Are children getting a fair deal at Schools in Thailand?

[Almer]

1 hour ago, Songlaw said:

No. And they never have. <deleted>, they don’t even find it necessary to give them clean toilets in many cases. So don’t be expecting a passable science curriculum anytime soon. This is my only real peeve in Thailand. All else are lesser peeves. Unless they’re parents are well heeled, they don’t stand a chance. 

They don’t stand a chance anyway, my well heeled sister in law greased many palms I understand to get her son into a teaching university, he is as thick as they come but the whole family look up to him because “he is smart” and worked his way to university, I think the word was bought more than worked, but soon he will stand in front of the class with his books in front of him and the kids will all go through the same greased up system.

[zzaa09]

1 hour ago, Almer said:

They don’t stand a chance anyway, my well heeled sister in law greased many palms I understand to get her son into a teaching university, he is as thick as they come but the whole family look up to him because “he is smart” and worked his way to university, I think the word was bought more than worked, but soon he will stand in front of the class with his books in front of him and the kids will all go through the same greased up system.

Unfortunately, that's how it truly is. 

The educational "system", operating like most everything here, has little benefit for the commons and is corrupt and unethical to the core. 

[paulikens]

didn't they say this the start of last term and at half term in november that the schools will be reopening.     a lot of thai directors can't wait to shut the schools down,   and that's if they even open them!  and its nothing to do with worrying about the students getting covid.    its cuz they're worried they might get it. they sacrifice the kids education because of their own fears.  very selfish.  

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm…. The definition of a rhetorical question is one that answers itself. I suspect we have one here.

[zzaa09]

2 minutes ago, bbbbooboo said:

Hmmm…. The definition of a rhetorical question is one that answers itself. I suspect we have one here.

......and not recognized as rhetorical. 

[an extension of the definition]

[Flink]

11 hours ago, Caldera said:

Sadly, most children in Thailand don't get a proper education anyway, even when the schools are open for on-site learning.

Yep. Busiest week of every semester is the week before final exams when you're writing exam papers, completing the records books and THAT'S when you suddenly get bombarded with the homework for the entire semester as the students make a last ditched effort to bump their score. I'm forever being told I should "follow up" on students who don't hand in work on time. Okay, I can dig that, however, I also have to prepare hybrid lessons because half the class are in school and half are online, write reports on every online lesson, and a myriad of other pointless admin forms that are never read. Then there's the issue of "activities". Even when the kids are in the classroom full time they have so many activity days that lesson plans and SOWs go by the wayside. One school cut every lesson by 10 minutes so they could have sports each day for a fortnight followed by 4 days for the "School Sports Day." With the wierd system of not having any gap between one lesson ending and the next one starting most lessons (at 50 minutes per lesson) are actually only 40 minutes long by the time most of the class has arrived. The education system in Thailand needs a complete overhaul and the MoE has had 2 years to do this but chose not to. It's as if they don't want the kids to be educated. I've even seen Thai teachers sitting with student's workbooks, rubbing out the incorrect answers and putting the right answers in so the parents think their kid is doing well. If Thailand is so enamoured by all things Chinese, why can't they look at Chinese education for inspiration? Oh that's right, an uneducated population is more compliant.

[Dogmatix]

1 hour ago, Flink said:

Yep. Busiest week of every semester is the week before final exams when you're writing exam papers, completing the records books and THAT'S when you suddenly get bombarded with the homework for the entire semester as the students make a last ditched effort to bump their score. I'm forever being told I should "follow up" on students who don't hand in work on time. Okay, I can dig that, however, I also have to prepare hybrid lessons because half the class are in school and half are online, write reports on every online lesson, and a myriad of other pointless admin forms that are never read. Then there's the issue of "activities". Even when the kids are in the classroom full time they have so many activity days that lesson plans and SOWs go by the wayside. One school cut every lesson by 10 minutes so they could have sports each day for a fortnight followed by 4 days for the "School Sports Day." With the wierd system of not having any gap between one lesson ending and the next one starting most lessons (at 50 minutes per lesson) are actually only 40 minutes long by the time most of the class has arrived. The education system in Thailand needs a complete overhaul and the MoE has had 2 years to do this but chose not to. It's as if they don't want the kids to be educated. I've even seen Thai teachers sitting with student's workbooks, rubbing out the incorrect answers and putting the right answers in so the parents think their kid is doing well. If Thailand is so enamoured by all things Chinese, why can't they look at Chinese education for inspiration? Oh that's right, an uneducated population is more compliant.

