Just as Harvard is the stellar learning establishment for the world’s most brilliant minds, my vision for the Nation-Building University is that it will rise to become a world-class knowledge institution where builders of nations converge.
The Nation-Building University is a blueprint that I have presented in various platforms, and is an extension of the Nation-Building Institute in which I presently preside over (the Nation- Building Institute has been running for 4 batches and is currently opening for its 5th batch admissions). The idea is to establish an education base that trains its students in the area of ongoing nation – building through modules that caters to the unique capacities of each individuals, with the overarching goal to contribute to the advancement of nations towards preeminent progress and prosperity.
The vision for the Nation-Building University is for it to become the premier learning institution that is heralded as the Harvard of Thailand and Asia. Akin to world-class knowledge establishments, it will be an international learning institution where students from all over the world converge and glean relevant insights surrounding the subject of nation – building. As an incubating platform for national leaders upon whose shoulders rest the future of nations, this university will have an expansive influence in the advancement of nations and societies. These aspirations will be established upon the university’s core missions, namely:
To equip students in the knowledge of nation – building: Through knowledge integration and research, students will be equipped with a broad spectrum of multidisciplinary skills that will enable them to effectively navigate through the political, business and social spheres. The role of the university is to serve as a learning base that cultivates high-caliber leaders of who, having developed excellence in the areas of leadership, management and morality, emerge to become catalytic agents in the advancement of nations.
To establish a learning institution with the central focus on nation – building: Fuelled by research and innovation, the university will serve as a pioneering establishment that strives to expand the frontiers of knowledge pertaining to national progress, particularly within the political, business and social spheres. As the academic forerunner that specializes in the area of nation – building, its role is to serve as an intellectual center to assist in the laying of groundwork and the setting of trajectories for national advancement.
To provide academic resources for the development of nations: The university will provide academic resources that will help to create measurable impacts within the domain of national advancement, specifically in the area of economy, society and politics.
The Nation-Building University will become the first learning establishment in history to methodically curate knowledge that pertains to nation – building. It will aid in the seamless integration of the 3 pillars of societies—the public sector, the private sector and the people sector—all of which are to be built upon the foundation of virtue. The university will not only be a training ground for executive-level leaders, but will also serve as a knowledge-consolidation base whose resources will help to facilitate the progress of nations. It is to become a world-class prototype institution that attracts leaders of great caliber who are set to bring transformation to the various spheres of the society.
It is my hope that this vision for the Nation-Building University will cause the relevant entities to realize the role, duty and responsibility that universities have in the creation of “invaluable” outcomes within the arena of nation – building.
Lastly, I would like to end with a personal tenet of mine, that “a learning institution is a place where knowledge becomes incubated, not imprisoned”. While it is crucial to instil knowledge and virtue within students, it is of even greater imperative to raise up leaders of nations who will provide contributions of “invaluable” worth to the nations and the societies at large.
Source :amthaipaper
ISSUE 0127 (July – August 18)
Kriengsak Chareonwongsak
Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Center of Business and Government.
kriengsak@kriengsak.com, http://www.kriengsak.com