Slipping International into Thai schools

[BEVUP]

Hello all

I'm here in Korat & this time I have the chance to learn more about the schools & where my son will attend 

Just got a Leaflet from his current school, Sarasat. They now seem to be able to do International program, BUT it is for only a limited number.

 

I didn't think they would be able to find enough qualified teachers for a International program (STEM) & something else as in this (GIFTED)

The above notation comes from a response by another school I shall be putting my son into

 

But I see Sarasat can at least go from Pre - Prep to year 12 

The one my son will be attending only has International for Gr 1 & Gr 7 

 

So what is all this about, as in are they able to call themselves true International Schools

 

As far as I know (mainly from my mate that uses a microscope to check these schools ) the only real Int. Schools are Wesley, Adventist, (world known ) & a couple of others 

 

 

[Barnet]

Do they have accreditation?  I very much doubt it so therefore the international program means they teach in English.

 

It's an excuse to raise the costs when in fact the standard of teaching is probably on par with the standard system.

 

There are schools in Pattaya that offer the same BS. 

 

 

[Scott]

A lot of the bilingual schools offer a slight upgrade on regular education, I believe that Sarasas is one of them.   The Sarasas schools are primarily bilingual and have a reasonably good track record for bilingual education in Thailand.   A number of them have started International Programs.   Those programs are not accredited by any international system. 

 

I have known a few students attending the international programs and they seem reasonable, but a little on the expensive side.   Of course, the cost is nothing compared to a true international school.  

 

 

[BEVUP]

1 hour ago, Scott said:

A lot of the bilingual schools offer a slight upgrade on regular education, I believe that Sarasas is one of them.   The Sarasas schools are primarily bilingual and have a reasonably good track record for bilingual education in Thailand.   A number of them have started International Programs.   Those programs are not accredited by any international system. 

 

I have known a few students attending the international programs and they seem reasonable, but a little on the expensive side.   Of course, the cost is nothing compared to a true international school.  

 

 

They all seem to have just started jumping on the band wagon here

My son seems ok in the english program, but the school is like nazi & you are not allowed to speak to teachers to see how your kid is really & personally doing (this brings me back to a news article about Teacher / parent  interaction )

 

& even though my son is in the English program (supposeably Learning english along the way, I cannot see how a child is suppose to learn to the fullest if thrown a whole heap of books for all classes in full english from the start )

 

My mate dragged his daughter out of Sarrasat for the above reason ( paragraph 1 ) & many others (one of the main ones was the lack of a science class ( proper one with bunsen burners ) 

 

 

I certainly know how much Int Nat. schools are in BKK 

 

& if I was paying the fee that some of these slip in Int want I would go for a proper one for a good 30,000 bht per term dearer 

[Scott]

I am not going to argue about the difference in the cost and the effectiveness of a true international school.    There is a great deal of variation in the local schools and the programs that they offer.   These are not well monitored by the education department, so it's pretty much a free-for-all.  

 

A lot of schools are going to set limits on direct communication between parents and teachers, at least the foreign teachers, who may be a little more honest and direct than the school wants.   With younger children, there is a definite need for easy communication.   The student may not be feeling well, maybe on medication or there may have been a family situation which might reflect in the student's performance.

 

With older students there should be a path to speaking to the teacher.   Some schools want one of the school Admin present to prevent miscommunication.   This is more common with Thai parents.  

 

 

 

[MikeyIdea]

Very good posts here, Scott and Barnet are spot on in my experience too.

A few comments

There are only two types of schools in Thailand whatever they call themselves
1) any type of Thai, bilingual or Thai EP programme school 2 ) any other school outside that system

 

All Thai schools must teach content that follow the Thai curriculum but it can actually more or less be taught in any language and it gives a Thai High School diploma, the "outside" gives what the school offer, no accreditation = no high school diploma anywhere. Both types must teach a minimum number of hours in Thai

-- I didn't think they would be able to find enough qualified teachers

Why not and what is a qualified teacher? Everything is a trade off, they can find enough qualified native English speaking teachers but the tuition fee will be several hundred thousand baht per year, they can easily find enough qualified Filipinos and tuition fee can be under 200,000.

 

I don't agree that an international school should have only native English speaking teachers at all, quite the opposite actually. Diversity is good for our children the way the world is today. The 50,000 baht per term bilingual school in Bangkok that I used to send my daughter to only hired qualified Filipino teachers that really spoke excellent English so there are options. That Thai BL school failed quite badly in several other areas though...

 

Sarasas: Not the first time I've heard about the Sarasas Iron Wall. It's a cheap way of keeping the noise down instead of addressing problems, nothing else. What they do is very unacceptable. There is nothing a foreigner can do except change school because Thai parents accept it.

By the way: Filipino teachers are much better than western teachers at "offering solutions to limitations the school have" :) My daughters old Thai BL school had a rule that teachers weren't allowed to tutor pupils privately. The Filipinos had a great Line network that we parents appreciated a lot Can the Filipinos at Sarasas perhaps help with the Iron Wall?

 

Michael

 

 

[gerryBScot]

 

4 hours ago, MikeyIdea said:

Sarasas: Not the first time I've heard about the Sarasas Iron Wall. It's a cheap way of keeping the noise down instead of addressing problems, nothing else. What they do is very unacceptable. There is nothing a foreigner can do except change school because Thai parents accept it.

Spot on MikeyIdea.

 

On a recent trip back to Thailand while driving along the Pra Rama II highway from Wang Manao into Bangkok I think I went past three huge Sarasas schools and I must say, having directly experienced their approach as a teacher a few years earlier, I was surprised to see them apparently in such vigorous good health.  I am amazed, though hardly surprised, to read that Sarasas is now branching out into the international sector.  As I recall it their mantra was: we are a Thai school, for Thai parents and children, promoting Thai culture and values..... etc - at the time, being relatively new to Thailand, it was personally shocking to encounter such xenophobia, even in a provincial, bilingual school. Not exactly the foundation of international-mindedness, one of the key values underpinning international education! However they do like money and there is a huge amount of money in international education, especially of the type that can lead to entry to the world's top universities, so no surprises they are going that way. 

 

I got out of Thailand to get my my family out of the Thai education system. We are both teachers and have two young kids. We are now in China, in the snow right now, but one year on, no regrets, from anyone's perspective.