Yet again a damming report on Thai education and standards. They know the answers but they don’t want to hear the answers or look at the proof. In my school one stream taught by natives has 97% proficiency in English whilst the other stream taught by non natives has a 32% ability. What do they do? Stop teaching, introduce activities which have no academic benefit, or educational achievement to bring the stronger team down. Instead of a project on say the Aboriginal art and its meanings my P5 today will be folding 3 pieces of A4 paper to make a Chefs hat!
let’s look at the other benefits of native speakers, assuming a school really does want to educate its students. When a native teaches here they earn 25% of their salary in their home country. They spend their salary in Thailand, renting houses, buying cars and motorcycles which they tax and insure. Many meet partners and invest in land and homes benefitting Thai tradesmen and businesses.
When an Asian native teaches here they earn 2 - 300% more than their home country. They live 3 or 4 to a room and send most of their money home. They are not motivated by a sense of achievement but purely by money.
Standards are down? For sure. Ask yourself, if you lived in London and wanted to learn Thai would you ask a Thai person or a Laos person? Answer that correctly and you have your solution. It’s not too late but it soon will be!