Buriram Expats
Buriram Province - General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: RichardH on March 22, 2012, 12:48:17 AM
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My daughter is just starting Kindergarten and I am looking for a school in Prakhon Chai region that she can start learning in Thai and English and I am in search for a quality school if there is such a thing........Unfortunately I have had little luck finding anything comparable to any International schools in Bangkok. Since I had taught English in Thailand for almost 10 years I might be expecting too much by comparing Bangkok quality schools. I am looking for schools that have Native English falang teachers, if thee is such a thing.
RichardH
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I myself am going for home education, making sure at the same time that she gets enough social skills by mixing with other kids. But there again I am a pensioner so will have time. If I could find other parents nearby that were doing the same thing that would be great..
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Davu
It is not easy to do Home Schooling ...my daughter is half Thai so she will need the Thai portion of her education that I obviously can not offer her.
Sure I can do every thing in English except what pertains to the Thai side which unfortunately contains so much wasted time on Buddhism and omited subject matter that I wonder if she will ever learn anything.
Unfortunately, I witnessed first hand the only private school ....not International, just private school that is in Prakhon Chai. Unfortunately, it is not worth the tuition they charge because it is not much better than the public schools although many of the falangs that send their kids there do not know that. Luckily she is just leaving 2 years of nursery school and headed for kindergarten and I have a couple years to get very serious about what to do.
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yes indeed, probably my learning curve while doing this will be greater than hers. I have a Thai wife and we plan to speak Thai at home, hopefully with the derisive assistance of my step-granddaughter who is 5 years old. Up to primary school level I don't foresee any big problems. After that she will have problems integrating herself back into the Thai school system as she will be on a different track. I hope.
When I was raising a family in Switzerland we were generally tri-lingual, depending on who was sitting at the table, the kids had absolutely no problem with this, they benefited later as now 'the world is their oyster'. There are organisations that help you with home education and this is the way I want to go. If there were a network of parents ready to help things would be easier, but I have had little response to threads that I have started on various forums in Thailand. 'Bung 'em into a school' seems to be the usual thing to do amongst ex-pats here.
The Thai side..? there are a lot of things about the Thai side of things that I can do without, and I think the Thais would be better off without them too.
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Davu
It is not easy to do Home Schooling ...my daughter is half Thai so she will need the Thai portion of her education that I obviously can not offer her.
Sure I can do every thing in English except what pertains to the Thai side which unfortunately contains so much wasted time on Buddhism and omited subject matter that I wonder if she will ever learn anything.
Unfortunately, I witnessed first hand the only private school ....not International, just private school that is in Prakhon Chai. Unfortunately, it is not worth the tuition they charge because it is not much better than the public schools although many of the falangs that send their kids there do not know that. Luckily she is just leaving 2 years of nursery school and headed for kindergarten and I have a couple years to get very serious about what to do.
I have not entered this thread until now, as basically I had nothing beneficial to say to Richard H with regard to English teaching.
However. Richard's last post has spurred me on to respond.
Richard - you have a daughter just about to start kindergarten (that would be in May when the new school year starts). She has had 2 years in nursery, as a result of which you seem to know a lot about the school -sufficient to suggest it is no better than the government schools.. Nursery is effectively only playschool, not proper school!
I have 2 children at the school - Kanlayaprasit. My son is about to start in Mathayom 1 after having been at the school for 8 years, He was one of the lucky 25 to be admitted to senior school out of some 90 vying to get in (mostly Thais) whilst my daughter has just completed 5 years there. It is NOT an international school, but does cater for many of the luk krungs in the local area. In the years that I have been associated with the school through my children I have found nothing detrimental about any aspect. The teachers care about the kids. The 2 head teachers seem to like farang kids more than Thai kids. My kids have received nothing but kindness from everyone at the school, and are very happy to attend. A happy child will learn more than an unhappy one.
The tuition fees are negligible. Once out of nursery and kindergarten (where more than 1 teacher is required to care for the kids) fees are around 3000bt/year/child No requests for 100bt for this and 100bt for that as happens almost weekly at state schools, which more than likely add up to more than the 3000bt I pay per year. Regular school trips are provided, yet amazingly parents are NEVER asked to contribute! That would not happen in a Thai government school.
