AIT's legal status could be a problem - The Nation

Education

CHULEEPORN ARAMNET
THE NATION October 19, 2012 1:00 am

The students lodged a complaint on Wednesday with the Education Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and AIT president Prof Said Irandoust over concerns that the Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) would not certify their degrees. Their concerns stem from the fact that AIT issued a new charter in January, and the government has not yet ratified it.

"If the current students' degrees are bestowed under the 1967 charter of AIT ratified by the Thai government, then the degrees will be legal. However, if their degrees are bestowed under the new charter, they will be illegal as the government has not yet ratified it," said Assoc Prof Kamjorn Tatiyakavee, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC).

"I'm not worried about students already studying at AIT as much as I am about the new ones who will enrol at AIT. If AIT insists that it will administer [its education programme] under an unratified charter, the new students who study and graduate under the new charter will have a problem with degree certification. Also, AIT itself will become an illegal institution under Thai law," Kamjorn said.

He said OHEC planned to discuss the problem soon with AIT, the Foreign Ministry and other agencies. He wanted AIT and the Foreign Ministry to solve the problem quickly, before more problems arise.

Meanwhile, Bhawat Traipattanakul, a master's student in energy engineering who represented AIT's students in lodging Wednesday's complaint, said they would continue to raise the issue until a solution is found, and would not simply wait for the president to take action.

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