Inequality in education is a more serious problem for Thai students

By Bangkokbiznews Team

 

 

On Tuesday, several students assembled before the Education Ministry in Bangkok, demanding that the strict school-uniform code be lifted as well as other reforms be introduced in the country’s education sector.

 

Though students mentioned several problems that day and earlier, the one major problem they left out was the serious inequality faced by children.

 

In Thailand, almost 100 per cent of children have completed their elementary education, but only 65 per cent have completed high school, a 2019 report compiled by the National Statistical Office in cooperation with Unicef shows.

 

The report says that up to 160,000 youngsters across the nation cannot be educated because they live in very remote areas, while up to 30,000 juveniles are missing out on education because they are behind bars for drug charges.

 

In addition, some children in Thailand suffer other problems like poverty, pregnancy or disability, which hinders their education.

 

The report also showed that nearly 400,000 children live on the streets or are the offspring of migrant workers. When these children are denied education, they tend to be lured into drug abuse, human trafficking or violence.

 

Another problem worth mentioning is chronic malnutrition among children in the educational system, especially in remote areas.

 

A report on the nutritional status of hill tribes in Chiang Rai province, conducted by Chiang Rai College lecturer Sukanya Buasri, showed that though the children were provided with three meals a day, they still suffered malnutrition, particularly the very young.

 

It is understandable that transporting food to remote areas is difficult, therefore feeding children in these remote areas is expensive and can cost more than the funds allocated for school meals.

 

The report also showed that state funding for schools in remote areas was too low to allow for the hiring of contractors who can provide nutritious meals.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30399118?utm_source=category&utm_medium=internal_referral

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-12-05

 

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The first thing that needs to happen in Education is that there be a standard requirement that students must attain.  The standard should be tested each year and the results published.

 

Migrant students where parents are working in Thailand should be allowed into the school system and parents should be taxed if the child is born in Thailand.

 

As to the number of students that do not finish high school is the author including the students that leave after Mat 3 because there is nothing that can be done.

 

These teens that are incarcerated should face not only mandatory time in prison but also mandatory classes and the requirement that they pass all classes while in jail.

 

The rural school system is relatively easy if you simply institute a forgiveness of student loans for people that teach in the remote areas.

 

Nutritious meals can easily be provided in rural areas with farming there is no reason that it can not be instituted with the community providing it.  

 

Kid,

 

all what you say is correct, but in my opinion, you lose yourself in the smaller details. Putting plasters on a rotting leg won't help much.

First it would need a definition of one or two major objectives, e. g. what do we want to accomplish by education. These goals could be:

1) improve Thai's competitiveness within the peer group

2) attract foreign investment by providing skilled labour force

 

Only when these principals are set, we could look at the provisions needed to make it happen:

a) school infrastructure (e.g. free meals, max. size of classes, distance to the school)

b) qualification of teachers, hiring foreign teachers

c) scholarships for bright students held back only by the financial background

d) cultural aspects: encourage critical thinking (I know!)

 

It won't ever happen, because these concepts are the contraction of the feudal "Thainess".

 

I have no intention of demeaning the first two posters, but!!!

The assessment of the NSO gives a completely different outlook in the Thai education system.

In a nutshell it is BS.

Yes it is entirely different to teach classes in remote areas compared to metropolitan locales,

but we have an amazing source called "the internet"

All it needs is the multitude of the of  experts in the Education Department headquarters

to study the concept of utilise this source.

Without being political this would be of more benefit to Thailand than a couple of submarines.

 

as always its the teachers that are the big problem, they are almost universally incompetent in state schools, especially in rural locations.  Until they fix that, nothing will improve. If they do manage  that, the next step is to get all the cultural BS out of education.  Teach it by all  means but don't ram it down the students throats for the whole of their time at school. 