Many of the children there are the kids of government workers (doctors, nurses, police and above all school teachers. I have spoken to some school teacher parents who have told me that the education at Kanlayaprasit is far superior to that at the schools where they work. They know!
It is a Thai school with minimal English teaching. This is Prakhonchai not Bangkok or Pattaya where there are sufficient ex-pat kids to warrant an English speaking school. My elder daughter attended an international school in Pattaya some 15 years ago. What a waste of money- she was not happy, and did not learn much.. I learned a lot -not least how the Thai bosses lined their own pockets with the outrageous fees charged plus all the non refundable extras. Never again! What she did eventually learn was from private tuition, and now she has an excellent job with good remuneration
My 2 kids attend private English lessons at weekends, which is available to kids of 8yrs+. Up till that age, Richard you must do what you can -or do as 1 friend of mine does, and send his kid to a Bangkok school, renting accommodation in term time in Bangkok and returning to his village home in the holidays.
Would be very interested to know what you know about Kanlayaprasit that you suggest most farangs do not know. Maybe I have missed something!
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Surely you mean 30K baht per year, rather than 3K baht...don't you Nick?
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No Pablo. 3000bt/year.
Having just checked the bill,my son is actually 3,400bt/year for senior school, (with air-con classrooms) whilst my daughter is just 2600bt/year.. Amazing value!
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No Pablo. 3000bt/year.
Having just checked the bill,my son is actually 3,400bt/year for senior school, (with air-con classrooms) whilst my daughter is just 2600bt/year.. Amazing value!
Blimey, at that price I should think about getting some children !
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Thought you had recently been practicing CoCo -but obviously you need some lessons! :o
You don't GET children, you make them!!! love2
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Thought you had recently been practicing CoCo -but obviously you need some lessons! :o
You don't GET children, you make them!!! love2
Oh! :o - best I keep practicing.
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No Pablo. 3000bt/year.
Having just checked the bill,my son is actually 3,400bt/year for senior school, (with air-con classrooms) whilst my daughter is just 2600bt/year.. Amazing value!
Hmmmmm???
Reason I asked is because we have two (Thai) "whelps" in the Kanlayaprasit School in Prakhon Chai.
Daughter will be just starting her Senior year of high school, and the son is just starting his first year of high school.
We've been paying around 10K baht per student per semester, for the past 5 years. (That includes tuition, new uniforms, and books/supplies...each semester)
In fact, we just paid a couple of weeks ago for the new semester to come. (I had the little lady check the "papers", and yes...it was just over 21K baht for both kids.) The tuition portion amounting to around 7K baht per child.
It's a very good school, and still is a great bargain at that...IMO.
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Dual pricing in Prakhonchai - surely not ?
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Dual pricing in Prakhonchai - surely not ?
Yeah!!!
They're probably nailing it to me, 'cause I'm a (seppo). 555
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Dual pricing in Prakhonchai - surely not ?
Yeah!!!
They're probably nailing it to me, 'cause I'm a (seppo). 555
I doubt it since the fees and all add-ons are clearly published in a blue leaflet given to all parents.
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Cannot understand how you paid that much Pablo. I have never paid anything like 10,000bt, and my bill includes approx 5000bt just for transport and lunch per child!
Apart from the basic tuition cost of 1300 or 1700bt in my case, I have add-ons for lunch and transport as we live some 5kms away and they provide minibus each way. I believe there is also a couple of hundred baht added for swimming and computer.
Books come free courtesy of the government, and I set of uniforms (not currently available for next year) also come free.
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Nick
I can say there are some positive things about Kanlayaprasit and I guess if it is the only choice around to send your kids ....what else can you do but I can assure you as nice as the owners of the school are and as sweet as the teachers may seem, the quality of education received is not a huge step above the Public School system in Bangkok (since I don't know much about the public school system here). I am certainly not making any attempt to upset anybody that has chosen to send their kids to Kanlayaprasit. The small things are not a concern to me, like, maybe a warm meal for lunch sometimes or quality bathrooms with possibly western toilets but the students that leave the school (M3) should know that England and America do not sit next to each other but there is no Geography or History other than what is deemed necessary by the MOE regarding Buddhism taught at the school but all the government employees that send their children to the school, with the government paying of course, will be happy to see that the kids at least know how to help sweep the school every day and plant flowers and have less hours of effective classroom activity than what is considered normal most places.
