their communities.

Srisak Thaiarry, executive director of the NCYD, said the council is also involved in “Tech Training to Help Extend Youth Empowerment Space” (THE YES) programme under which some 1,200 rural and disadvantaged Thai youths will be trained this year. As well as using online tools for accessing information, they have to share the knowledge for the benefit of their communities and this will lead to a greater number of youths taking part.

So far youths from Chiang Rai, Phuket, Phangnga, Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram, Saraburi, Roi Et and Phayao provinces have taken part in the scheme.

“Not only in Thailand, but over next two years, when the AEC [Asean Economic Community] becomes effective, Thai youths must be able to stay at the forefront, especially in ICT,” Srisak said, adding that ICT is one of the key areas in Asean’s human resources development plan, along with science, education, language and jobs. “If we can develop ICT, other areas will follow.”

As the chairman of the Committee for Asean Youth Cooperation, Srisak said that the members of Asean+3 have agreed to hold the “Child and Youth Friendly Asean” contest. Each country will organise contests in two categories: below 15, and 15 and older. Contestants have to create a video clip on the theme of “child and youth friendly Asean” and the winning team will enter the Voice of Asean Children and Youth regional contest at the end of this year.

12 firms keen to join One Tablet bid

At least a dozen bidders have expressed interest in supplying 1.63 million tablets to the government under the second phase of the state’s One Tablet Per Child project.

Final terms of reference are expected to be posted on the government’s website by mid-May.

An electronic auction to procure the 1.63 million tablets, worth 4.61 billion baht, is set to take place next month, according to the Office of the Basic Education Commission.

Local bidders include Songkhla Finishing, Supreme Computer, SVOA, Samart Corporation and Forth Corporation, which makes its own 7-inch tablet.

The Chinese bidders are Huawei, Haier, ZTE and Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development, the winner in the project’s first phase.

A source from the One Tablet Per Child procurement committee said the specification of tablets given to Mathayom 1 students is being upgraded with a 4,000 milliamp-hour battery, up from 3,600 mAh earlier.

The first batch of tablets, or 25% of the total, must be delivered within 35 days after contracts are signed, the source said. All tablets must be delivered within 90 days.

Qualified bidders must have experience in government projects worth at least 100 million baht.

The source said the single-day auction will invite bids for eight contracts in all four regions of the country.

A bidder can win more than one contract.

The first region covers the central and southern provinces with 431,105 tablets for Prathom 1 students.

The second region covers the North and Northeast with 373,637 tablets for Prathom 1 students.

The third region covers the central and southern areas with 426,683 tablets for Mathayom 1 students.

The fourth zone covers the North and Northeast with 402,889 tablets for Mathayom 1 students.

An industry source predicts Chinese tablet makers to win the auction, citing their lower product prices.

The source also expressed concern about poor Chinese product quality and resulting electronic waste problems.

Getting more women connected to ICTs ‘critical’ to post-2015 development agenda: UN Broadband Commission

Commissioners attending the seventh meeting of the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development, held 16-17 March 2013 in Mexico City, endorsed the Report entitled “Technology, Broadband and Education: Advancing the Education for All Agenda” and set an ambitious new target to spur women’s access to information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Coordinated by UNESCO, the Report emphasizes the importance of broadband as a means of accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education and the Education for All goals. Less than three years away from the target date for achieving these goals, 61 million children of primary-school age, and a further 71 million of lower secondary-school age, are not in school. In addition, close to 793 million adults – 64% of them women – lack literacy skills, with the lowest rates in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia.

“Education is a human right that strengthens the dignity and capacities of women and men — it is also a motor for the sustainable development of societies as a whole” emphasized UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, in presenting the Report to the Commission. “We must make the most of every accelerator towards 2015, and we know broadband technology is one key accelerator, leading a revolution in how we communicate, live and learn”.

