Author: @atcsw

Bimonthly Report 2021

February-March 2021

The bimonthly report of February and March shows that the centre has conducted research and organized many activities to develop the curricula and training. The most interesting activity is the pilot project which will be organized in April because it is an important step to assess training capacity before an official training.

April-May 2021

The report focuses on the next step of the centre in expanding its works through related networks in both multilateral and bilateral levels. Besides, ATCSW has planned to organize the Workshop on Increasing Synergy for Social Service Workforce amid COVID-19 crisis in August, to provide new knowledge and skills for social workers.

June-July 2021

Nowadays, we live in the World 4.0 where the world is driven by technology. People could easily communicate via online platforms and access a lot of information. Certainly, there is some information that leads us to misunderstanding . So, ATCSW has conducted the first pilot project “Public Communication Skills for Social Service Workers” during 28 – 30 June 2021 to provide techniques and knowledge about communication skills for those who work relevant in this field.


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What’s Missing from Social Work?

2015

I see many students being busy, preparing themselves for the university entrance exam. Then, I think of myself when I was diligently reading books for applying to my favorite faculties. At that time, Faculty of Social Work was one of these.

But the problem was…

I knew little about this faculty. I did not know what the faculty taught and only knew that most of the graduates were social workers. At that time, Thai society had not yet realized the importance of social workers as they should. So, I was still facing the same problem. I did not know who social workers were and what they did. In the end, I chose to study another faculty with the same question, who was really a social worker?

2021

But today I get the answer…

Now, I am working at ASEAN Training Centre for Social Work and Social Welfare where I have a chance to talk with Assoc. Prof. Dr.Wilaiporn Kotbungkair, a Lecturer of Faculty of Social Administration, Thammasat University, on the situation of social workers in Thailand from an academic perspective.

What do people expect from social workers?

” Even the understanding of society about social workers, may not be very clear. People certainly expect us to work in a social dimension, helping people.”

What knowledge and skills do social workers need?

“The key duty of social workers is that they could help people based on the process and method of social work. After the promulgation of the Social Work Profession Act, we expect to work under more standardized social work framework”

 

What are additional knowledge and skills of social workers?

               “In fact, the entry-level Social Work Course is the most basic one to become a professional social worker. So, the essential subjects are already taught in this level. For those who want more additional training, I think they want to boost their knowledge in working with specific targets or using specific techniques to help them. Besides, Social Work Professions Council has organized Training Needs Assessment. It also shows that social workers today, want more in-depth ways of working with people, such as counseling, Psychosocial Treatments.”

What do you expect from ATCSW?

“A forum for exchanging knowledge in ASEAN is important because the members have both similar and different points in social and cultural contexts. For Instance, our common point is to be a part of many conventions. Therefore, ATCSW will be a forum in enhancing ASEAN Member States participation to exchange good practices of each country to maintain mutual benefits.”

 

Arrived here …

 

I understand that social workers are very important in solving and eliminating the root of problems. By applying correct social work methods and following social work ethics.

 

But what is more interesting is …

 

How to make the profession more recognizable?

 

How to promote social workers capacity?

 

In order to improve

 

ASEAN people for the

better life.

 

The answer is …

 

“Support”

 

ATCSW will be an important part in raising awareness of Social Work Profession. Also, being a bridge for exchanging knowledge among ASEAN member countries by developing curriculum and subjects that can boost knowledge and skills for social workers.


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Visiting a Community Is Understanding the Reality

Like all rapidly-growing cities, Bangkok has been mushroomed with skyscrapers, reflecting its modernization. But all the high-rise buildings do not always mean the development of quality of life of everyone residing in this hustle-bustle capital. In fact, residents in some congested communities still find themselves lacking equal opportunity to access social welfare and public services, especially those members of low-income families and the vulnerable groups; such as children and youth living in poverty, lower-educated housewives, unemployed elderly people, and persons with disabilities.

Recently, the Director and staff members of the ASEAN Training Centre for Social Work and Social Welfare (ATCSW) had an opportunity to join the crew from the Foreign Affairs Division to visit the Charan Sanitwong 9/1 Community under the “One Department, One Area for Development Scheme” of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS). The purpose of the visit was for officials of the Division to acquire primary information of the households living in this community. Visiting the site in person is to understand the real situations

Data collected through interviews with the residents of the community, particularly about the problems they have been encountered with will then be processed into the national data-base. Such information and data will enable the MSDHS to analyze who exactly are in need of help, and what kind of support they should be appropriately given so that they could alleviate their plights. It is expected that the right assistance given to the right persons in need will eventually help them improve their quality of lives, which however may take some time. .

Joining the visit, the team of ATCSW had a chance to learn about the community and to acquire first-hand information on how social workers perform their duties; what kind of knowledge and skills they are required to possess; and what additional capacities they need to be equipped with in order to improve their work performance. The data gained from this observation trip, and from the ones before it, will be compiled and used as an input for ATCSW in designing suitable curriculum and training courses. 

Based on empirical findings from all field visits, Capacity Building Curriculum is being drafted in addition to regular curricula such as Global Knowledge on Social Work, Social Protection, and Protection of Children in the Context of Migration.  An in-country training course on Capacity Building which focuses on the “Re-skill, Up-skill, and Multi-skill for Social Work and Social Welfare Practitioners” is planned to be conducted as a pilot project in coming months. Consequently, this trial course will be adjusted, standardized and offered to social workers and social welfare related professionals in the ASEAN region. Further details of this course will be uploaded accordingly onto this website.   


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Rachataphan Community Visit

Vulnerable groups of people living in overcrowded areas have been facing with different problems and hardships in life depending on the environment and specific factors of each household. Needless to say, poverty is one of the root causes of most problems.

Rachataphan Community of Ratchathewi District is also the area that faces many different problems. However, residents here do not have access to some official assistance programmes since the community has not been registered with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. Congested as it is, there are around 80 households in this community with a total of more than 470 members, including vulnerable groups such as children, women, elderly people and persons with disabilities. Most of residents here are food carters and cleaners in business companies nearby. Struggling to make ends meet, their already-low income has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during the past two years.

On 4 March 2021, Mr. Anothai Udomsilp, Executive Director of ATCSW together with staff members of the Centre joined a group of social workers from the Department of Social Development and Welfare to visit Rachataphan Community. Under the One Department, One Area Development Scheme, the visit was organized for social workers to survey the community and learn about their problems and needs for help in order to find feasible solutions for them. 

Taking into account the current situations and difficulties, this is by no means an easy task. Rather, it requires lots of understanding and in-depth analysis. Ostensibly, finding solutions and appropriate assistance to the community members is quite a big challenge for social workers of the Department.

This observation trip provided a good opportunity for ATCSW to learn about social workers in the field and the knowledge and skills they require in order to efficiently perform their duties. The information directly gained from the visit will be used as an input for the Centre in designing curriculum and training courses that serve the needs of social workers and social welfare practitioners.

At present, ATCSW is in the process of designing four curricula; Global Knowledge on Social Work and Social Welfare, Social Protection, Protection of Children in the Context of Migration, and Anti-Human Trafficking. In addition, training courses designed to serve specific needs of social workers such as Capacity Building Courses are also in the pipeline. All these curricula and courses are not formulated only for Thailand. In fact, they are designed for the benefits of social workers and social welfare practitioners as well as volunteers and other related professionals in the ASEAN Region as a whole.


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