The Thai teachers that teach English are no more qualified than most poorly trained English teachers in the public system.
I am not sure what the answer is because nobody really wants to have to move away or send your children to a school with boarding facilities just to get an adequate education but when my daughter becomes a bit older she will not be going to Kanlayaprasit.
Anyway, thanks for the response, heated or not, I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
Rich
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Richard
I would agree wholeheartedly your comments re the Thai teachers that teach English. However we must remember this is Thailand. Are the Thais who teach English in Bangkok schools any better overall? We as parents have to decide where we live and make the best of what is available. I have private tuition for my kids in English -with limited success.
My 12 year old son has just confirmed that school lunch is "aroi" and never cold. (and he is a very difficult eater). He has NEVER had to sweep the floors or been asked to do gardening. Lack of geography and history is sadly a Thai thing (is there anywhere other than Thailand??), whilst as for Buddhist teaching -..please don't get me started!!. As I said this is Thailand and we either accept what is or move our kids elsewhere.
An international school in Pattaya, Chiang Mai or Bangkok will likely set you back 500,000bt a year! Kids are worth every penny you can pay -but not many can afford those fees!
None of this helps your original question. Frankly I believe there is nothing better locally.
Nick
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Nick
Thanks again for your response and I think that the more I talk the worst I might make others feel.
Regarding the smallest issue...school lunches. They have no warm or hot food for the students, including rice, and what they slap on the metal jail plates is probably not something to make the kids complain much about but the public schools in BKK it is usually warm or hot.
How the students, as in your sons case, are chosen for M1-1 rather than M1-2, I don't have any idea but it appears the method could be better as it is a blanket system and often doesn't work. The reason is that every student that is in M1-1 (the senior M1 class) is not at the same level. In another words, some of the students, like your son, is at a higher level of English than another student in the class who might be great at Math but does Not know 1 word of English and when he is in English class or whatever subject he needs help with, he is in trouble because the other students pass him by and he may learn little, if anything. But when math class comes, he does fine. This is no different than public schools.
In English class, the Thai teachers know they should speak ONLY ENGLISH but like public schools they teach most of the English class in Thai.
Much effort is done by the admin to make sure the appearance is acceptable to all and students miss more than enough class for activities of all types including a massive amount of holidays.
Just a note: I was told that parents pay as much as 6.500 for nursery level per term
Anyway, I won't kill a dead horse with more of my rhetoric about the subject. Take care and hope to talk to ya about a more interesting subject in the future.
Rich
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Hi Rich
This is an interesting subject, and you are not flogging a dead horse. Your information is largely at odds with what I know and am told by my kids. I had to check an earlier thread to see that we were both speaking of the same school.
Your child is in nursery. They occupy a separate part of the school, and eat their lunch earlier than the rest of the school. It may well be cold, but my son assures me that his lunches are not cold.
I do not believe there is an M1-1 and an M1-2. There are to be just 25 children in M1 (one class) these 25 being selected from some 90 students in P6 by exam and an assessment of their behaviour. I think this is an admirable way of selecting. At least selection is not a result of under the table payments as regularly occurs at government schools!
The only holidays apart from the summer recess and half terms are the normal Buddhist and other designated holidays. No different from any other school.The local school in my village shuts for days on end whenever it wants.
The standard tuition fee for nursery and kindergarten is 3,500bt a term (higher than for the older children since more than 1 teacher is needed to care for the youngsters. To this you must add lunches, transport if required, and the compulsory insurance against accidents. Uniforms are an additional cost, but certainly the older children are provided with a set of uniforms free by the government. Books are also provided free of charge All in all it could cost up to 6500bt a term. But you would have to feed your children wherever they were!
I am sorry you feel disillusioned by the school. Having seen the alternatives available locally, and had a child at an international school in the past I am more than satisfied, and I have 2 happy and contented children.