They could probably look at Laos and Cambodia's educational systems for inspiration too. 

 

Even at the postgraduate level one hears of a lot of cheating and collaboration between students who divide up assignments they should all be doing by themselves. The worst I heard was a postgraduate student who said she needed money to pay a faculty member to write her thesis.  It was made clear to her that she would be failed if she submitted a thesis authored solely by herself. With all the cheating one wonders whether Thai edcuated doctors and engineers can be trusted.

[Mike k]

17 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The government will be happy with this knowledge, a generation of under-educated kids who will be subservient workers, who don't ask questions.

That's all they want is people that will bow down and groval at their masters feet 

[Mike k]

2 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

They could probably look at Laos and Cambodia's educational systems for inspiration too. 

 

Even at the postgraduate level one hears of a lot of cheating and collaboration between students who divide up assignments they should all be doing by themselves. The worst I heard was a postgraduate student who said she needed money to pay a faculty member to write her thesis.  It was made clear to her that she would be failed if she submitted a thesis authored solely by herself. With all the cheating one wonders whether Thai edcuated doctors and engineers can be trusted.

They learn at an early age how to hand out brown envelopes 

[Robsweblinks]

18 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

My daughter got her 2nd jab yesterday, ready for school 16th or 17th. So glad she is back at school - no schooling for 15 months is ridiculous. The home work she got sent appeared to be more colouring in than actual learning. Still she's only 5 - near 6 - and this hick up should not be too bad, though I fear Thai education is chronic for outside learning. 

Are you proud of this? Or just happy to get your kid out of your hair!

[Ginner]

On 5/6/2022 at 7:13 AM, hotchilli said:

The government will be happy with this knowledge, a generation of under-educated kids who will be subservient workers, who don't ask questions.

 

On 5/6/2022 at 3:09 PM, Graham n So said:

It's not so much about how much money you can afford to throw at private education as what you get for the money and how much the child wants to do well. From what I have seen of it in Thailand some are wasting good money and time with some of the private schools there. I myself could not see a way to educate my children in Thailand and it simply came down to a choice. Ether we stayed in Thailand or we moved to where my children could receive a good education. We chose our children's education and opportunities in later life over our short term enjoyment and are glad we did. Now we holiday visiting friends in Sweden, Spain, Florida and sometimes Thailand, so get the best of both worlds. It's not always easy to make the right choice, but you will know who took preference when you do decide.  

That's great if you have a good bankroll. but a lot of Thai parents don't have the means to do that. Plus it's very much the same in Europe and the UK, if you can afford a decent school to educate their children in. If not they're then it's into a local authority school and in the UK they are not much better than schools in Asia.

[scorecard]

On 5/6/2022 at 7:24 AM, ThailandRyan said:

Education is a farce in this country.  I met a mother and her 8 year old son last night at Limpini Park. He and my GFs daughter are friends from school.  He is now starting what I call 2nd grade. Yet he still can not read or write Thai.....this was a sad thing to find out.  I asked my GF why his mother did not work with him to read and write and the exact words she said were "she doesn't care, obviously".

Another example re maths and English. I took my Thai granddaughter to school P2 and P3 most mornings before I went to Thammasat to teach.

 

Her school at that time a better bilingual school, many western teachers, mostly well qualified.

