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Bangkok Post
17-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Science, AI key to digital hub drive
Thailand should invest more in science education and research, while broadening its adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) to gain an advantage in its quest to become a digital hub in Southeast Asia, according to tech experts and the World Bank. Pathom Indarodom, director of the Digital Council of Thailand (DCT), said Thailand's 2024 IMD competitiveness ranking of 37th out of 67 countries indicates it lags regional peers China, South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam in crucial areas such as knowledge, technology infrastructure, and future readiness. While Thailand boasts strengths in high-tech exports with the 11th ranking, and 8th for telecommunication investment/internet speed, the challenge lies in leveraging these for creating innovation and scaling businesses, Mr Pathom said at a recent World Bank forum on its Thailand Economic Monitor. He said that in terms of education, Thailand's annual computer science and engineering graduates are 20,000 fewer than the industry demands. In addition, the country regularly reports low student scores on the Program for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests. No government has tried to fix the problem at its root, even though the country needs more teachers to inspire high school students to learn more in the fields of science and mathematics, said Mr Pathom. The DCT says that moving towards an AI transformation requires significant investment in education and research, coupled with building strong public-private-academic sector partnerships to deliver real outcomes. TOP USERS "Thailand has made great strides in digital adoptions over the last couple of years. When technology comes, we're always one of the heaviest users," said Aditip Panupong, head of commercial and strategic alliances at Google Thailand. Thailand, for example, is always one of the top 10 YouTube markets in the world, with this strong consumer adoption extending to other Google platforms like Google Maps, and even high growth in the Gemini chatbot. "We are now in the middle of the AI revolution, which is the fourth tech revolution apart from internet, mobile and cloud. Every technological evolution creates new growth engines for a tech-driven economy," said Mr Aditip. "In the past 6-8 months, from a business standpoint, we have seen momentum -- out of the clients we work with, 20% of them have adopted AI in one shape or form, and another 75% have expressed interest in or plan to use AI." Banks have deployed AI for fraud detection, while retail and hospitality sectors use AI for customer segmentation and for hyper-personalised marketing campaigns. In healthcare, Google works with Rajavithi Hospital on using AI to detect retinal diabetes, addressing the shortage of doctors in remote area. "We need more STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] students, and need to make sure that students will start to use AI for research and increase productivity, as well as increasing computational skills," said Mr Aditip. He highlighted the importance of collaboration for AI's collective benefit, noting Google's work with academia, researchers, government, and public institutions to tackle challenges that a single stakeholder cannot solve. ASEAN DIGITAL HUB Ji Eun Choi, senior digital development specialist at the World Bank, said Thailand has the potential to be a regional digital hub. She said the country's world-class digital public infrastructure, including digital ID and digital payment systems, are its key assets that are much more advanced than those in many peer economies. Growing foreign direct investment in data centres signals investor confidence in Thailand's capacity to serve not only domestic needs but also regional demand, said Ms Choi. The Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement is being developed to create a digital economy framework, aimed at establishing the region as a single digital market. This regional integration, by allowing easier cross-border data flows, would create a significantly larger market for digital businesses to thrive. In addition, she said Thailand stands between two poles -- open and closed data -- meaning strong data protection and allowing the use of data across different agencies. The Personal Data Protection Act covers data protection, but data is allowed to flow across borders and is shared by different agencies. Ms Choi said Thailand should offer incentives to the private sector to share data and use data in more productive ways. She cited interesting models in South Korea that drive AI inclusion, in particular for small businesses. One of them is a state AI voucher programme to incentivise AI adoption among small firms, which boosts AI industry development and increases the number of AI solution providers. Mr Aditip added that a critical challenge for Thailand is the limited, undocumented, and undigitised nature of Thai data, which hinders the development of large language models and other AI capabilities crucial for regional leadership.