We must have a chat over a beer sometime
Nick
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Nick
I seem to have answered your last mail in the wrong place on the website and it appears with funny photos.
I am still learning to surf the website properly actually so I am sorry for the blunder
Rich
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Nick
I apologize as it seems I stand to be corrected about the M1 class as I assumed it was the same as P4 or P% that do have a P4-1 and P4-2 as well as P5-1 and P5-2 and those classes do have the concerns I mentioned in my last mail to you but after you mentioning, I remembered the M1 class last term had only 25 students so I believe you are correct. As a matter of fact, the class size is about the same size for M2 and M3 which were also about 23 to 25 students. As you probably can tell, I am sort of walking lightly on the subject for personal reasons.
You are also correct about the nursery children eating at a different location than the other students BUT none of the students receive meals that are warm or hot. You may opt to visit their dining area at lunch time and view the area where the food is served room temperature every day, whether it is rice, soup or whatever but that is not really a big deal, just a mention.
When I inquired about my daughter last term I was told a price of about 5,700 baht and I believe that was per term give or take a couple hundred baht....don't recall exactly.
In regards to the ridiculous number of days without class, well I guess Thailand as a whole wins that award. Without the gov't holidays, teacher meetings or seminars, sports day, weekly scout day, school projects, so-called preparation by students for testing or exams whether its a national or provincial occurrences which might be more of a school beautification program, and numerous other opportunities for the teachers not to work, the kids still seem to be in class less than they are in neighboring countries and it doesn't seem that will change anytime soon...well, not in public and some private schools anyway.
Obviously, we can't be so particular, as the opportunities to choose schools in the area is very limited and only 1 private school in Pakhon Chai exists without any educational competition so hopefully things will get better.
Rich
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After reading this post from last year, it kinda sums things up:
Isaan being failed by inequalities in education system
The Nation 2011-07-28
Politicians are ignoring long-term solution to Northeast's poverty trap
Waves of both good and bad news have swept through the Thai education world this month alone. These realities reflect not only the inequitable structure of our national education policy but also the lack of attention authorities have paid to the field.
First the bad news. The latest survey by the Mental Health Department reveals that the average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Thai students aged six to 15 is 98.59, a little lower than the world's median average of 100. Children in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Japan have, on average, a higher IQ.
Frankly speaking, this simply means that Thai students are of lower intellectual capability at best, and even less capable than their peers in those countries at worst.
By region, students in the Northeast had the lowest average scores, with 95.99. In the South, students did a bit better, scoring 96.85. On average, Northern students' scores were 100.11 while students in the Central region achieved 101.29. Students in Bangkok averaged 104.5.
Of 72,780 Thai students surveyed, 6.5 per cent qualified as having intellectual disabilities, because their IQs were lower than 70.
The second piece of bad news came on Monday, when 200 students rallied in front of the Faculty of Mass Communication at the prestigious Chiang Mai University, demanding that the faculty's dean step down following her alleged poor management. Not long before that, a similar protest occurred at the same university's Faculty of Education, resulting in the removal of its faculty dean.
Now, three pieces of good news.
First, a team from King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) marched to victory early this month at the World RoboCup Rescue 2011 contest in Istanbul, making Thailand the champion in the field for six consecutive years now.
Then, five Thai high-school students mostly from Bangkok scooped medals at the 42nd International Physics Olympiad, with one gold medallist (also from Bangkok) earning the highest score ever for Thailand.
And third, Thai students won 99 medals including nine golds at the International Mathematics Competition 2011 (IMC) and the World Youth Mathematics Inter-City Competition 2011 held recently in Bali. The majority of these medallists were from schools in Bangkok.
These five events furnish three conclusions on the state of our education system: Bangkok students seem the best educated; students countrywide don't have equal opportunities in education; and there is something wrong in our education system.
As shown by the first piece of bad news, students in Bangkok have the highest IQ score. Needless to say, Bangkok has the best schools and other education facilities. That the lowest IQ is seen in Isaan is no surprise - and it's not because children there have brain cancer, but because there are simply not enough decent schools, libraries, teachers and education funding, which children in Bangkok have easy access to.
In principle, this is a less an education than a political problem.
