Education ministry takes steps to address teacher debt problem

[snoop1130]

 

The Ministry of Education has been working with teacher’s savings cooperatives and other officials across the country to resolve hefty debts, totalling about 1.4 trillion baht, incurred by about 900,000 teachers with 108 cooperatives.

 

According to Education Minister Treenuch Thienthong, a debt refinancing program was launched in February, under which the indebted teachers can apply for a new loan with an average interest rate of 5.5%, with the repayments deducted from their monthly salaries, but leaving their take-home pay at a minimum of 30% of their salaries, to ensure they have enough money to avoid further borrowing.

 

Over 25,800 teachers have, so far, registered to join the program.

 

Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/education-ministry-takes-steps-to-address-teacher-debt-problem/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-03-08

 

- Aetna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Pouatchee]

Easy! Give them a reasonable salary to start with. The minimum monthly wage is 15 000 a month for non teaching jobs yet some teachers only get 8 000 when they begin their career. Something is woefully wrong here. On top of the, 'If your children are failing it is your fault.'  attitude. It is not easy being a teacher and the expectations are great yet the benefits few in this society.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Pouatchee

[ikke1959]

A teacher should teach kids how to handle money, but they fail to use their own How can they teach the kids. On the other hand the salary for some teachers is so low, while there is biggest budget for education every year.. Where is that money going?? How do the system spend that money?? A  teacher should earn at least 600 THB a day as it is an university degree here in Thailand so everything less is not acceptable.. A carwasher earns about 400 THB a day ....

Edited March 8, 2022 by ikke1959

[Will B Good]

On a previous thread we were informed that these loans were lent out to teachers at incredibly low rates 1 or 2%.

 

Teachers were taking advantage of the loans to reinvest the money as a redress for the low salaries they received.

 

Was that all baloney ?

[Nsp64]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

What are you on about? I know no one that stabs their ex's.

Beeping a horn is confrontation. 

You seem proud because you know noone who stabs their ex's

[Neeranam]

4 minutes ago, Nsp64 said:

You seem proud because you know noone who stabs their ex's

How so? 

[hughrection]

6 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

On a previous thread we were informed that these loans were lent out to teachers at incredibly low rates 1 or 2%.

I am for my sins, involved in the education sector here for going on 9 years. Every Thai teacher without fail lives beyond their means and 'show' is incredibly important to them. They are seen as above the rest in Thai society and so their lifestyle needs to reflect that.

I have seen newly appointed teachers on a start off salary of 15000 baht a month sign on the dotted line for a 1 million baht or more car!

Then comes the expensive house and the iced latte every day. Debts mount up and there is an expectation on their part that at some point, the government will bail them out & the government does every time.

There is no motivation for them to change because they know after 4-5 years of debt, the government will step in and restructure it & sometimes forgive the debt.

They (the teachers) are in this due to their own ineptitude and they will continue if a lesson isn't taught to them. ????

[Will B Good]

3 minutes ago, hughrection said:

I am for my sins, involved in the education sector here for going on 9 years. Every Thai teacher without fail lives beyond their means and 'show' is incredibly important to them. They are seen as above the rest in Thai society and so their lifestyle needs to reflect that.

I have seen newly appointed teachers on a start off salary of 15000 baht a month sign on the dotted line for a 1 million baht or more car!

Then comes the expensive house and the iced latte every day. Debts mount up and there is an expectation on their part that at some point, the government will bail them out & the government does every time.

There is no motivation for them to change because they know after 4-5 years of debt, the government will step in and restructure it & sometimes forgive the debt.

They (the teachers) are in this due to their own ineptitude and they will continue if a lesson isn't taught to them. ????

Purely out of interest (pun?) what are they charged on, say, a million baht?

Edited March 8, 2022 by Will B Good

[hughrection]

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

Purely out of interest (pun?) what are they charged on, say, a million baht?

In many cases, zero % because they are government employees.

The enticement is there and they still have to come up with the monthly payment which is usually 2/3 rds of their salary. ????

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, hughrection said:

In many cases, zero % because they are government employees.

The enticement is there and they still have to come up with the monthly payment which is usually 2/3 rds of their salary. ????

Wow.....no wonder they sign on the dotted line.......shame they don't invest it though.

[hughrection]

Just now, Will B Good said:

Wow.....no wonder they sign on the dotted line.......shame they don't invest it though.

Nobody can see a portfolio, but they can sure as hell see a shiny, new, top of the range car ...... and there's the problem right there.

 

Show,show,show ...... you know how it goes here. ????

[Bkkbound]

Low pay and easy million plus loans at high interest..what could possibly go wrong?

[scorecard]

What a great idea, more loans.

 

And will they be able to refinance loans they have taken from loan sharks?

[Adumbration]

This will be one of the first debt bubbles to burst when rate move upwards.  Keeping 30% of their take home pay won't cut it when pork is 300 baht a kilo later this year.

