School directors push for shelving of new education bill

By The Nation

 

Photo from: www.amadothailand.com

 

School directors in the Northeast are demanding that the new National Education Bill be suspended until a new government is formed after the March 24 election.
 

Opponents say the bill aims to issue teaching certificates instead of licences, which they believe will downgrade the status of the teaching profession. They also find the plan to use the archaic terms “headmaster or headmistress” instead of “school directors” unacceptable. 

 

“We disagree with many parts of the National Education Bill,” Pichit Ratchabutr said yesterday in his capacity as vice president of the Khon Kaen-based Secondary Schools Association. By his side were school directors from other Northeast provinces too. 

 

The draft bill is close to being approved, having already sailed through the Council of State and is soon set to go to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

 

Pichit said he did not see any point in reintroducing the terms “headmasters and headmistresses”, which had reportedly been proposed by Dr Jiruth Sriratanaban, who chairs the panel preparing the new bill. Jiruth apparently recommended this change in the hope of energising the drive for child-centred education reform. 

 

“Revising how holders of the post are addressed will mainly result in new badges and cards being issued. It will not deliver any benefits. Why doesn’t the bill focus on developing the educational management system instead?” Pichit asked. 

 

He said his network also wondered why the draft bill would allow anyone who only holds a teaching certificate to take up a teaching job.

 

“This will downgrade the teaching profession. The Teachers and Educational Personnel Act has given the profession a high status. Teachers have to undergo training and display good ethics and professional standards. Why would you downgrade the prestige of the teaching profession?” he asked.

 

Tinnakorn Sorathavorn, director of Roi Et’s Atsamatwittaya School, said the NLA should not even consider the draft bill. 

 

“Shelve it until the new government gathers teachers’ opinions first,” he said. 

 

Khok Pho School’s director Suriyan Laomateuk said school directors in 22 areas in the Northeast want the draft to be put on hold until it can be reworked by taking stakeholders’ opinions into account. 

 

“In our eyes, the bill should be revised to support increased decentralisation of schools,” he added.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30365004

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-03-01

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Pichit said he did not see any point in reintroducing the terms “headmasters and headmistresses”

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

"Revising how holders of the post are addressed will mainly result in new badges and cards being issued. It will not deliver any benefits..." 

So funny! Image obsessed Thais worried about how their LinkedIn will look with their new titles.

 

Director sounds and looks so much more prestigious than Headmaster. This naming issue will consume 80% of their arguing and negotiating. 

 

Very few of them care about the actual work and the education outcomes of their students. 

42 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

 

So funny! Image obsessed Thais worried about how their LinkedIn will look with their new titles.

 

Director sounds and looks so much more prestigious than Headmaster. This naming issue will consume 80% of their arguing and negotiating. 

 

Very few of them care about the actual work and the education outcomes of their students. 

You beat me to it. They're more worried about their image and the imortance of their titles. Can we be more revered than we already are?

Certainy more important than their kids' education.

Sad.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

until it can be reworked by taking stakeholders’ opinions into account. 

pointless dissent; the current government , unelected and questionably qualified, cares little-to-nothing about others' opinions

2 hours ago, webfact said:

This will downgrade the teaching profession

How much further down can it go?  I have yet to meet a teacher who is truly qualified to teach anyone in this age of globalization.  I met one who wanted to know if Canada had the same sun and moon as Thailand!  Granted, he was not the science teacher.

From what I hear about the Education system and It's Directors it is in the big league of Thai corruption and up there with the RTP, Immigration, Customs and the masters of them all, the politicians. 

I once asked the Computer Teacher at a Private School, a simple question...
"What servers do you run"

The response was.... well lets say, my missus knows more and all she does is Facebook

Honestly.  What's the problem?  You don't need to have a Masters of Education in order to indoctrinate children to be compliant, unquestioning, risk-adverse, puuyai worshiping, nationalist automatons.  Really - a simple certificate will suffice. As long as the little tykes can sing Chart Thai with gusto, actual education is of little consequence. Most children need little more then to know how to operate farm equipment or factory machinery or operate a cash register.  The chosen future leaders will go to private school where the international teaching staff actually do have M.Ed.s from first world universities.  The children of the little people just need to know how to toe the line.  The teaching staff of their schools simply need to know indoctrination methodologies. 

"...they believe will downgrade the status of the teaching profession."

 

"Downgrade"???

I thought "Rock Bottom" was as low as you could go. 

 

Thailand: Where ascending to mediocrity is still a goal.  

 

Edited March 1, 20197 yr by jaltsc

2 hours ago, Prairieboy said:

How much further down can it go?  I have yet to meet a teacher who is truly qualified to teach anyone in this age of globalization.  I met one who wanted to know if Canada had the same sun and moon as Thailand!  Granted, he was not the science teacher.

at least he was inquisitive, more than you can say for most.

19 minutes ago, connda said:

Honestly.  What's the problem?  You don't need to have a Masters of Education in order to indoctrinate children to be compliant, unquestioning, risk-adverse, puuyai worshiping, nationalist automatons.  Really - a simple certificate will suffice. As long as the little tykes can sing Chart Thai with gusto, actual education is of little consequence. Most children need little more then to know how to operate farm equipment or factory machinery or operate a cash register.  The chosen future leaders will go to private school where the international teaching staff actually do have M.Ed.s from first world universities.  The children of the little people just need to know how to toe the line.  The teaching staff of their schools simply need to know indoctrination methodologies. 

Truthful, but nasty.

 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

He said his network also wondered why the draft bill would allow anyone who only holds a teaching certificate to take up a teaching job.

Why can't we have teachers in a teaching job who poses a teaching certificate?

All teachers should be titled school directors just as all military men are generals.

