Nakhonratchsima – 400 educators and business leaders gathered together to participate in the Forum for World Education, hosted by Chareon Pokkapand Group, the biggest conglomerate in Thailand, at their Leadership Institute in Nakhonratchsima, a province in the Northeast of Thailand. Under the theme “Shaping the Future of Education to Match Global Economic Trends”, the Forum discussed critical issues pertaining World Education, Technology Revolution, a 5.0 society and many more. Reflecting on the intersection between education and business world, the Senior Chairman of the C.P. Group, Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont shared his vision of education in the rapidly changing society and what needs to be done to prepare the young for the world of work.
Stop a silo learning cycle, Start holistic human development
The conversation began with Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont talking about the importance of human development.
“The most important mission for nation building is human development. The success of a country depends on the preparation of the young people to meet the demands of the economy. Today we educate people in silo – knowing only what they are responsible for instead of comprehensive understanding of the world around them. In C.P., we try to change that. We try to empower everyone to acquire a holistic picture of any situation in order to drive the success of the organization. Some people are afraid that if we train our employees very well, they can be bought for other competing firms. We are not afraid. We think it is our mandate to educate our employees to serve the company, more importantly, the country.”
Making mistakes, Learning from experiences
The Senior Chairman believed the society it’s importance to encourage the young people to make mistakes and learn from them.
“Mistakes are the best kind of teachers that empower young people to learn and grow. We cannot be afraid to make mistakes. If we do not make mistakes, we do not learn.”
“If you want to excel in business, you must work in conjunction with study. It’s important to learn from the real world. Ideally, business leaders should obtain Bachelor degree by 18 years old, so they can have real world experiences. Otherwise, their knowledge can become easily obsolete”.
Mr. Chearavanont stressed the importance of “knowledge.”
There is a difference between “knowledge” and “diploma”. Anyone can get a diploma but that does not mean anyone can obtain knowledge. Knowledge comes from a hands-on experiences. Today’s education is not adaptive enough for the real world.
Public – Private partnership: Creating conducive space for investment in Thailand
During the conversation, it became evident that Mr. Chearavanont is optimistic about the future of Thailand.
“There are so many great things about Thailand. The government must work with business leaders and reach out to other countries to create more investment opportunities for Thailand. We need to work with every country who has potential to help Thailand to grow. Thailand is endowed with so much resources such as land and labour. The government needs to create a regulatory framework that is conducive to investment. We need to create the market for greater opportunity for employment. There is so much we can do if the government joins hands with private sector and create an environment where investment and employment can both flourish”.
Selective borrowing: Secret for business’s success
At the end of the interview, Mr. Chearavanont shared the secrets to his conglomerate’s success.
“We learn from the best. We learned from the United States, Singapore, Japan and China. We do not have to reinvent the wheel. We have to learn what works and what does not work from the experiences of other countries. Thailand has a lot of potential to nurture start-up company. The government needs to conduct a study of best practices from elsewhere to learn business models, regulatory framework and investment environment and adapt them to meet local needs in the country. We need to be selective and learn to adapt – that way we can be successful.”