It's easy to name MPs who have big houses or big plots of land in the Northeast, and even easier to see how many MPs in Isaan send their sons for education abroad while children living in their constituencies within a 50 kilometre-radius of their luxury homes don't have a decent school to go to.
What's even more heart-wrenching is that it is the parents of these Isaan kids are the majority of the national electorate, instrumental in electing every government. But what Isaan people have received in return, in the way of education development from a series of governments, is too little too late.
Over the past 20 years, Isaan's primary schools have remained just as shabby. New emerging universities there lack both quality and credibility. The education authorities are currently deciding whether to shut down E-sarn University in Khon Kaen after it was rocked by a scandal over the sale of teaching diplomas.
Yet one fine day we see a series of road signs put up over a 100km stretch of highway leading to a birthday party of an influential politician in Isaan.
In the midst of all this, politicians are talking about issuing credit cards for farmers and raising their daily wages, as if these were "magic bullets" for curing poverty once and for all.
There's no serious talk about building quality schools, libraries and research centres in Isaan or elsewhere. We believe these are key to improving the lives of the masses and eradicating their chronic poverty in the long run.
This Thailand is nothing like Bangkok. And the capital remains the only serious education destination for every kid in the Kingdom. This is not fair.
What's fair is that children of the poor and the working classes, regardless of where they live, must have the same access to quality education as their counterparts in Bangkok.
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Somehow, I can't see Thailand becoming an education 'hub'.
I am not directly affected by the education system in Thailand but there is no doubt that general standards (at least in our area) are poor. Couple that with an inherent lack of desire for advancement and you seem to have a recipe for disaster.
Learning is better than being taught.
Education is not everything but providing the best opportunity one can for our children (as constrained by finance, location, availability) is the duty of any parent - that is true of Thailand or our home countries.
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I suspect that the reason for the low IQ levels in Isaan children is related to the fact that very many do not have parents at home, to whom they can talk and ask questions. Old Grannies who take care of them probably had next to no education.
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For decades people have been devising tests that try to capture a person’s mental abilities in a score, such as an IQ test. With the average IQ being about 100 and hovering at that for students in school in Europe and America, I don't think it is all about IQ. People that seem to excel all seem to do it as a result of hard work and putting in the time to learn.
Unfortunately, with Thai kids, the quest for learning outside the school as well as inside just doesn't seem to be there.
They have not been taught the importance of self-achievement and do not hesitate as a rule to cheat just to get by. Schools often show each and every student as a good or better performer than they really are because they do not want to have the student "lose face" by going home with a less than satisfactory report card (so they say)...the real reason is that the school feels partly to blame for the lack of progress (as they should) and may not want the parents to remove the student who think their education will be better achieved elsewhere since this would mean losing the fees paid by the parent.
So if most kids have an IQ that is not any better than these kids here in Isaan, what is the real reason and who is to blame that they do not learn. ?
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I suspect Nick reasoning is very near to the truth and this has proved to be an interesting and helpful thread. A good example of why a local forum is worthwhile.
Expats helping Expats
RESPECT yeahme bravo1
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For decades people have been devising tests that try to capture a person’s mental abilities in a score, such as an IQ test. With the average IQ being about 100 and hovering at that for students in school in Europe and America, I don't think it is all about IQ. People that seem to excel all seem to do it as a result of hard work and putting in the time to learn.
Unfortunately, with Thai kids, the quest for learning outside the school as well as inside just doesn't seem to be there.
They have not been taught the importance of self-achievement and do not hesitate as a rule to cheat just to get by. Schools often show each and every student as a good or better performer than they really are because they do not want to have the student "lose face" by going home with a less than satisfactory report card (so they say)...the real reason is that the school feels partly to blame for the lack of progress (as they should) and may not want the parents to remove the student who think their education will be better achieved elsewhere since this would mean losing the fees paid by the parent.
So if most kids have an IQ that is not any better than these kids here in Isaan, what is the real reason and who is to blame that they do not learn. ?
Self achievement, self-motivation, desire to succeed (fairly) are all characteristics that are not naturally apparent.