Toronto Sun
13-07-2025
- General
- Toronto Sun
Letters to the Editor, July 13, 2025
Sunday letters Photo by Illustration / Toronto Sun TEACHING MOMENT This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Re 'Smarten up this summer' (Anthony Furey, July 8): Canada is on the cusp of succumbing to liberal woke ideology or realizing our potential as a great nation. According to the World Population Review, our 2022 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) scores rank behind six Asian countries and Estonia in math, science and reading (except Hong Kong). Since then, in Ontario, which scores just above the Canadian average, we have endured school board decisions such as the suspension of a student who simply stated there are only two sexes and a balloon-breasted male shop teacher who never got fired. Our future will be determined by our children and our education system. Bravo, Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Paul Calandra. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Larry Sylvester Acton, Ont. (These boards have denied parents the input into curriculum they deserve) SNOW JOB Even though I am not a resident of Toronto, I am very impressed with Olivia Chow. She was so smart to go to Ireland and England under the guise of using taxpayers' money to increase movies/films in Toronto, while her real agenda was to ask them how to remove snow from sidewalks and roads and to save lifeguards in hot weather. Dave Martin Pickering, Ont. (Busted!) SLICK MOVE Alberta is getting off the merry-go-round of insanity! Canada gladly takes our money from our oil Industry and then tries to make us feel guilty for producing oil. Well, in the 2026 referendum, we will say 'goodbye' to Canada's schizophrenic behaviour as we happily vote for Alberta independence. We will keep our annual billions of dollars in equalization, but we may leave a small donation when we leave for Canada to get some psychiatric help. Chris Robertson Stony Plain, Alta. (Send us a postcard) World Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Canada Toronto Raptors
The Mainichi
05-05-2025
- Science
- The Mainichi
Editorial: Urgent action needed on worsening working conditions in Japan's public ed system
Public education has long underpinned the foundations of Japanese society. Yet today, exhaustion among teachers who directly face and support children at schools has reached critical levels. Immediate measures to address this crisis are a must. Japan maintains impressive standards in terms of children's intellectual abilities. Students in Japan have consistently ranked among those in the top countries in the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international survey conducted every three years to evaluate the scholastic abilities of 15-year-olds, since 2000, when the survey began. PISA measures students' ability to practically apply knowledge and to think across three core competencies: mathematical literacy, scientific literacy and reading proficiency. According to the latest 2022 survey, among the 37 participating member nations, Japanese students ranked first in both mathematics and science and second in reading skills. Although there is a trend internationally for students from economically advantaged households to earn higher scores, even students from economically disadvantaged households in Japan achieve high math scores, indicating narrower educational inequalities compared to their peers in other countries. Japan also ranks highly in areas beyond academics. For instance, Japanese students' sense of belonging at school is the sixth highest among OECD countries, surpassing Nordic educational frontrunners including Finland. This indicates that many children find schools to be welcoming spaces. Mounting pressure to deliver results Most elementary and junior high schools handling the education of children up to age 15 in Japan are public. It can thus be said that the comprehensive strength of Japan's public education has laid the foundation for the impressive abilities exhibited by Japanese students. Teachers not only handle subject instruction but also oversee student guidance in daily areas like meal provision through school lunch programs, classroom cleaning and school events. The shared value underpinning Japanese public education has long been the idea that "no child should be left behind." However, the reality at schools is becoming increasingly severe. "Teachers are unable to engage in meaningful, essential education work that fosters children's growth. Instead, they are becoming exhausted, overwhelmed by tasks that bring no joy or sense of purpose," says Takashi Kubo, a former principal at Kikawaminami Elementary School in Osaka. In 2021, Kubo submitted a proposal detailing these realities to then-Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui. Although Kubo was initially protesting the chaos caused by the sudden mandatory introduction of online classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the deeper message in his statement expressed alarm about the future state of Japan's public education. In Osaka Prefecture and the city of Osaka, education reforms promoting competition have been pushed forward by leaders from Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party). According to reports, schools were repeatedly pressured to increase their students' scores on nationwide academic achievement tests, resulting in prolonged hours working on administrative tasks including paperwork, frequently requiring staff to labor late into the night. Nationally, educators' burdens continue to grow. Recent revisions to national curriculum guidelines have increased the educational content required to be taught. Additionally, teachers must implement new methods in the classroom, including the increased use of IT equipment. Educators are also experiencing mounting pressure to address social issues, notably rising student truancy and bullying cases. To preserve the high quality of Japan's public education, concrete steps must be taken now to improve the continually deteriorating working conditions of teachers. The national government has already outlined relief policies for teachers, such as raising allowances provided uniformly in lieu of overtime pay, increasing teacher numbers and limiting junior high school class sizes to 35 students, following similar measures for elementary schools. However, Japan's public expenditure on education remains comparatively low internationally. In fact, the nation's education spending is among the lowest among OECD member states. Reforming teachers' working conditions is an urgent priority When Kubo retired three years ago, class sizes at his school had already fallen below 25 students. Compared to when there were 30 or more students per class, teachers had more leeway to give each student individual attention. "Engaging in shared activities with children, like playing soccer together, is valuable," Kubo emphasizes. "Rather than pursuing competitive results and outcomes, creating comfortable schools for children is what will improve true academic performance." Although the number of children continues to decline due to Japan's falling birth rate, there is an increasing need to provide carefully tailored education to a diverse student body, including children with disabilities and those with foreign roots. Creating workplaces with greater flexibility and less pressure would also help address the ongoing decline in individuals pursuing teaching careers. Amid numerous unresolved issues facing educational institutions, the government has launched measures to waive tuition fees at senior high schools. Although these policies aim to reduce the financial burden on families, some experts have expressed concerns that they may instead lead to a weakening of the foundations of public high schools. In Osaka Prefecture, where high school tuition-free policies have already been implemented, the increased popularity of private high schools has resulted in about half of public high schools failing to meet their enrollment quotas. Prefectural high schools have consequently been closed one after another under prefectural ordinances requiring they either merge or shut down after years of continued under-enrollment. Similar scenarios may soon unfold in other metropolitan areas, including the Tokyo region. Public education has supported Japan's economic growth and societal stability. As the country grapples with its declining birth rate and advances in digitalization, we must collectively consider ways to preserve and sustain public education's inherent value.