At the meeting the Director-General also welcomed the adoption by the Commission of a new advocacy target “to ensure gender equality in broadband access by 2020”. According to data presented at the meeting, the difference in use of Internet between men and women is about 25%. This reaches 45% in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Broadband can empower women by connecting them to a wide range of resources — to learn, to improve health, to engage in income-generating activities and to create content,” the Director General emphasized. “We often speak of the digital divide – this masks also a gender divide.” Gender equality is one of two cross-cutting priorities of UNESCO and the adopted advocacy target will serve a reference on Organization’s work.

The meeting of over 30 Commission members and their representatives endorsed the target proposed by the Gender Working Group, requested that members of that group implement a project ‘dashboard’ to track gender and technology initiatives worldwide, and mandated the group to deliver its first set of outcomes to the next meeting of the Commission in September in New York.

Photos of the full meeting of the Commission can be viewed and downloaded from Flickr at: bit.ly/K5rJsS

The full version of “Technology, Broadband and Education: Advancing the Education for All Agenda” can be downloaded at:www.broadbandcommission.org/work/working-groups/education/BD_bbcomm-education_2013.pdf

For more information on the Broadband Commission, visit:www.broadbandcommission.org

Follow the Broadband Commission on Facebook:www.facebook.com/broadbandcommission

THAI AIR FORCE AND ICT MINISTRY COLLABORATE ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT

The Ministry of ICT and Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF), Thailand have announced a new collaboration and transfer of knowledge programme under a single umbrella as part of its disaster management preparation and plan.

MICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap presided over anMOU signing ceremony between the RTAF and MICT, which involved the state telcos, TOT and CAT Telecom, the Electronic Government Agency (EGA), the RTAF’s Directorate of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), and the Royal Thai Air Force Academy (RTAFA).

The collaboration is aimed at leveraging ICT network readiness for disaster management. Both agencies will dedicate human resources, facilities, and relevant equipment to set up communities’ ICT Learning Centre and a Wi-Fi network in the RTAF premises. The relevant agencies in the MOU will foster study and research on the use of ICT and space technology, as well as to partner on cybersecurity related issues.

“This collaboration will show the government’s determination to integrate resources and effort in fostering the effective use of ICT for the benefit of the citizens,” said Gp Captain Nakornthap.

According to the MOU, the DICT and RTAF will share facilities and equipment and a state-of-the-art radar system currently in production. In case of a disaster, the RTAF will allow the use of the airfield, enabling the use of video down-link systems, and help broadcast warnings from the National Disaster Warning Centre and the Meteorological Department — the two agencies under the MICT — via the RTAF’s communication network.

In return, the MICT will equip the RTAF with satellite images, GIS data, and the use of government’s satellite network as a back-up for the RTAF in rescue and rehabilitation activities during the disaster.

TOT and CAT Telecom will allow the RTAF to leverage their network infrastructure outside the RTAF’s coverage to facilitate the video down-link system. The two telcos will also provide the RTAF with leased line service and backup data centre at a reduced rate.

The EGA will connect the RTAF with its Government Information Network (GIN) both for theRTAF’s headquarters in Bangkok and its branches in the countryside. The EGA will also provide other services it has to the RTAF.

The social element to shopping online

Social shopping is surging globally, and Thailand and Southeast Asia are at the forefront of the trend.

The phenomenon of recommending products on social media, and other ways of using technology to share shopping ideas and advice, is a powerful force in retail and is forcing big business to take notice.

Rakuten, the world’s third-largest e-commerce marketplace and owner of the Thai site tarad.com, has released insights from their E-commerce Index, an independent global survey into shopping trends.

The E-commerce Index shows that consumer interest in social shopping is up around the world, with almost half of consumers (45%) actively recommending products on social media sites. Southeast Asian nations led the way in social shopping with those in Thailand (65%), Malaysia (67%) and Indonesia (78%) the most likely among the countries surveyed to share their recommendations.

