The Teachers' Council of Thailand (TCT) has decided not to issue educational administrator licences for about 2,500 master's graduates of Bangkokthonburi University's Educational Administration programme in 2014 after a probe found irregularities.
The investigation found it is one of 11 universities nationwide have taken in more teachers than allowed, though the TCT says the graduates' masters degrees are safe for now from the prospect of being annulled.
Chaiyot Imsuwan, TCT's acting secretary-general, said yesterday the TCT board detected problems in the Bangkokthonburi University's programme administration.
The university broke TCT regulations by admitting more students to the programme than was allowed, he said.
The board decided about 2,500 master's graduates who finished the programme that year will not be allowed licences.
He said TCT started a probe when it noticed a large number of graduates applying for licences.
"The programme had taken in more than 2,500 students when it was only allowed 500, so we consider it a sub-standard course," said Mr Chaiyot.
The TCT and the university will hold talks to fix the problem, he said.
Mr Chaiyot said the probe also found another 10 universities have violated the rules by admitting more students to master's programmes than they are allowed.
"Too many graduates came to TCT and sought teaching licences and educational administrator licences," he said.
Since 2004, TCT has issued more than one million teaching and educational administrator licences although there are only five million educators nationwide, he added.
Mr Chaiyot said Thailand faces the prospect of teacher redundancies as universities and colleges, which offer teacher preparation programmes, have taken in too many teaching students.
The problem is due to improper calculations between supply and demand for teaching posts.
Universities and colleges have used teaching courses as a cash cow and been deliberately taking in too many students to make money from fees, he said.
"Agencies including the Office of the Higher Education Commission (Ohec), the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) and the Office of the Vocational Education Commission (Ovec) should call a meeting and discuss the actual number of teachers and educational administrators Thailand needs, so they can plan together to better match resources with demand," he said.
According to findings by the Thailand Education Deans Council, over the past five years 80 universities in Thailand accepted more than 230,000 teaching students overall, when only 100,000 newly qualified teachers will be needed over the next five years. The market is likely to be saturated.
The Bangkok Post yesterday contacted Bangkokthonburi University, but the university's Graduate School declined to comment. It said it was still collating information.
Previously, Education Minister Gen Dapong Ratanasuwan disclosed an influential figure had lobbied him to drop the action against Bangkokthonburi University, but he rejected the offer.