Gulf Insider
21-03-2025
- Science
- Gulf Insider
Idiocracy Looms As Study Finds TikTok Rots Youth Minds
The intelligence test was invented 121 years ago. While IQ scores have historically risen alongside technological advancements, recent years have seen a slowdown—if not a reversal—in intelligence. The rise of smartphones, tablets, and social media may be to blame, and more recently, the phenomenon of the 'TikTok brain' among teenagers suggests peak cognition has arrived. A new report from the Financial Times cites a test used to measure the IQs of 15-year-olds, conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). This test evaluates students' performance in reading, mathematics, and science literacy. The latest data suggests that IQs peaked in the early 2010s. Peak cognition fears come nearly two decades after the debut of the satirical sci-fi comedy Idiocracy, which depicted a dystopian future where humanity becomes profoundly dumbed down by the 2500s. FT's chief data reporter, John Burn-Murdoch , said the timing of this data marks an 'inflection point' and is 'noteworthy' because it coincides with 'our changing relationship with information,' which is now primarily online. NEW 🧵: Is human intelligence starting to decline?Recent results from major international tests show that the average person's capacity to process information, use reasoning and solve novel problems has been falling since around the mid should we make of this? — John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) March 14, 2025 Declining math and literacy skills are likely the result of a shift away from text-based learning toward visual media. Additionally, there is a broader erosion in the capacity for mental focus, which could be attributed to 'TikTok brain rot'—with youth spending countless hours each week mindlessly swiping into oblivion. It's clear that digital technologies have impacted attention span, memory, and self-regulation negatively. A surge in the share of 15-year-olds who reported difficulties in PISA tests coincides with big changes in how information is processed, shifting drastically away from reading to visual content over the two decades. Peak cognition fears suggest achieving full Idiocracy may happen at a much more accelerated timeline. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence could surpass human IQs by the next decade… 'I think today's systems, they're very passive, but there's still a lot of things they can't do. But I think over the next five to 10 years, a lot of those capabilities will start coming to the fore and we'll start moving towards what we call artificial general intelligence,' Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said at a briefing on Monday. TikTok and other digital technologies that offer instant gratification through swiping left, right, up, or down appear to have made society even dumber.