However, despite the strong sharing habits, people in these countries were spending less on average than everywhere else surveyed, at less than US$300 (8,700 baht) per person. The research found that the average amount spent across all markets was US$725 per person last year.

There was a huge gap between countries, with the UK leading the way spending an average of US$1,700, while at the other end of the spectrum Thais only spent an average of US$243 per person last year.

Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, managing director and founder of Rakuten’s tarad.com, noted that the site’s traffic from social networks has grown nearly 200% in the past 12 months.

Social media is set to become increasingly important to consumer culture in the coming years. Research firm Gartner predicted earlier this year that 50% of information on new customers will be based on social network identities by the end of 2015, which is up from less than 5% today.

”As an industry we need to build consumer confidence in social shopping platforms, as well as allowing shoppers to easily share content through these channels,” Pawoot said.

Indonesians continue to be the most mobile shoppers, with 14% of consumers reporting that they mostly shop online using a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device. Thai shoppers are close behind with 12% regularly using a mobile device to make online purchases. Top Western markets were the UK (12%), the US (10%), and Spain (9%).

Austria (46%) and Germany (46%) lead the way in preferring to stick with the bricks-and-mortar experience. However, the survey also found that consumers in Brazil and Taiwan prefer the shopping experience online to in-store, while almost one in five Thai consumers recorded the same preference.

Pawoot added that whether online, on mobile, or in-store, consumers are coming to expect a high level of customer services and uniform brand experience across all available channels.

”It’s no longer enough to merely have a website that complements your brick-and-mortar presence, they must ensure that they are offering shoppers all the information they require through their website or mobile offering as well,” he said.

Evaluation meeting on the Facilitating Effective ICT-Pedagogy Integration Project

From 2010-2012, UNESCO Bangkok implemented the “Facilitating Effective ICT-Pedagogy Integration Project” to create an enabling environment for facilitating students’ direct and effective use of ICT. A host of activities on capacity building, policy advocacy, supporting national efforts and knowledge sharing were carried out in the last three years with support from the Korean Funds in Trust (KFIT), Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of the Republic of Korea.

The Project involved stakeholders who share the common goal of advocating and facilitating the pedagogical use of ICT to enhance student-centered learning. It looked into piloting and demonstrating an institutional strategy for facilitating students’ use of ICTs by designing and facilitating student-centred ICT-supported activities, building capacity of teachers on ICT-pedagogy integration, and advocating the development of a whole-school support strategy on integrating ICT in Education.

The Project officially closed in March 2013. Prior to this, an Evaluation Meeting was convened from 18-19 March 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand to take stock of the overall project implementation, challenges and achievements; collect feedback and evidences; evaluate the impact of the activities to teachers and teacher educators; analyze data towards formulating constructive feedback; validate lessons learnt and good practices and synthesize the project’s overall contribution to ICT-supported student-centred learning in Asia-Pacific region.

Represented in the meeting were teacher education institutions and champion teachers from Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, UNESCO field offices (Uzbekistan via teleconference) and national institutions involved in the project. The meeting served as a platform to share multidimensional reflections on the project’s lessons learnt, challenges, activity-based interventions, findings from monitoring and evaluation activities by TEIs and sustainability plans. Teachers trained under the project were also given the opportunity to share their actual experiences in designing and implementing project-based learning (PBL) activities and exploiting telecollaboration or the use of technology-supported collaboration tools and applications to extend the classroom using PBL approaches. A reflection report from Vietnam was also shared during the meeting.

UNESCO Bangkok Director Gwang-Jo Kim in his opening message emphasized UNESCO’s efforts to engage education stakeholders in shaping education agenda beyond 2015, particularly since the process calls for quality and efficacy of education system in the context of learning outcomes. ICT, according to him, has the potential to deliver the new set of measurable skills demanded in the world of work once it is ingrained in the pedagogy. This is consistent to what the UNESCO project tried to model in the past three years of implementation. Mr. Kim underscored that the Project’s evaluation would be important to assess the Project’s scalability and sustainability. Once the outcomes proved beneficial, he said, the Project should be able to convince partners to support similar student-centred initiatives in the region on a wider scale.