 

One mother came, with her son a few minutes after we arrived each day. She waited until about 5 or 6 kids had arrived and put their homework books on the teachers desk. She then went into the class room and took 2 or 3 homework books and sat in a back corner. She was copying the home work submissions of the other kids into her sons homework books, every day. This was for maths and English.

 

After quite some time she got caught by one of the western teachers who raised the matter with the vice principal.

 

Vice principal established that she had no English language skills (incl., no grammar skills), so she had no clue whether she was copying correct or incorect answers into her son's homework book. And the same for maths.

 

 

Vic principal spoke to the Maths and English teachers and discovered the boy was well behind the other kids and had to be reminded to listen and stop playing again and again.

 

And the boy had been caught many times in exams asking other kids to tell him answers. 

 

Both teachers said they had sent notes to the mother (in Eng. and Thai) several times, no response.

 

Vice principal told the mother what she was doing was making her sons' grades worse and worse.

 

She responded 'but it's OK because he wants to play'. Both teachers tried to coach the kid during lunchtime, he wouldn't pay attention and the mother complained.

 

Ultimately the parents changed the boys school...

 

 

[lujanit]

No.  When the principals and head teachers steal kids lunch money they have no interest in teaching.  They only turn up to graft the system and have no interest in the kids welfare.

[Sydebolle]

Why should today's kids get a fair deal when their parents and grandparents were already short changed back in the day? 
The Thai education ...... too many articles were written and spoken about; changes have to come from within but for the time being those who could change anything are those who directly benefit of the status-quo of uneducated electorate sheep ....... all the rest is smoke-screen!

[scorecard]

On 5/6/2022 at 10:03 PM, Dogmatix said:

They could probably look at Laos and Cambodia's educational systems for inspiration too. 

 

Even at the postgraduate level one hears of a lot of cheating and collaboration between students who divide up assignments they should all be doing by themselves. The worst I heard was a postgraduate student who said she needed money to pay a faculty member to write her thesis.  It was made clear to her that she would be failed if she submitted a thesis authored solely by herself. With all the cheating one wonders whether Thai edcuated doctors and engineers can be trusted.

From above "...starting most lessons (at 50 minutes per lesson) are actually only 40 minutes long by the time most of the class has arrived..."

 

My family (Thai son and his wife) have had numerous problems with actually getting the kids to school on time.

 

Son's brother in law is a full on loud, overweight, ignorant, 50 yo  ladyboy. He used to come to our house unannounced quite often before Covid and would insist that he take my sons 2nd daughter to school (K3, then P1, and then P2). Son told him many times he could not take his daughter to school. Ladyboy on several ocasions got her ready for school then when others all busy just disappeared with the girl. 

 

When he did take the girl to school always 20 to 30 minutes late (in reality my son and his wife are always very careful to make sure all their 3 kids are at school 10 to 15 early and keep telling their kids 'arriving late is never OK, anywhere'). The 20 to 30 minutes was to go to a noodle shop for breakfast (both already had breakfast at home), then to 7/11 and more for new toys.

 

The school had complained to my son and his wife because the ladyboy would throw the class room door open and enter loudly with sons young daughter and disrupt the class while he got her water and more. The vice principal had then banned the ladyboy from coming onto school premises.

 

Ladyboy rational - 'Arriving late is good, it makes you look important' . Also, 'It's not important at all because kids just go to school to play'. (Ladyboy never went past P3 in his own education - isolated Essan district.)

 

My son and his wife had several confrontations with the ladboy who insisted that sons 2nd daughter was actually his daughter therefore he could decide who takes her to school etc. 

 

Eventually son and his wife complained to his wife's mother (sons mother in law) and informed his mother in law that he would call the police is her son (the ladyboy) ever came to his house again. 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by scorecard

[blackshadow]

ANSWER IS a BIG no.....