[ikke1959]

How are teachers doing it in other countries and why is there far less problem in Western countries, where the wages for teachers are not so high too?? The biggest problem here in Thailand is that people have to show...That is something that need to be changed in Thailand. People are given priviliges for nothing.. a teacher, a policeofficer, a military officer, a mayor, or rich people all they think they are better than  people with no  money, farmers, or low class....And they wanto to show off all the time. So let hem do it and don't worry if they have a financial problem. They did it do themselves.

[hotchilli]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Ministry of Education has been working with teacher’s savings cooperatives and other officials across the country to resolve hefty debts, totalling about 1.4 trillion baht, incurred by about 900,000 teachers with 108 cooperatives.

Memo to all teachers:

Live with whats in your <deleted> pocket and stop trying to live above your status...

there done.

[hotchilli]

13 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

Easy! Give them a reasonable salary to start with. The minimum monthly wage is 15 000 a month for non teaching jobs yet some teachers only get 8 000 when they begin their career. Something is woefully wrong here. On top of the, 'If your children are failing it is your fault.'  attitude. It is not easy being a teacher and the expectations are great yet the benefits few in this society.

Assistant teachers are just that... "assistants' and are paid accordingly while training.

[Same as was when I was an apprentice engineer]

Teachers once they "qualify" get a reasonable salary which is increased annually with service.

Something else you should know, teachers only pay 3% income tax.

 

 

[RichardColeman]

9 hours ago, hughrection said:

I have seen newly appointed teachers on a start off salary of 15000 baht a month sign on the dotted line for a 1 million baht or more car!

To pay off the average 1.5 million baht debt above it would take 20 years at half the salary of 15,000. Chuck that car in and the teacher debt will be 30 years payback. Must be the worst kind of tenant to take on I guess.

[Andycoops]

The problem of government employees debt is the fault of the banks who lend ridiculous amounts of money to people on relatively modest incomes because they have a 'job for life'.

And one in particular the KTB which is of course government owned.

[Tropposurfer]

Pay them more! Public school teachers are paid shocking wages.

[mtls2005]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

with 108 cooperatives

Am guessing these cooperatives (credit unions) (focusing on "edumcators) are all but insolvent and will need bailing out first. 

 

Of course, all/most of the other coops focusing on gov't employee sectors have similar issues. Imagine the police, military coops are "fully-funded".

 

 

[mikebell]

12 hours ago, hughrection said:

There is no motivation for them to change because they know after 4-5 years of debt, the government will step in and restructure it & sometimes forgive the debt.

This is true of many sections of Thai society - the farmers get bailed out every four years.  If they kick up a stink all will be forgiven. (Except for students - they go directly to jail.)

[Pouatchee]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Something else you should know

I been teaching here 20 years, been a headmaster and I worked both in the private sector and public sector. I think I do know. Private sector teachers do make more a month, around 22 000 to start depending on school. But government schools start anywhere between 8 000 -- 15 000 depending on position.

[jacko45k]

On 3/9/2022 at 7:36 AM, hotchilli said:

Assistant teachers are just that... "assistants' and are paid accordingly while training.

[Same as was when I was an apprentice engineer]

Teachers once they "qualify" get a reasonable salary which is increased annually with service.

Something else you should know, teachers only pay 3% income tax.

 

 

Aren't they  teacher's assistant rather than trainees? My niece has been a teachers assistant for years, and I believe it is because she does not have the qualifications required to be fully fledged. 

[hotchilli]

57 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Aren't they  teacher's assistant rather than trainees? My niece has been a teachers assistant for years, and I believe it is because she does not have the qualifications required to be fully fledged. 

Assistants remain as such while they are training to be qualified.

Some do remain as assistants, either because of failure to qualify or they wish to remain as assistants only.

 

[scorecard]

On 3/9/2022 at 6:27 AM, ikke1959 said:

How are teachers doing it in other countries and why is there far less problem in Western countries, where the wages for teachers are not so high too?? The biggest problem here in Thailand is that people have to show...That is something that need to be changed in Thailand. People are given priviliges for nothing.. a teacher, a policeofficer, a military officer, a mayor, or rich people all they think they are better than  people with no  money, farmers, or low class....And they wanto to show off all the time. So let hem do it and don't worry if they have a financial problem. They did it do themselves.

... show off their perceived position/importance.

 

Here's an example, a uni lecturer, low salary bought with a lot of help a Land Rover (LR) (must be Land Rover), and got a lot of help to pay it off from a farang in the bigger family.

 

Now the car is 4 or 5 years old and he can't afford to buy a new model.

 

He went to LR in Bkk and said he wanted to order 'the package' of the items which have changed (in terms of appearance) from his model to the current model.

 

LR said 'there's no such package'.  Lecturer asked if they would make a list and order 1 of each part and then fit it.  LR refused.

 

LR suggested he buy a Toyota, he was insulted.

 

He now parks where his LR cannot eaily be seen.