The meeting was led by the four-member Evaluation Committee from Australia, Malaysia, UK and the Philippines. The meeting evaluated the activities within the project framework and interventions made based on reports from the TEIs, teachers and the Project Team. The evaluators validated the lessons learnt particularly from each of the PBL project and related activities. At the end of the meeting, the Evaluation Committee shared the set of findings and recommendations in the areas of policy, PBL concept, content, partnership and school-level indicators that are intended to serve as guideposts for designing future student-centred activities and for scaling up some of the components of the KFIT Project.

Noted as best practices of the Project are the activities carefully designed and regularly monitored; timely modifications in both content and delivery of those activities addressed some challenges met in the course of implementation. The “pedagogy first” approach where pedagogy was placed ahead of ICT in all training was another remarkable best practice highlighted. Partnerships with TEIs to address training customization according to teacher requirements and the establishment of local partnerships between TEIs and teachers also received high commendations from the Evaluation Committee.

Moreover, strong points of the Project’s capacity building component include (1) focus on PBL that employs powerful form of learning, (2) ICT use with PBL that makes it pervasive and (3) PBL link with tele-collaboration for modeling synergy between TEIs and a network of teachers and cementing their relationship.

In conclusion, the Evaluation Committee found the Project highly successful in terms of meeting its objectives, evidenced by the high satisfaction ratings generated from activities with focus on relevance, usefulness, level of interest drawn among teachers, and degree of new insights gained. The meeting also served as UNESCO’s platform for conveying the Project Team’s appreciation to all project stakeholders and partners for the cooperation extended.

A consolidated report drawn from the capacity building workshops, international meetings and fund mobilization for national project implementations was prepared by the ICT in Education Programme of UNESCO Bangkok and is available here.

BETTER LEARNING WITH WEB 2.0 AND VIRTUAL WORLDS

In a visit to Ngee Ann Secondary School yesterday (22 July), FutureGov found students deeply engaged in learning. Students were strolling down corridors of 3D virtual art galleries or were chatting away with William Shakespeare. These were two of many other initiatives aimed at making the school a pace setter and leader for the innovative use of technology in teaching and learning.

“We are focused on leveraging emerging technologies to help engage students,” said Head of Department (ICT) Steven Wong. “The 3D virtual world of Second Life was used to create an online art gallery with works contributed by partner schools in other countries.” Wong, with the help of an ‘ICT Think Tank’ committee (pictured), champions innovation among 85 teachers and 1500 students. Ngee Ann is recognised as a trailblazer among 90 schools in the east of Singapore.

The pilot project in 2008 with three Secondary Two classes proved to be very successful. Using avatars, students could appreciate art pieces at their own pace, post comments, and even walk into 3D art pieces.

“We can decide what our individual avatars wear, and fly around the gallery! It is not as intimidating to express what we think of the pieces, which makes it much easier for our classmates who are shy,” said Francoise Ying and Isabel Tan, both Secondary Three students.

Teacher Gloria Tan was not expecting to bring up students’ grades when she started this project. She has however observed qualitative improvement in the interest of her class. “Students, who previously had problems giving just one or two lines of response when asked to comment on a piece, are now more engaged and expressive. Most of them have never been to a gallery and the Second Life virtual gallery has sparked interest in many students to visit one in the real world,” she added. Secondary Three student Natasha Emir is one such student who convinced her parents to take her to the Singapore Art Museum after taking Tan’s class.

Bandwidth was a challenge when the project first started, according to Alvin Tan, Senior Teacher, Educational Technology. “Two students had to share a computer initially as we only had the bandwidth for 20 computers to run Second Life at one time. Once we saw how successful the virtual world was in getting the interest of students, we did not hesitate to invest in faster internet connection,” he commented.

