Thai government schools.....is this for real?

[Kenny202]

Got the kids enrolled at a (supposedly) better, larger city government school (At an entrance price / joiner fee I might add) 2 x 6 year old boys. First shock was the shet fight just getting them to school. Foot paths all around the main entrance full of vendors trying to extract the kids lunch money for toys and candy. What is worse it is impossible to walk on the foot paths with the sellers so kids wandering all over the road. The actual main gate into the school is unsupervised as is the crossing. You can't walk from across the road as the main entrance is choka blok with motor bikes. There is no entrance clear way from the street. What has really got me riled though is the kids have come home with candy last two days. We don't give them money as there is no shop in the school, only the vendors outside and they are not allowed out. Kids told me today, and their teacher confirmed one of the teachers (on the 6 year old kids level) has a tray set up in the classroom to sell kids candy! Its real sugar rush stuff rubbish too...bubble gum etc. I know the culture is different here but is this for real? 

[warrima]

17 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

We don't give them money

 

17 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

kids have come home with candy last two days

Is she also extending them credit terms?

 

There's a shop at my kids school. When she was about your kids age we used to give her some baht to buy a drink or whatever she wanted. She would regularly land home with things like correction fluid, staples for a stapler, paper clips etc  lol. I used to go mad at the mrs. The shop is run by the school admin - do they not have the wit to not sell a 6 year old Tipp-Ex. 

 

 

[Kenny202]

1 minute ago, warrima said:

 

Is she also extending them credit terms?

 

Well this is the other worry. Never had any instances of kids nicking money from home but there is always change laying about. I mean if they are seeing other kids buying this rubbish they will want to also right? We were told not to worry about giving the kids any money as all the vendors are outside and they are not allowed out of their rooms unsupervised as their class mostly 6 / 7 yo. A teacher doing that back home would be on the nightly news, and next day in court. I would still think it odd but not mind as much if she was selling moderately healthy food but this is just rubbish. been here a long time now and not easily shocked but find this incredible. Mrs doesn't seem to be too phazed. I'm not going to make a big issue out of it but my god......I doubt even most Thai parents would be happy about it. But of course will probably tolerate it without complaint

[CharlieH]

Same at our grand kids school ,

They let the kids take what they want then get the money from whoever shows up to collect them. The kids aren't allowed out of the gate unaccompanied.

They set up a table right where the kids come out from the classrooms into the playground.

[Kenny202]

3 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Same at our grand kids school ,

They let the kids take what they want then get the money from whoever shows up to collect them. The kids aren't allowed out of the gate unaccompanied.

They set up a table right where the kids come out from the classrooms into the playground.

For real? ???? Like they are doing a good Samaritan thing lol. I wouldn't mind so much if it were even cookies, cakes or something....but candy and bubblegum. Beyond belief

[CharlieH]

1 minute ago, Kenny202 said:

For real? ???? Like they are doing a good Samaritan thing lol. I wouldn't mind so much if it were even cookies, cakes or something....but candy and bubblegum. Beyond belief

We just tell them ( we give them 10 baht) they can get a drink but not candy etc and told her DONT give them that <deleted>, drinks only.

Seems to work ????

[Kenny202]

7 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

We just tell them ( we give them 10 baht) they can get a drink but not candy etc and told her DONT give them that <deleted>, drinks only.

Seems to work ????

The drinks they sell here as bad if not worse than candy

 

[richard_smith237]

Particularly when it comes to education in Thailand....  ‘Welcome to the 3rd World Country’.... 

 

The Safety aspect is a far greater concern that the sweets etc... 

 

I really don’t know what can be done about all of this... the degree and extend of utter flookwittery is simply overwhelming and ingrained in everyone within the system.

 

I think you just have to roll with it and do your best at home to teach your kits to stay away from the trashy stuff.

 

-----------------

 

 

When my Son was about 3 or 4 they were taught ‘healthy eating’ in the manner of ‘every-day foods’ and ’sometimes’ foods.....   (it was a group activity)....  My Son’s teacher at the time told me the humorous event which unfolded when my Son stood up and claimed beer as every day food !!!.... because he see’s his dad drink a beer almost every day !!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Iamfalang]

this is BIG business.   I remember a school that used to buy stuff from a local store and re-package it to make more money.   example:  buy cereal, spit it in three's and sell it for 20 baht each.  If you bought a bag in 7-11, it's 40 baht and the equivalent of three bags.

 

then there's ice cream, and everything else to make an easy 20-60 baht extra on each kid every day.

 

I used to think the food was soo bad so they could sell them more of the junk food.

 

wait until you are buying 100 different outfits and uniforms..........

 

one thousand cuts, as they say, 20 baht each.......

 

this is a very good business model.  maybe HUNDREDS of thousands extra per month.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if all the vendors are giving a kickback.......money time!!!! 

[Kwasaki]

5 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

Mrs doesn't seem to be too phazed.

There's your answer. next.

[ChaiyaTH]

No way I would keep my kids at any school that functions like that. Sure you can't avoid everything but this sounds like hell, not to mention the future dental costs being ten thousands to hundred thousands long term.

 

I keep being surprised how many 2-5 year olds I see who are heavily overweight too (older ones as much but from that young age is really beyond belief). It is like they are that stupid, they do not realise to potentially kill their own kids or to ensure they never even make it to age 40-50.