Nick and I have observed the difference with say, Cambodian kids. They seem to understand the benefits of learning English, and 8 year olds in Siem Reap etc can hold a conversation in English far better than most local Thai teenagers. A 22 year old girl working as a waitress for $3 a day could speak English, Thai and German ! Something is motivating them.
I guess that it is difficult for a culture/religion, that puts it's faith in destiny, to find such motivation.
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Nick and I have observed the difference with say, Cambodian kids. They seem to understand the benefits of learning English, and 8 year olds in Siem Reap etc can hold a conversation in English far better than most local Thai teenagers. A 22 year old girl working as a waitress for $3 a day could speak English, Thai and German ! Something is motivating them.
True, but it might be a better comparison to compare 2 tourist destinations as people living/working in these places have greater motivation to speak the language of the money providers.
Buriram,Isaan is no Pattaya/BKK or Siem Reip.
Ray or Nick, have you not heard the Thai's in Jomtien speaking Russian, yet??? Just for example! :D :D
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Perhaps if they cut out all the Buddhist teachings (leaving that to the wats), there would be significantly more time to teach the kids a whole range of additional (and interesting) subjects. There might just be time to teach them some of the rules of the road pertaining to driving motorbikes, which will ensure a few more reach adulthood!
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Buriram province is surely one of the major breeding grounds for the Thai "tourism" industry!
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Perhaps if they cut out all the Buddhist teachings (leaving that to the wats), there would be significantly more time to teach the kids a whole range of additional (and interesting) subjects. There might just be time to teach them some of the rules of the road pertaining to driving motorbikes, which will ensure a few more reach adulthood!
Oh My Buddha! - Don't get me started on driving ability !!!
I would use the extra time to teach English (properly, and in line with ASEAN objectives) and stuff like geography that shows that there are places in the world other than Thailand.
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I have observed many classes only to find it extremely rare to see a student raise their hand to participate in a discussion in a classroom. Rarely do the students input their thoughts in any issue or topic nor do they participate in subject matter from a young age thru their college years and that usually applies if they attend a government or a private school.
It is a fact that student-achievement levels in Thai schools have declined and Thai administrators are not heeding the example they could easily have learned from countries that have excelled, like Korea. As in most fingers of the government, corruption and a lack of money generated plays a part of the scenario. According to data presented at a recent United Nations seminar in Bangkok, entitled "Quality Education: For some, or For All?" figures from a study conducted in 2009 by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that the learning level of 15-year old Thai children was ranked at 50th for reading and mathematics and was ranked 49th for science, out of the 65 participating countries.
Thailand Education Council secretary-general Professor Tongthong Chandransu told the seminar "The Thai education system reflects itself in a dual image: it moves towards the universalisation of 15 years of basic education for all, but falls short on its quality improvement." I guess that is a very polite way of saying that the educational system basically stinks & doesn’t appear to be getting any better.
“We need to first look inside the black-box of the classroom and carefully observe and analyze what is going on in terms of student-teacher interaction and real teaching and learning and then come up with measures to facilitate positive changes.”
After all that, it sounds to me as if these people have never been in a Thai classroom because it really wouldn’t be necessary to "come up with measures to facilitate positive changes". First of all, students that fail in a particular subject should get a failing grade and not be passed as is done in the schools, both public and private. Parents should know the real performance of their child and the notion about "losing face" should be removed as this is only a cover-up for the child’s real learning experience. Teachers should teach more than the few students in the front of the class that are interested in the topic/subject by involving all the students in the class while students should be called upon in class to participate in the subject matter. Teachers should become more involved in their own classroom to view what the students are writing/or not writing in class. This means that teachers will have to get up off their ass in the classroom and walk around the class to review the students so the teacher can see if the student actually understands the subject matter. Schools should get parents more involved in their children’s education by answering letters sent home by the teacher regarding report cards, individual performance and attending Teacher/Parent conferences. Many provinces outside the capital have a ridiculous absenteeism rate. The number of holidays should be reduced so the school year is similar to that of other countries like Singapore or Korea.