Since the completion of the 2008 pilot run, the initiative was expanded to all Secondary Two classes. In order to set up a private island on Second Life, Ngee Ann invested a one-time set up fee of US$800 and recurring fee of US$750 every six months. This project received the Bronze Award in the Research and Development category of the IMS Global Learning Impact Awards this year.

“Another project which made big improvement in helping students learn is a self-directed learning tool on Microsoft’s MSN Messenger platform,” Wong continued. William Shakespeare is brought back to life through a virtual character, with whom students interact.

Rachel Poh, Teacher (English Language), observed that many students found it difficult to identify with and relate to the Elizabethan world. “In the first two lessons, we gently introduce this new culture and language through the virtual character who chats on the modern and familiar MSN platform. Students now think that Shakespeare is ‘cool’ and agree that English Literature is becoming easier,” she added. Students even posted on Facebook that they went to the library to borrow more books on Shakespeare.

“We believe in a ‘High Tech, High Touch’ approach – teachers must be supported if they need to use IT. Any new technology project must be pedagogically sound. If students can learn something perfectly well without the use of IT, you do not need to change anything. So we are finding opportunity gaps where IT can make a significant difference in the effectiveness of teaching,” concluded Wong, who manages an annual IT budget of over S$200,000 (US$ 145,708).

Source:http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2010/jul/24/better-learning-web-20-and-virtual-worlds/

Education Beyond 2015: Collective Voices from Asia-Pacific

Education in the post-2015 development agenda should guarantee equitable opportunities for all to participate in transformative quality learning. It should provide knowledge, skills, competencies and values for decent life and work, and inclusive and sustainable development.

These key aspects were concluded from the two-day Asia-Pacific regional thematic consultation on education in the post-2015 development agenda (28 February – 1 March 2013, Bangkok) which was organized by UNESCO Bangkok, UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific (EAPRO), and UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA).

Over 120 representatives from governments, non-governmental organizations (international, regional, national and local), universities and academia, teachers’ unions, organizations representing persons with disabilities, and youth organizations from across the Asia-Pacific discussed the future of education in the post-2015 development agenda in the regional consultation.

This regional consultation was undertaken within the framework of a global process which aims at fostering a broad-based, open and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders to review the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All Goals, to define the post-2015 development agenda and to strengthen global commitment towards human development and poverty reduction. The consultation built on two regional high-level expert meetings which were organized by UNESCO Bangkok in May 2012 andNovember 2012 around the themes on education for the future and the post-2015 development agenda.

“As 2015 nears, discussions on the post-2015 development agenda are intensifying across the globe. These discussions will lead us to a common vision for ‘The World We Want beyond 2015.’ In this context, the regional consultation is to develop recommendations for the future of education, particularly from an Asia-Pacific perspective,” UNESCO Bangkok Director Mr Gwang-Jo Kim said, acknowledging the importance of the regional consultation.

The regional consultation was convened to develop a collective voice from the Asia-Pacific region regarding education priorities for a post-2015 development agenda. As an immediate result, it contributed to the debate of the global meeting of the thematic consultation on education which took place in Dakar, Senegal in mid-March 2013. The outcomes and recommendations of the regional consultation will also feed into further discussions within the UN towards developing the possible contours of the post-2015 development agenda.

UNICEF ROSA Regional Education Advisor, Lieke Van De Wiel, also commended the spirit in which the regional consultation took place and thanked participants for their active engagement.

“This consultation is a most important opportunity to present a regional perspective on the future of education, one which may carry forward into global level discussions on a global development agenda beyond 2015,” Ms Van De Wiel said.

The meeting identified main messages as a collective voice from the region on education for the future and in the post-2015 development agenda, which include:

♦  Key principles/considerations of education for the future

•  A future education agenda must be underpinned by the key principles of education as a basic human right for every people and a public good for any society, and also a condition for human fulfillment, sustainable development, peace and democracy and a vehicle for global citizenship.