12 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

All teachers should be titled school directors just as all military men are generals.

Just like the not-too-handy "handy man" is an Engineer and the lady selling roadside fried chicken is a CEO. 

 

Thais love big words and have no problem when they are completely detached from reality.

 

Cute people 

 

Edited March 1, 20197 yr by Fex Bluse

The daily reporting about what they call "education news" seem to be in a media competition with the heroic achievements of BJ.

Bend over you again sonny! my deputy headmaster said as he "directed" the cane onto my quivering arse. looking back what a correct forward thinker he was????

 

3 hours ago, Prairieboy said:

How much further down can it go?  I have yet to meet a teacher who is truly qualified to teach anyone in this age of globalization.  I met one who wanted to know if Canada had the same sun and moon as Thailand!  Granted, he was not the science teacher.

I know a Thai teacher age 45 years, who couldn't understand why it's not daylight all around the world at the same time, or the concept of time zones. I had to draw a picture to get her to understand that there's only one sun & one moon, that it's impossible to shine all around the world at the same time... thus giving different times around the world!!

 

What's wrong with headmaster or headmistress and why Director? They are not running multi-million baht companies with a Board - blackboard perhaps.

again they are simply worried about face, director in education sounds better than headmaster, they simply hate to sound as though they have lost rank, as for the certificate, what is wrong with that, thai teachers are mostly  pathetic at best and would not even allowed to be assistant teachers in the west due to their lack of education. This is a load of crap, push it through and tell them all to go jump

5 hours ago, YetAnother said:

pointless dissent; the current government , unelected and questionably qualified, cares little-to-nothing about others' opinions

Oh, really?

If you think so be so kind to review the track record of the former government.

And you think the members of the former government were better qualified? Because they were elected?

Most, if not all, of the former government were mainly busy with their own business, and used the elected status to hunt their own

P & P (power and profit)

I still struggle, why do teachers require uniforms with military style ribbons ?

1 hour ago, Lucky mike said:

I still struggle, why do teachers require uniforms with military style ribbons ?

All the (Thai) teachers in my school now turn up on a Monday resplendent in black trousers/skirt and white paramilitary style shirts, all with the same badges of rank (two gold bars on each shoulder) and the same six medal ribbons, arranged in two rows. I observed that they looked like drivers for "Sombat Tour". The younger ones thought that very funny, one or two of the older ones were a bit old fashioned about it. The senior lady who is the supervisor teacher for P6, and who spends all her time scolding that lively, funny and engaging collection of 12 year olds for not wai-ing to her correctly, complained. Lack of respect I suppose.  None of them could tell me what the medals were awarded for! It was suggested that perhaps I would like to wear a uniform - I declined - it would have been embarrassing - I've only got four medals...

Edited March 1, 20197 yr by JAG

2 hours ago, hansnl said:

Oh, really?

If you think so be so kind to review the track record of the former government.

And you think the members of the former government were better qualified? Because they were elected?

Most, if not all, of the former government were mainly busy with their own business, and used the elected status to hunt their own

P & P (power and profit)

Why just review the previous debacle? 

But moving forward, my wife is in education and at a level of knowing and seeing changes being made / suggested by the current crowd for improvement, especially at the university level, but of course the education system / hierarchy are fully entrenched criminal gangsters. The only way any real change will be made is a complete massacre at the top without any prisoners being taken - but that takes balls, something in very short supply in LOS. 

 

3 minutes ago, JAG said:

All the (Thai) teachers in my school now turn up on a Monday resplendent in black trousers and white paramilitary style shirts, all with the same badges of rank (two gold bars on each shoulder) and the same six medal ribbons, arranged in two rows. I observed that they looked like drivers for "Sombat Tour". The younger ones thought that very funny, one or two of the older ones were a bit old fashioned about it. None of them could tell me what the medals were awarded for! It was suggested that perhaps I would like to wear a uniform - I declined - it would have been embarrassing - I've only got four medals...

The medals are just a load of BS, they buy them on the local markets for 200 baht.

My wife wears them on her uniform on mondays, every time i see her with them i nearly p++s myself laughing.

The medals mean nothing, they are just for show nothing else.

3 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

What's wrong with headmaster or headmistress and why Director? They are not running multi-million baht companies with a Board - blackboard perhaps.

If you count in all the bribes for the schools that are more difficult to get into, they are running multi-million baht companies. 

1 hour ago, Lucky mike said:

I still struggle, why do teachers require uniforms with military style ribbons ?

They are the jugend arm of the military.

4 hours ago, Muhendis said:

Why can't we have teachers in a teaching job who poses a teaching certificate?

"the college-degree is stuffed with absolutely nothing at all, you get . . . you get nothing with your college-degree . . ."

 

FZ, Dummy Up, Roxy & Elswhere.

8 minutes ago, colinneil said:

The medals are just a load of BS, they buy them on the local markets for 200 baht.

My wife wears them on her uniform on mondays, every time i see her with them i nearly p++s myself laughing.

The medals mean nothing, they are just for show nothing else.

I've got four medals metals too: iron, steel, aluminium and lead.

I was awarded the last one personally by Stan Laurel, who said, "You can take a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead."

 

(OK, in reality Stan did say it, but in the 1930 Laurel & Hardy film 'Brats')

15 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I've got four medals metals too: iron, steel, aluminium and lead.

I was awarded the last one personally by Stan Laurel, who said, "You can take a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead."

 

(OK, in reality Stan did say it, but in the 1930 Laurel & Hardy film 'Brats')

We can easily see you're not Thai, no gold. 

4 hours ago, Lucky mike said:

I still struggle, why do teachers require uniforms with military style ribbons ?

The same goes for all Government employees such as the lady cashiers at my local PEA and Water Authority offices!