Edited December 5, 20205 yr by Pilotman

maybe if the parents of these kids actually did proper parenting instead of letting the kids do as they please it would also help, when they let them roam the streets to all hours of the night and not teach them any kind of respect for others it does make it hard. The fact that many teachers are basically  not better than a secondary school  student from overseas doesnt help either plus the fact they dont want to actually do any work, our daughter had to attend night school(every night and weekends as well) for several years to make sure she got a proper education to be able to go to university to be a doctor. The standards of teaching in Thailand are pathetic, really good teachers are far and few between, the schools or should I say the hierachy dont want to spend any money on anything other than themselves so feeding students etc is very low on their to do list as is making sure students are taught properly 

18 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

The first thing that needs to happen in Education is that there be a standard requirement that students must attain.  The standard should be tested each year and the results published

Prayuts vision of education is that they are too smart, education will become standardised at a new all time low level so all are equal, they will be indoctrinated so as not to challenge those in power, they must be respectful at all times, never ask pertinent question and follow blindly where their forebears have trod.

14 hours ago, Pilotman said:

as always its the teachers that are the big problem, they are almost universally incompetent in state schools, especially in rural locations.  Until they fix that, nothing will improve. If they do manage  that, the next step is to get all the cultural BS out of education.  Teach it by all  means but don't ram it down the students throats for the whole of their time at school. 

The elite do not want the masses educated... they want servants for the rich elite.

The biggest problem in the schools here is in my opinion, all the ridiculous amount of meetings/ seminars teachers go to.

Last week my wife was only at school 1 day out of 5, other days meetings, meetings, meetings.

Teachers can check on line what seminars are on in the area, then they notify the school director that they are wanting to go, so the school is short of a teacher, so somebody else has to cover the class, my wife covers classes many times, because a teacher is away on a jolly, time this nonsense was stopped, then maybe the kids can get some education.

Honestly now, what upward career path do most of these kids have?

38 minutes ago, J Town said:

Honestly now, what upward career path do most of these kids have?

Education doesn't provide even a start on the career path for most careers, patronage and/or parental ability to pay is what opens doors.

 

One of the saddest lessons to teach P6 is ''Jobs". You go round the class asking the children "what do you want to be". I listen to the answers and know most of them are unobtainable, so often not through lack of talent or ability but lack of connections and therefore opportunity.

 

That is why you end up with the 7/11 clerk or waitress who can hold a conversation in English, but a civil servant (or teacher) who cannot!

Sadly, many Thai people only really care about things the effect them directly.  So the current protests are mostly about things that effect the individuals involved.  This means that issues that are far more important are ignored by protestors because they do not effect everyone in the same way.

 

So the issues that are being protested, such as school uniforms or haircuts, are fairly trivial compared with many issues facing Thai school children today (poverty, abuse, etc.).  This means the protestors are quite unlikely to succeed (and I hope they don't in the case of school uniforms).  In these cases they come across as spoilt brats.

52 minutes ago, J Town said:

Honestly now, what upward career path do most of these kids have?

How to navigate through the porous border to Myanmar.

On 12/5/2020 at 7:54 AM, rooster59 said:

Inequality in education is a more serious problem for Thai students

By Bangkokbiznews Team

 

 

On Tuesday, several students assembled before the Education Ministry in Bangkok, demanding that the strict school-uniform code be lifted as well as other reforms be introduced in the country’s education sector.

 

Though students mentioned several problems that day and earlier, the one major problem they left out was the serious inequality faced by children.

 

In Thailand, almost 100 per cent of children have completed their elementary education, but only 65 per cent have completed high school, a 2019 report compiled by the National Statistical Office in cooperation with Unicef shows.

 

The report says that up to 160,000 youngsters across the nation cannot be educated because they live in very remote areas, while up to 30,000 juveniles are missing out on education because they are behind bars for drug charges.

 

In addition, some children in Thailand suffer other problems like poverty, pregnancy or disability, which hinders their education.

 

The report also showed that nearly 400,000 children live on the streets or are the offspring of migrant workers. When these children are denied education, they tend to be lured into drug abuse, human trafficking or violence.

 

Another problem worth mentioning is chronic malnutrition among children in the educational system, especially in remote areas.

 

A report on the nutritional status of hill tribes in Chiang Rai province, conducted by Chiang Rai College lecturer Sukanya Buasri, showed that though the children were provided with three meals a day, they still suffered malnutrition, particularly the very young.

 

It is understandable that transporting food to remote areas is difficult, therefore feeding children in these remote areas is expensive and can cost more than the funds allocated for school meals.