•  Education beyond 2015 must take into consideration the overall context of rapid economic development and societal change and the implications of these trends for education.

♦  Quality learning is at the centre of policy discourses at national and global levels

•  Relevant and quality learning should be one of the core constructs for future education policy priorities and development agenda.

•  Quality teachers are central to quality learning, right from the early childhood stage and onwards.

•  The future education agenda should encourage a systems approach to quality learning. Improved learning requires a more holistic attention to sustainable development, cultural diversity, human rights education, use of local languages, learning of other languages, including international ones, and traditional knowledge. Responsible and global citizenship should become an important theme for education in the post-2015 development agenda.

♦  Quality with equity is a must, not a trade-off

•  Equitable and inclusive access to quality learning should be ensured for all (children, youth and adults), at all levels of education according to country contexts and priorities, including early childhood care and education (ECCE), technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education. Education in the post-2015 agenda must therefore go beyond primary education.

•  Sharper focus on equity is required to address persisting disparities in access and participation in learning.

♦  There is an increased relevance of transversal skills and specialized skills

•  Education systems must be strengthened to equip young people with a new set of skills and competencies required to function in a connected and constantly changing world.

•  Education systems for the future should train learners to be innovative, able to adapt to and assimilate change and be able to continue learning.

•  Education for the future has to go beyond academic achievements and cognitive skills to include ‘transversal’, ‘non-cognitive’ or ‘21st century’ skills competencies.

•  The need for people (youth, adults, and especially women and persons with disabilities) to acquire relevant technical and vocational skills combined with necessary transversal skills for a decent life and work in a rapidly changing world should be fully reflected in the post-2015 development agenda.

♦  Lifelong learning is a key guiding principle for education

•  Lifelong learning requires the provision of multiple learning pathways, multiple entry points and re-entry points at all ages and at all educational levels.

•  The potential and innovative use of new technologies by teachers and students to support lifelong and life-wide learning should also be fully tapped.

•  Those who missed out formal schooling and lack foundation skills such as basic literacy and numeracy should be given special attention in the post-2015 development agenda. While there should be a strong effort to bring back these groups back to school, alternative pathways to quality learning should be supported and recognized.

♦ Responsible and participatory governance and appropriate legal/budget arrangements are important

•  Responsible and participatory governance is required to strengthen transparent and accountable education system, to reduce and eventually eliminate corruption, malpractice, inequalities in access to quality learning and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policy implementation.

•  Legal arrangements and ethical standards should be established to strengthen the commitments of governments and enforce their implementation in terms of allocating appropriate budget for education.

In addition to the above main messages, participants also made recommendations for possible scenarios and options on how to best articulate and position education in a post-2015 development agenda. These include:

•  Education should feature prominently in the post-2015 development agenda given its direct relevance to the achievement of all the other development goals.

•  There should be an education-specific agenda which should be in convergence with the education goal in the post-2015 development agenda.

•  The post-2015 development agenda on education should be guided by an overall vision and underlying principles of equity, human rights and sustainability. Quality learning for all should be an overarching, universally relevant goal, with possibility of flexible adaptation in terms of target setting at national and local levels.

The detailed outcome document of the regional consultation is available here.

For more information about the regional consultation, please visit Education Beyond 2015 on the UNESCO Bangkok’s website or contact Margarete Sachs-Israel [m.sachs-israel(at)unesco.org], Team Leader, Education Research and Foresight Programme, Education Policy and Reform Unit.

Thaicom speeds up satellite plan

Thaicom Plc, the country’s sole satellite service provider, is accelerating plans to launch Thaicom 8 by early 2016 to keep up with the exponential growth of the full digital industry.

