Necessary Needs and Guidelines for Management of Educational Institutions in Preparing Students for Vocational Education in Phatthalung Province

Abstract

This descriptive research aimed to study 1) the school management in preparing learners for vocational education in Phatthalung Province, and 2) the guidelines for school management in preparing learners for vocational education in Phatthalung Province. The population is 468 establishments that cooperate with vocational education in Phatthalung Province. The samples consisted of 214 establishments in Phatthalung Province, determined using the Krejcie & Morgan table. The samples were selected through simple random sampling without replacement. Key informants included 21 vocational education administrators in Phatthalung Province under the Vocational Education Commission. The instrument used was a 5-level rating scale questionnaire created by the researcher, with a content validity value of 1.00 and concurrent and predictive validity of 0.981. The statistics methods employed were percentage, mean, standard deviation, Priority Needs Index (PNI _modified), and semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The research results found that 1) Overall, both the current and predictive conditions for preparing learners for vocational education in Phatthalung Province were at a high level. The prioritized needs for preparing learners for vocational education in Phatthalung Province were ranked as follows: knowledge, applicable abilities, skills, morality and ethics, and desired characteristics. and 2) Vocational education administrators in Phatthalung Province provided the following key guidelines for preparing learners for vocational education in Phatthalung Province: 1) Administer according to the standard criteria set by the Office of the Vocational Education Commission, 2) Teachers incorporate Sufficiency Economy Philosophy to create their learning management plans, 3) Consider learning management organized by experts from establishments, and 4) Promote learning management in English and technologies.