Unfortunately most Thai children have a lack of goals or direction. After 15 years of free education they often have no idea what they’ve studied for. Their studies often are a result of trends or family pressure to get a degree while they may leave college with a bachelor’s degree just to receive a low paying mediocre job in a field which they have little or no interest. It is no doubt that I will have to make provisions for my own daughter to be able to go to a good University since I have seen the performance that has come out of many of the students that attended government schools. Usually it isn’t the students fault, it’s the institution that just doesn’t offer a quality atmosphere or learning experience for the student to learn what they should have known before graduating and this starts at an early level. The University and the teachers are there for only one reason and that is to assure the students learn. Unfortunately, the institutions sometimes seem to serve the purpose of those in charge which obviously creates an imbalance that sacrifices the rights of the students. Teachers must break from the old mold of being dictatorial and allow changes to occur that enables students to be more creative and able to express their position or feelings about subject matter while allowing the class to be strayed sometimes from a course syllabus is not a bad thing.
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As I rambled on in my last comments I did forget something that I would like to add regarding your comments...
The Ministry of Education in Thailand mandates that all primary school pupils should study Buddhist ethics and should be trained to be morally good in their own traditions. (Sirikanchana, 1998). On the surface, this sounds like a reasonable thing for the children to learn except for the fact that the impact of the major amount of Buddhist ethics being taught causes a lack of studies that the students should be learning, which in turn, is more detrimental to their education. It is worthy of note that the government is making an effort to enhance education by adopting a Western approach to education, namely Constructivism, while maintaining the national customs and traditions by promoting the study of Buddhism throughout all educational institutions. Unfortunately, schools already have shorter terms and much less days of attendance than most countries in the region and when the students are in class, their experience is often less rewarding. Studies often are dismissed or forgotten so students can participate in scouting, football, religious holidays, national holidays, miscellaneous school events, teachers meetings, test dates, seminars or outings and more. Not only are the schools not geared to offer the students a serious education, the priority all the way thru the high school level is that the students have "fun". This is mostly a result of the school thinking the place the kids learn should be fun over anything else and this is often equally important in the private schools that can lose students and the tuition paid by their parents. I have seen more than one instance when a foreign English teacher scolded a student for either misbehavior or some other type of problem, only to find the end result was the English teacher being dismissed just to make sure the student and his parents are happy.
Kids are taught to sit and listen rather than participate or use their brains to figure, analyze or question. They, of course, are never to question what the teacher says and this applies in both public and private school thru the University levels.
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Richard
I have been in Thailand for 25 years and I can tell you that nothing changes, nor is it likely to in my lifetime.
We basically have 2 choices. Either accept things as they are or take ourselves and our families elsewhere, where things may be better! This is Thailand..TIT...and like every country, its citizens resent being told that what they do or do not do is unsatisfactory.
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As I rambled on in my last comments I did forget something that I would like to add regarding your comments...
The Ministry of Education in Thailand mandates that all primary school pupils should study Buddhist ethics and should be trained to be morally good in their own traditions. (Sirikanchana, 1998). On the surface, this sounds like a reasonable thing for the children to learn except for the fact that the impact of the major amount of Buddhist ethics being taught causes a lack of studies that the students should be learning, which in turn, is more detrimental to their education. It is worthy of note that the government is making an effort to enhance education by adopting a Western approach to education, namely Constructivism, while maintaining the national customs and traditions by promoting the study of Buddhism throughout all educational institutions. Unfortunately, schools already have shorter terms and much less days of attendance than most countries in the region and when the students are in class, their experience is often less rewarding. Studies often are dismissed or forgotten so students can participate in scouting, football, religious holidays, national holidays, miscellaneous school events, teachers meetings, test dates, seminars or outings and more. Not only are the schools not geared to offer the students a serious education, the priority all the way thru the high school level is that the students have "fun". This is mostly a result of the school thinking the place the kids learn should be fun over anything else and this is often equally important in the private schools that can lose students and the tuition paid by their parents. I have seen more than one instance when a foreign English teacher scolded a student for either misbehavior or some other type of problem, only to find the end result was the English teacher being dismissed just to make sure the student and his parents are happy.
Kids are taught to sit and listen rather than participate or use their brains to figure, analyze or question. They, of course, are never to question what the teacher says and this applies in both public and private school thru the University levels.
Add all of what you have said to the parental inability to provide meaningful coaching/guidance and you have a recipe for failure.