 

The report also showed that state funding for schools in remote areas was too low to allow for the hiring of contractors who can provide nutritious meals.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30399118?utm_source=category&utm_medium=internal_referral

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-12-05

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

The upper class Thais love to talk about poor education only in terms of of the poor and disadvantaged. The truth is that they are all under educated. The Thai elites are anything but and cannot compete with elites in most other economies. 

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The elite do not want the masses educated... they want servants for the rich elite.

There is a good deal of truth in that statement.  The elite fear education, as it will empower the masses to understand that there are better ways to run this country.  Such a view often ends in revolution? 

21 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The elite do not want the masses educated... they want servants for the rich elite.

There is a good deal of truth in that statement.  The elite fear education, as it will empower the masses to understand that there are better ways to run this country.  Such a view often ends in revolution? 

We teachers were taken to a weekend retreat (THAT was a debacle!) and put in teams to give presentations on Saturday night. I tried applying one of the lessons given on critical thinking the following Monday and got my nose rapped with a rolled up newspaper. THERE was the REAL lesson!

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 20205 yr by J Town
brevity

what amazes me here, is that, in the many thousands of expats in Thailand on Retirement Extensions, so no WP, with a multitude of high level skills available to the Thai children/students, the Thais are so narrow minded that they  will not enact a law to allow these people, this valuable resource, to be used in school colleges and universities on a part time basis.  Like many hundreds , perhaps thousands of older farangs,  I sit here with three degrees, including a PhD and a TESOL, unable to put in a few hours a month to the benefit of the community and its children.  It is stupidly short sighted of them. 

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

There is a good deal of truth in that statement.  The elite fear education, as it will empower the masses to understand that there are better ways to run this country.  Such a view often ends in revolution? 

What they really ought to be worried about ( maybe they are, but I doubt they understand it) is that many of the young are starting to educate themselves. The lack of, and inadequacy of the formal education offered has led to them using the internet and social media to fill the gaps. As far as the" dinosaurs" are concerned the situation is now out of control. Ideas have been aired, and won't go away...

 

13 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The elite do not want the masses educated... they want servants for the rich elite.

I once heard that the elite do not need education they already have money and influence. It is the masses who need education so they can get jobs in the modern world.

 

9 hours ago, Pilotman said:

what amazes me here, is that, in the many thousands of expats in Thailand on Retirement Extensions, so no WP, with a multitude of high level skills available to the Thai children/students, the Thais are so narrow minded that they  will not enact a law to allow these people, this valuable resource, to be used in school colleges and universities on a part time basis.  Like many hundreds , perhaps thousands of older farangs,  I sit here with three degrees, including a PhD and a TESOL, unable to put in a few hours a month to the benefit of the community and its children.  It is stupidly short sighted of them. 

Many skills can be passed on including teaching English as a second language to Thai children. I know someone who specialises in this she tells me that it is not necessary for her to speak the native language of the children she teaches. I am a former information manager qualified as a Microsoft Office Authorized Instructor yet I am not allowed to pass my information skills on. TI also have a Teaching Certificate. Ridiculous and they say they are desperate for English Teachers.

18 hours ago, Pilotman said:

what amazes me here, is that, in the many thousands of expats in Thailand on Retirement Extensions, so no WP, with a multitude of high level skills available to the Thai children/students, the Thais are so narrow minded that they  will not enact a law to allow these people, this valuable resource, to be used in school colleges and universities on a part time basis.  Like many hundreds , perhaps thousands of older farangs,  I sit here with three degrees, including a PhD and a TESOL, unable to put in a few hours a month to the benefit of the community and its children.  It is stupidly short sighted of them. 

Agree totally with what you say, but in Thai schools they have a unique system, qualified teachers [aka gods] parade in front of the class with an abundance of "teacher assistants" to help them with every whim, they do not need nor want educated retirees taking up valuable occupations.

On 12/5/2020 at 1:34 PM, IgboChief said:

Kid,

 

all what you say is correct, but in my opinion, you lose yourself in the smaller details. Putting plasters on a rotting leg won't help much.

First it would need a definition of one or two major objectives, e. g. what do we want to accomplish by education. These goals could be:

1) improve Thai's competitiveness within the peer group

2) attract foreign investment by providing skilled labour force

 

Only when these principals are set, we could look at the provisions needed to make it happen:

a) school infrastructure (e.g. free meals, max. size of classes, distance to the school)

b) qualification of teachers, hiring foreign teachers

c) scholarships for bright students held back only by the financial background

d) cultural aspects: encourage critical thinking (I know!)