[scorecard]

On 5/7/2022 at 1:52 AM, Robsweblinks said:

Are you proud of this? Or just happy to get your kid out of your hair!

Very disrespectful comment, you should be ashamed of yourself.

[trainman34014]

We know severql 'Teachers' and they are all only interested in the job because of the Pension.    We also have a friend that works for the Government in a better job and she told us people only want to become Teachers when they can't get a better job....again for the Pension.    Not many have an actual interest in teaching Children.

[scorecard]

On 5/6/2022 at 10:03 PM, Dogmatix said:

They could probably look at Laos and Cambodia's educational systems for inspiration too. 

 

Even at the postgraduate level one hears of a lot of cheating and collaboration between students who divide up assignments they should all be doing by themselves. The worst I heard was a postgraduate student who said she needed money to pay a faculty member to write her thesis.  It was made clear to her that she would be failed if she submitted a thesis authored solely by herself. With all the cheating one wonders whether Thai edcuated doctors and engineers can be trusted.

From above:  "...They could probably look at Laos and Cambodia's educational systems for inspiration too. "

 

Agree, I've had quite a few students in bachelor ans masters degree classes at Thai unis', all speaking advanced English, focused, always attend / always on time, assignments well completed, on time, pay attention, polite, good grades, but a few times treated poorly/rudely by the Thai students.

 

Even more students from Myanmar, as above, speak advanced English, focused, always attend / always on time, assignments well completed, on time, pay attention, polite, good grades, no hesitation to politely ask good questions, good class room discussion contributions. Often pushed by all students to be team leader in clasrom exercises, case studies etc. But a few times treated poorly/rudely by the Thai students.

 

 

[scorecard]

Just now, trainman34014 said:

We know severql 'Teachers' and they are all only interested in the job because of the Pension.    We also have a friend that works for the Government in a better job and she told us people only want to become Teachers when they can't get a better job....again for the Pension.    Not many have an actual interest in teaching Children.

And no interest in becoming aware of better teaching methodologies (pedagogy). In fact refusing to attend taining/presentations about improved/new teaching methods. 

 

 

 

One different and negative example; About 15 years ago the Ed. Ministry announced a one day seminar, to be conducted in English at a hotel on Suriwongse Rd, 5,000Baht to attend, no lunch or coffee. Seminar subject:

 

       'Big Changes to Education Systems & Resources Coming soon in Thailand.'

       to be presented in English by Mrs..........  (a very senior member of the Ed. Ministry)

 

Many farang signed up, many from Ed. agencies etc., who thought this might ultimately mean work/project/consulting opportunities. I attended. Some Thai attendees too.

The date/time/presenter/langauge of the seminar changed many times.

 

On the day about 1 hr. late to start.

 

Moderator (Thai lady from Ed. ministry) spoke first and advised the seminar that Mrs xxxx had decided to make the presentation in Thai language but for a fee attendees could sign up for a paper translation, available about 3 weeks after the seminar.

 

Mrs ... started and it soon became clear she was reading from a list of buildings (e.g. '.. in (city/district) we have 4 buidlings, 1 building has 3 floors, 2 buildings have 2 floors.... .

 

Then we have a total of vvv desks and sss chairs, and the car park can hold rrr vehicles. This continued with similar stuff and with occasional mention of 'the building was repainted 10 years ago...'

 

Coffe break was very late and for 5 minutes only, but she started talking again quickly.

 

Then lunch break... during this break many attendees asked if the afternoon session would be the same; data about numbers of chairs etc? Answer 'YES'.

 

Some 99% of the attendees left the hotel, and didn't come back after lunch.

 

 

[2 is 1]

On 5/6/2022 at 3:24 AM, ThailandRyan said:

Education is a farce in this country.  I met a mother and her 8 year old son last night at Limpini Park. He and my GFs daughter are friends from school.  He is now starting what I call 2nd grade. Yet he still can not read or write Thai.....this was a sad thing to find out.  I asked my GF why his mother did not work with him to read and write and the exact words she said were "she doesn't care, obviously".

