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In that section, “specific knowledge” refers to knowledge related to one particular field of study. When
students start their company’s assignment, usually in the last year of their programme, they have been specialised
in one field. In the sample we studied, it related mainly to QA, IT and HR. As such, companies expect from them
to be expert, or at least very knowledgeable, in that particular field of study.
Companies wait for students to bring update and accurate knowledge from school into the company.
However, in practice, students lack core knowledge in their specific field. One company said: “
Some students
focusing on Quality do not know about TQM, or ISO
”.
Companies think this is because the scope of the curriculum is too wide. Focus on a major should be
done from the first year of study. Regarding North Thailand University, companies said that the curriculum was
not appropriate, and the emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach was not relevant for this kind of programme.
Regarding South Thailand University, companies regretted that the curriculum was largely out-of-date.
To remedy it, companies and students offered to focus the curriculum quickly on one major but also to
organise short-course training on specific topics, for instance industrial standards (ISO).
All of this and the mismatch between the companies’ expectations and the university’s offer reveals a
real misconception of what co-op education is. Co-op should be the result of an intense collaboration between
companies and universities, to share in a relevant and appropriate way, the teaching responsibilities, contents and
duties between company and university. This discrepancy is epitomised in the fact that universities talk about “
co-
op period
”, bordering “
co-op
” only to the period spent in companies, and this is well depicted by companies as
shown in the following quotes:
“The curriculum should link theory in university and job in the workplace”;
“Curriculum should be elaborated collaboratively with companies and universities”; “Guidelines should be
elaborated in cooperation with the head of the company”
According to the interviews we did, there has clearly been extremely little (if no) links between
university and company as far as the elaboration of the curriculum was concerned. If it is a widespread feature in
the country, it is a serious issue for cooperative education in Thailand.
Another side of co-op education is the assignment done in the workplace. We will deal with this in the
following section.
3. Assignments in the workplace: The key role of the university supervisor
The principle of co-op education is to share the knowledge transmission process between educational
institutions and companies. Through our interviews, the curriculum delivered in universities has proved to be
weak in many aspects. What about the period spent in companies? Every Thai university is showcasing its co-op
programmes, but what is going on in reality?
3.1 Internship vs. co-op
