Page 71 - Open and Distance Education In Asia : Good Practice From AAOU Members

Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) 51

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT social innovations affecting the national
Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, development; and on the integration of
a state university, is administered with the work performance from all sectors including
budgets from two sources: the government the state, private, and community sectors
and the university incomes. Therefore, in order to collaborate for mobilizing the
the planning of the university is focused development of areas under the expertise
on responding to the development of and main functions of the university. Details
the country in various aspects including of the 20-Year University Development Plan
the provision of instruction at the higher are shown in Table 1.
education level, the conduct of research, the
provision of academic service to community, Based on the Table, it specifies the
and the preservation and maintenance of relationship among the vision of STOU for the
art and culture. STOU has formulated the next twenty years’ framework, mission, STOU
university development plan in three phases identity (2021-2037), and learner identity.
as the following. The operation under the plan is divided into
four phases with five-year period of each
The 20-Year University Development phase. Its goal is to strive toward being “a
Plan (2018–2037) leading organization that provide lifelong
Since the contexts of Thai society and world self-learning opportunity for all people”.
society are changing all the time, the Thai
government has formulated the Thailand’s Since early 2020, Thailand and other
20-Year National Strategy (2018–2037) and countries around the world have strived to
the Twelfth National Economic and Social deal with negative impacts caused by the
Development Plan (2017–2021) to set the COVID-19 pandemic not only on economic,
direction for mobilizing Thailand toward but also on educational systems worldwide.
the “Security, Prosperity, Sustainability” As a consequence, the university operation
goal. Meanwhile, STOU has the 20-Year based on STOU Development Plan has to be
University Development Plan (2018–2037). adjusted in order to cope with the situation.
This development plan focuses on adjusting On the other hand, this outbreak becomes an
the university to cope with more challenging opportunity for the university to rely on the
external contexts. The aims of this plan are online system for not only instruction (in its
to create the new and stronger identity of operation more rigorously), but also for final
the university, to focus on provision of up- examination with over 18,000 students all
to-date lifelong education including formal over Thailand and abroad.
education, non-formal education, and
informal education, and to respond to the
needs for learning and skills of the future
world. Moreover, the plan focuses on both
research for creation of innovations that
support the university’s instruction and

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)