One really sad thing is that even school system not care! In Thailand dont have that kind system that you have to do school grade again if you not pass! In Thailand they just do cleaning and other things in school to get pass grade. Also dont have system to put kids in special school class who are  behind from others or just have anxiety disoder or some other problems why they just dont fit in normal class. Some teatchers dont do anything only sign in mornings and out in afternoon. Those teatcher who even try to do something have other duty in schools also, what many dont know or talk about. Some haddle all financial things some can be school nurse etc. And after all things every government building need to have government officer 24/7. And who is there, normaly those who care even little.

[zzaa09]

A collective social revolution is in order.....

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, zzaa09 said:

A collective social revolution is in order.....

Well, seems to me nothing will change without massive change of the senior folks in the ed ministry and that won't happen whilst we have the same current parties and their cronies / hangers on, in the mix.

 

It will only change when Thanathorn/ Pita etc., finally get the reins. I'm hoping for change, but got to be honest I'm not holding my breath because the powers that be have many ways (read military) that can stop Thanathorn / Pia etc., (legal or otherwise) from getting anywhere near the reins. 

[MarcelV]

Changeing the Thai education system would take much more than two years. It's unrealistic to expect that to happen in a short "recess", which it really wasn't.

I am saddened by the continuous negative comments about education and teachers in particular. The teachers have to do their jobs as they were taught themselves. To blame them for the system flaws is pointless.

[it is what it is]

1 hour ago, MarcelV said:

Changeing the Thai education system would take much more than two years. It's unrealistic to expect that to happen in a short "recess", which it really wasn't.

I am saddened by the continuous negative comments about education and teachers in particular. The teachers have to do their jobs as they were taught themselves. To blame them for the system flaws is pointless.

 

have to agree, the teachers are as much victims of the 'system' as the children. root and branch, not to mention cultural, change is required, and it ain't going to happen.

[Chongalulu]

On 5/6/2022 at 7:42 AM, RichardColeman said:

My daughter got her 2nd jab yesterday, ready for school 16th or 17th. So glad she is back at school - no schooling for 15 months is ridiculous. The home work she got sent appeared to be more colouring in than actual learning. Still she's only 5 - near 6 - and this hick up should not be too bad, though I fear Thai education is chronic for outside learning. 

You’ve got until she’s about 9 years old to get her out of the education system here and into a UK school (a decent ???????? government school will be fine)  if not to blight her future,based on my personal experience. PISA educational tables will quantify how bad it is in Thailand and the more enlightened Western cultural exposure will be a significant contribution too. But your circumstances may not permit that….?

[zzaa09]

On 5/7/2022 at 10:31 PM, trainman34014 said:

We know severql 'Teachers' and they are all only interested in the job because of the Pension.    We also have a friend that works for the Government in a better job and she told us people only want to become Teachers when they can't get a better job....again for the Pension.    Not many have an actual interest in teaching Children.

The pension aspect is usually a reasoned afterthought, most will chase government-clad positions [of all types and flavours] principally because it so easy to secure bank loans again and again over periods of years. Almost a given if you're fixed with life-long government employment.

[Songlaw]

On 5/6/2022 at 3:59 PM, Almer said:

They don’t stand a chance anyway, my well heeled sister in law greased many palms I understand to get her son into a teaching university, he is as thick as they come but the whole family look up to him because “he is smart” and worked his way to university, I think the word was bought more than worked, but soon he will stand in front of the class with his books in front of him and the kids will all go through the same greased up system.

You’re not exactly cheering me up, mate. But you’re right. The environment, such as it is, doesn’t  exactly portend change either. I bleed for anyone attempting a future amid the self-serving whack-a-moles currently at the helm. The true creme has a snowball’s chance in hell of ever rising to the top. 

[Rimmer]

A sarcastic baiting post has been removed