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Introduction
For some years now, Thailand has developed cooperative education programmes. In that sense, Thailand
has followed the worldwide mainstream that has put emphasis on co-op to develop graduates with desirable work
competencies. As presented, since 2006, the Thai Ministry of Education (MOE), with the Higher Education
Commission (HEC), has put a clear emphasis on co-op programmes in universities.
Co-op is now everywhere in Thailand, from the Faculty of Engineering to the Faculty of Education or
Agriculture and even Political Science, and it is hoped that these programmes will enhance students’
employability and help the country be efficient by promoting links between universities and the outer world.
This paper is based on interviews conducted in March 2009 among people involved in co-op
programmes in Thailand. The objective was to assess to what extent co-op programmes have been implemented
by universities, especially in quality control, IT and human resources fields, and how it has impacted on students’
training and university-company interaction. We chose a qualitative approach for that research project in order to
have a clear view of context and personal experiences. The point was not to generalise the findings we made, but
more to give indication on what is going on in the field. Our approach and methodology was therefore different
from the one developed by Walailuk University in a report they wrote.
The Centre of Co-operative Education and Career Development of Wailaluk University submitted
questionnaires to a large number of stakeholders (711 students, 437 companies, 125 supervisors), and their
questionnaires were list of topics; appreciation was to be given using a scale from 1 to 5. Only two questions were
open-ended. The results they got showed the full satisfaction regarding the co-op programmes by all stakeholders.
However some answers stressed that there was a lack of budget to fully implement the programme and students
complained they do not get any money when working in the companies. One closing recommendation was that
university and companies should strengthen their links.
Methodology
As for our research, we selected three higher education institutions involved in cooperative programmes
at the Bachelor level. One is located in Northern Thailand, one in the Northeast, and one in the South. We named
them North Thailand University, Northeast Thailand University, and South Thailand University. They are public
universities but are now all under autonomous status. Their main co-op programmes deal with engineering, quality
control, human resources, and new technology (IT).
Our research was based on interviews. The interviews followed pre-established open ended
questionnaires and were conducted in Thai.