 

It won't ever happen, because these concepts are the contraction of the feudal "Thainess".

 

 

Spot on, 100 % nailed.

The report says that up to 160,000 youngsters across the nation cannot be educated because they live in very remote areas, while up to 30,000 juveniles are missing out on education because they are behind bars for drug charges.

 

Remote areas do not deserve proper schools? That doesn't make sense at all. Soldier warning. 

10 hours ago, RobU said:

Many skills can be passed on including teaching English as a second language to Thai children. I know someone who specialises in this she tells me that it is not necessary for her to speak the native language of the children she teaches. I am a former information manager qualified as a Microsoft Office Authorized Instructor yet I am not allowed to pass my information skills on. TI also have a Teaching Certificate. Ridiculous and they say they are desperate for English Teachers.

 

       It's a sad situation for the students. Time to start at the top. 

 

 

20 hours ago, Pilotman said:

what amazes me here, is that, in the many thousands of expats in Thailand on Retirement Extensions, so no WP, with a multitude of high level skills available to the Thai children/students, the Thais are so narrow minded that they  will not enact a law to allow these people, this valuable resource, to be used in school colleges and universities on a part time basis.  Like many hundreds , perhaps thousands of older farangs,  I sit here with three degrees, including a PhD and a TESOL, unable to put in a few hours a month to the benefit of the community and its children.  It is stupidly short sighted of them. 

 

.... at times this is a noble idea, pick the students you want to help, let the troublemakers keep their faces in their phones, yet, many of us have had enough...and...relax.

 

 

Edited December 7, 20205 yr by Rhys

21 hours ago, Pilotman said:

what amazes me here, is that, in the many thousands of expats in Thailand on Retirement Extensions, so no WP, with a multitude of high level skills available to the Thai children/students, the Thais are so narrow minded that they  will not enact a law to allow these people, this valuable resource, to be used in school colleges and universities on a part time basis.  Like many hundreds , perhaps thousands of older farangs,  I sit here with three degrees, including a PhD and a TESOL, unable to put in a few hours a month to the benefit of the community and its children.  It is stupidly short sighted of them. 

I’ve heard this from many retired farangs at my local watering holes over the years. “Why can’t I just pop into the local school for a few hours a week? I’ve got time to kill, I’ve got experience, I’d like to help.”

 

Main problem is the retirement visa issue. Can’t get the WP. There’s also the Thais’ obsession with paperwork and bureaucracy, they want you to go through the full hiring process. There is no reduced process available for part time or volunteer work.

 

But the biggest issue lies with their motivation for getting a farang in a school. Try it, show up at your local school out in the rural provinces. Go to the thesaban (municipality office), in charge of the municipal schools. They’re the most in need. Their eyes will get wide, “Ooh, a farang wants to work here? Wow, what a privilege. We rarely get any out here. We’ll get pictures with them and can say we’ve got a foreign teacher.”

 

Then you’ll find the teaching’s mostly a joke. Sing some songs, play some games. You’ll see chaotic classrooms in which the students are going nuts, while teachers sit in the office. Daycare centers. Classes are often canceled for activities. But wait, didn’t they want me here to teach? Nope. They wanted you for the pics, the image. Then most of all, as with most things Thailand, it’s about money.

 

The MOE has earmarked up to 60k a month for foreign teachers in every government school. They see farangs, they see that money. They need you to go through that full hiring process to get that money. Then as the money comes from the government down to the school, many hands come out. The officials at the thesaban, the school director, the head of the English dept in the school, the immigration officer who processes your Non-B. That is why when it finally gets to you, it is 30k or less. And is also why they don’t really care about what you teach, or what the kids are learning. As long as you show up now and then, and aren’t smacking anyone around, and everyone’s getting paid, it’s all good.

2 hours ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Classes are often canceled for activities.

 

So true, and it is ALWAYS the maths or English class. It is never the Boyscouts, Thai Fairy Tale (a.k.a "history") or the morning gathering.

 

That said, not all hope is lost: there are a few really excellent private IB schools. Sent my daughter to PTIS in Chiang Mai and she is really happy there and she gathered amazing skills and confidence. It is a better school than I could have provided in Europe.