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As I rambled on in my last comments I did forget something that I would like to add regarding your comments...
The Ministry of Education in Thailand mandates that all primary school pupils should study Buddhist ethics and should be trained to be morally good in their own traditions. (Sirikanchana, 1998). On the surface, this sounds like a reasonable thing for the children to learn except for the fact that the impact of the major amount of Buddhist ethics being taught causes a lack of studies that the students should be learning, which in turn, is more detrimental to their education. It is worthy of note that the government is making an effort to enhance education by adopting a Western approach to education, namely Constructivism, while maintaining the national customs and traditions by promoting the study of Buddhism throughout all educational institutions. Unfortunately, schools already have shorter terms and much less days of attendance than most countries in the region and when the students are in class, their experience is often less rewarding. Studies often are dismissed or forgotten so students can participate in scouting, football, religious holidays, national holidays, miscellaneous school events, teachers meetings, test dates, seminars or outings and more. Not only are the schools not geared to offer the students a serious education, the priority all the way thru the high school level is that the students have "fun". This is mostly a result of the school thinking the place the kids learn should be fun over anything else and this is often equally important in the private schools that can lose students and the tuition paid by their parents. I have seen more than one instance when a foreign English teacher scolded a student for either misbehavior or some other type of problem, only to find the end result was the English teacher being dismissed just to make sure the student and his parents are happy.
Kids are taught to sit and listen rather than participate or use their brains to figure, analyze or question. They, of course, are never to question what the teacher says and this applies in both public and private school thru the University levels.
Add all of what you have said to the parental inability to provide meaningful coaching/guidance and you have a recipe for failure.
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As I rambled on in my last comments I did forget something that I would like to add regarding your comments...
The Ministry of Education in Thailand mandates that all primary school pupils should study Buddhist ethics and should be trained to be morally good in their own traditions. (Sirikanchana, 1998). On the surface, this sounds like a reasonable thing for the children to learn except for the fact that the impact of the major amount of Buddhist ethics being taught causes a lack of studies that the students should be learning, which in turn, is more detrimental to their education. It is worthy of note that the government is making an effort to enhance education by adopting a Western approach to education, namely Constructivism, while maintaining the national customs and traditions by promoting the study of Buddhism throughout all educational institutions. Unfortunately, schools already have shorter terms and much less days of attendance than most countries in the region and when the students are in class, their experience is often less rewarding. Studies often are dismissed or forgotten so students can participate in scouting, football, religious holidays, national holidays, miscellaneous school events, teachers meetings, test dates, seminars or outings and more. Not only are the schools not geared to offer the students a serious education, the priority all the way thru the high school level is that the students have "fun". This is mostly a result of the school thinking the place the kids learn should be fun over anything else and this is often equally important in the private schools that can lose students and the tuition paid by their parents. I have seen more than one instance when a foreign English teacher scolded a student for either misbehavior or some other type of problem, only to find the end result was the English teacher being dismissed just to make sure the student and his parents are happy.
Kids are taught to sit and listen rather than participate or use their brains to figure, analyze or question. They, of course, are never to question what the teacher says and this applies in both public and private school thru the University levels.
Add all of what you have said to the parental inability to provide meaningful coaching/guidance and you have a recipe for failure.
buriram_united buriram_united buriram_united
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My Thai Daughter goes to Gamon luck school in Nang rong, it is a good school with Farang teachers and she is picked up everyday from Tapek so the mini bus would not have to make a huge detour to get your kids.
We are happy with it for now, but hopefully she will be with us in the UK next year.
Jon
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My Thai Daughter goes to Gamon luck school in Nang rong, it is a good school with Farang teachers and she is picked up everyday from Tapek so the mini bus would not have to make a huge detour to get your kids.
We are happy with it for now, but hopefully she will be with us in the UK next year.
Jon
Thought you were returning to Thailand later this year to settle Jon!
Change of plan?
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Sort of Nick our long term plan was always to settle back in Thailand, but we are going to try and get the girls a British education and papers etc to keep the rest of the world open to them when they grow up, but if we have too much trouble getting my step daughter here in the UK then we will have to seriously think about coming back sooner.
Jon