Al Jazeera
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Donald Trump signs executive order to ‘eliminate' Department of Education
United States President Donald Trump has made good on a campaign promise to begin shuttering the Department of Education, though his efforts are likely to face court challenges and constitutional barriers. On Thursday, the Republican leader held an elaborate ceremony to sign an executive order that would set in motion the department's demise. A semi-circle of children were arranged in desks around the president, each with their own version of the executive order to sign. When Trump uncapped his marker to sign the order, the children followed suit. When he lifted up the completed order for the cameras, so too did the kids. 'I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the Federal Department of Education once and for all,' Trump said in remarks before the signing ceremony. 'And it sounds strange, doesn't it? Department of Education, we're going to eliminate it, and everybody knows it's right, and the Democrats know it's right.' But Democrats and education advocates quickly denounced the action as not only another example of presidential overreach but as an effort that would harm students across the country. 'Attempting to dismantle the Department of Education is one of the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken. This. Will. Hurt. Kids,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on social media within minutes of the ceremony. The order called for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump ally, to 'take all necessary steps' to facilitate the department's closure, which must be approved by Congress. The Department of Education was founded in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, as part of an effort to consolidate various education initiatives within the federal government. In doing so, he created a new cabinet-level position, something Republicans even then argued would leach power away from states and local school boards. The department, however, has a limited mandate. It does not set curriculums or school programming but rather focuses on collecting data on education, disseminating research, distributing federal aid and enforcing anti-discrimination measures. Trump bemoans test scores Still, Trump has repeatedly held the department responsible for low educational achievement in US schools, an assertion experts say is misleading. ' We're not doing well with the world of education in this country. And we haven't for a long time,' Trump said at Thursday's ceremony. The US does indeed trail other countries in global standardised test scores – but it is by no means last, as Trump has sometimes asserted. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international metric for education standards, has found that American students rank as average in their test scores: above countries like Mexico and Brazil but below places like Singapore, Japan and Canada. Test scores had declined in mathematics from 2018 to 2022, something PISA attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. But achievements in reading and science remained stable. Trump, meanwhile, also tied the Department of Education to his broader campaign to cut alleged waste and fraud in the federal government, including through widespread layoffs. He explained from the podium on Thursday that he had offered buyout offers to Education Department employees. ' We've cut the number of bureaucrats in half. Fifty percent have taken offers,' Trump said to applause. He added that the employees consisted of ' a small handful of Democrats and others that we have employed for a long time – and there are some Republicans, but not too many, I have to be honest with you.' Trump has previously pledged to expel all 'Biden bureaucrats' and install loyalists instead. Critics, however, say he has targeted nonpartisan civil service members with his layoffs, many of whom help maintain government stability from administration to administration. One Trump ally who risks losing their position under the department shake-up is McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. Trump, however, reassured her from the podium on Thursday that she would remain in his government: 'We're going to find something else for you, Linda.' Does Trump have the authority? Despite his executive order, Trump cannot single-handedly shutter the Department of Education. Only Congress can formally shut down a cabinet-level department. But already, Republicans like Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana have stepped forward to begin legislative proceedings. 'I agree with President Trump that the Department of Education has failed its mission,' Cassidy said in a news release. 'Since the Department can only be shut down with congressional approval, I will support the President's goals by submitting legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible.' But if such legislation is introduced, it would likely not generate enough support to reach the threshold of 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster in the 100-seat Senate. 'The Republicans don't have that,' said Al Jazeera correspondent Shihab Rattansi, reporting from Washington, DC. The Republicans only have a 53-seat majority. Still, Rattansi predicts the issue will likely end up before the Supreme Court, as education advocates prepare to mount legal challenges. The Education Department, Rattansi explained, 'is thought of as relatively low-hanging fruit' as the Trump administration tries to expand its executive reach. 'They have a very expansive view of executive power. They want to test that in court,' he said. Part of the reason for its vulnerability is that the department is relatively young: It was founded within the last half-century. But Rattansi warned that critical educational functions could be lost or suspended while legal challenges wind their way through the court system. 'What the Department of Education does is ensure equal access to education for minorities, for poor kids, for disabled children, and so on. So there's that extra level of oversight that will now be – potentially, in the short term – removed as court cases are fought,' he said. 'In the long term, though, this is all about testing the limits of executive power for Donald Trump.' Already, teachers' unions like the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are gearing up for a legal fight. 'As Republican governors at the White House celebrate the dismantling of a federal role in education, our members across the country are worried about the impact this will have on their students,' AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. 'This isn't efficiency, it's evisceration.' What happens to the department's functions? Trump's executive order does pledge to ensure 'the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely'. But critics fear programmes like the Pell Grant – which offers financial aid to low-income students – and services for students with disabilities could suffer as the department is taken apart. Trump tried to assuage those concerns on Thursday. 'They're going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them,' he said. He did, however, emphasise that individual states would be taking over the bulk of the department's functions. His order specified no further federal funds would go to programmes related to 'gender ideology' or diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), two frequent targets of his ire. ' We're gonna shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible,' Trump said of the Education Department. 'It's doing us no good. We want to return our students to the states where just some of the governors here are so happy about this.' In the audience was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a former rival of Trump's in the 2024 presidential election, who likewise campaigned on dismantling the department. Still, critics like Democratic lawmaker Rashida Tlaib of Michigan argued there was no other agency capable of enforcing national standards for equal education access. 'The Department's federal funding ensures that all children, regardless of who they are or which zip code they are born in, can achieve a quality education. Without the Department of Education, many of our kids will be left behind, unable to receive the education they need and deserve,' she wrote in a statement. 'Without the Department of Education, no one will be left to ensure civil rights laws are enforced in our schools.' She added that Thursday's move was blatantly unconstitutional. 'I look forward to it being challenged in court.'