Suphajee: Thaicom expects good growth

The planned 440-transponder broadband satellite, also known as iPSTAR 2, will cost about US$200 million and be positioned in the orbital slot at 119.5 degrees, said chief executive Suphajee Suthumpun.

“Our feasibility plan involving satellite categories and investment options for iPSTAR 2 will be completed by June, with the planned launch of the new satellite in the next three years,” she said.

Ms Suphajee said the accelerated move is to accommodate the greater use of iPSTAR 1, which has reached half of its capacity after the company signed a contract with China Telecom’s satellite unit.

Thaicom last week reached a framework agreement with China Telecom Satellite and Synertone Communication Corporation to proceed with the sale of iPSTAR bandwidth in China.

The use of iPSTAR in China alone accounts for 24% of its capacity.

The iPSTAR 2 satellite is also aimed at serving an anticipated exponential increase in local broadband bandwidth consumption, Ms Suphajee said.

Thaicom is also moving ahead with its plan to build two more satellites.

It expects to seal a deal to sell iPSTAR bandwidth in India in March, accounting for 10% of its capacity.

“To further boost iPSTAR utilisation, we are moving to expand into Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar this year,” she said, adding that it is focusing on corporate and enterprise users.

Thaicom is also preparing to launch its Thaicom 6 telecommunications satellite, worth $160 million, by the middle of this year.

“The commercial satellite has been already booked up to 40% of its capacity, reaching its utilisation goal or the breakeven point,” Ms Suphajee said.

The company also plans to launch broadcast satellite Thaicom 9, to be positioned at 50.5 degrees east, to reserve the country’s orbital slot, which expired last November. It plans to expand its footprint in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Thaicom attained profitability in the final quarter of 2011 after facing losses for several years. Thaicom’s concession is due to expire in 2021. The company has been in operation for 22 years.

Thaicom operates only two satellites _ Thaicom 4 (iPSTAR) and Thaicom 5. Thaicom 4, 5 and 6 are under concessions from the Information and Communication Technology Ministry.

Ms Suphajee said Thailand’s telecom and broadcast revolutions are being driven towards a paradigm shift to a “technology convergence” era, which means broadband and broadcast can now support all forms of communications on different networks.

She said Thaicom expects to see healthy growth this year in tandem with positive growth in the country’s broadband demand, thanks to the government’s policy of free public WiFi and the One Tablet per Child scheme.

Up to 60% of revenue will come from satellite services this year.

The company has sold its loss-making mobile unit in Cambodia.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/329897/thaicom-speeds-up-satellite-plan

News from the Bangkok Post

NBTC feels the heat on 3G contract

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) admitted it is in the “hot seat” to rule definitively on the controversial third-generation (3G) network contract between True Corporation and CAT Telecom.

The watchdog’s telecom committee fears that if it concludes the contract breaches the law, True’s 3G network operation must be immediately suspended because it is running without a licence.

In addition, the NBTC would face possible legal backlash from similar previously ignored deals: TOT’s 3G contract and CAT’s fibre-optic leasing contract.

Section 79 of the Telecommunications Business Act of 2010 stipulates the NBTC cannot ignore rules that require their authority and must decide all relevant cases using the same rule.

Jesada Sivaraks, secretary to the NBTC’s telecom committee chairman, conceded the committee did not raise the True-CAT issue at its meeting yesterday as initially planned.

NBTC’s fact-finding panel decided earlier that BFKT (Thailand), a unit of True subsidiary Real Future that signed an agreement with CAT, violated Section 67 of the Telecommunications Business Act by running a business without a licence.

The company constructed a 3G base station and leased the equipment to CAT.

Mr Jesada mentioned the BFKT contract was similar to two past cases: TOT’s 3G service operated by its subsidiary ACT Mobile without a licence; and CAT’s fibre-optic leasing contract, which was found not to have passed through the state’s proper procurement procedures.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/330093/nbtc-feels-the-heat-on-3g-contract

News from the Bangkok Post