 

Most likely they never get the right food from a young age, which will not help the development of limited brain capacity here as well + then the worst possible education and vendors selling them sugar <deleted>. No wonder IQ floats around 90 here.

[Kenny202]

6 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

No way I would keep my kids at any school that functions like that. Sure you can't avoid everything but this sounds like hell, not to mention the future dental costs being ten thousands to hundred thousands long term.

 

I keep being surprised how many 2-5 year olds I see who are heavily overweight too (older ones as much but from that young age is really beyond belief). It is like they are that stupid, they do not realise to potentially kill their own kids or to ensure they never even make it to age 40-50.

 

Most likely they never get the right food from a young age, which will not help the development of limited brain capacity here as well + then the worst possible education and vendors selling them sugar <deleted>. No wonder IQ floats around 90 here.

No t all Thais are like that but I think their are many that grew up never had soft drinks and milk teas....candy. And it of the worst kind too.. The milk teas they suck on all day tinned condensed milk, powders, preservatives etc. Same as anything in a packet they sell here. I guess many never had those things growing up and consider it luxury stuff and don't realise the long term dangers. Education is the key of course but when the educators are benefitting from the cause of the problem themselves, what hope is there. I will be pulling him out of this school for sure but talking to others would appear many of the same issues in private schools

[simon43]

For a short time around 2013, I was headmaster of a private ('international') school in Luang Prabang, north Laos.  There was a tuck shop on campus which sold sugary 'sh*te'.  I attempted to get the items sold changed to healthy fruit etc, with sugar-rush items only sold near the end of the school day (so that parents could 'enjoy' the hyperactivity of their offspring at home!).

 

No chance of changing the tuckshop.  It was run by the sister of the school director.  I also tried to add an additional person to supervise the kids at the local swimming pool (too many kids, not enough adults to keep an eye on them etc).  No way said the school director.

 

I resigned soon after....

[cooked]

On 6/4/2022 at 9:40 AM, simon43 said:

For a short time around 2013, I was headmaster of a private ('international') school in Luang Prabang, north Laos.  There was a tuck shop on campus which sold sugary 'sh*te'.  I attempted to get the items sold changed to healthy fruit etc, with sugar-rush items only sold near the end of the school day (so that parents could 'enjoy' the hyperactivity of their offspring at home!).

 

No chance of changing the tuckshop.  It was run by the sister of the school director.  I also tried to add an additional person to supervise the kids at the local swimming pool (too many kids, not enough adults to keep an eye on them etc).  No way said the school director.

 

I resigned soon after....

My granddaughter just started 'college' (secondary school, 15 years+) and it has been a general rule from kindergarten upwards that the school shops sold sugary drinks and candy, with the choice of buying highly processed salted junk. I gave up long ago, but our girl drastically cut back on sugar when she realised that it caused her acne. 

[markclover]

Yes they will sell candy, books, stickers, pens / things we need for the class, bottles of 'thai herb', paying a fine if you don't recycle a bottle.  Anything but teach the class.

[Kenny202]

We pulled our kids out of there a few weeks ago and found a wonderful little private school near home. No vendors, no candy or soda's.....and 10000% better environment. I notice the private schools seem to have much younger and more motivated staff than the govt schools who's older entitled teachers seem to think they are some sort of divine entity. This would be because obviously these younger teachers don't have the tea money to pass the government teacher test to get in a higher paying government school, therefore they work a lot cheaper and it would appear more diligently. How ironic?

[puchooay]

3 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

We pulled our kids out of there a few weeks ago and found a wonderful little private school near home. No vendors, no candy or soda's.....and 10000% better environment. I notice the private schools seem to have much younger and more motivated staff than the govt schools who's older entitled teachers seem to think they are some sort of divine entity. This would be because obviously these younger teachers don't have the tea money to pass the government teacher test to get in a higher paying government school, therefore they work a lot cheaper and it would appear more diligently. How ironic?

I'd be interested to know where you are talking about, both schools.

 

Obviously there are laws about naming and shaming but you could give us a clue.

 

BTW, teachers at private schools are generally less qualified. Any university degree will work, regardless of subject taught. Thus, you could have a teacher with an Art degree teaching English simply because they " speak a bit of English". I've used quotation marks because that is what I have been told by a head teacher.

[Scott]

8 hours ago, puchooay said:

I'd be interested to know where you are talking about, both schools.

 

Obviously there are laws about naming and shaming but you could give us a clue.

 

BTW, teachers at private schools are generally less qualified. Any university degree will work, regardless of subject taught. Thus, you could have a teacher with an Art degree teaching English simply because they " speak a bit of English". I've used quotation marks because that is what I have been told by a head teacher.

I believe you are wrong about the qualification for teaching.  Just like the rules for foreign teachers, the Thai teachers have similar requirements.   

 

[puchooay]

47 minutes ago, Scott said:

I believe you are wrong about the qualification for teaching.  Just like the rules for foreign teachers, the Thai teachers have similar requirements.   

 

They don't need a degree in the subject they are teaching in private schools. It's up to the director/owner.

 

They do need teaching licence from TCT. And Education degree will suffice.

 

I worked in a private school in the suburbs of Bangkok. None of the Thai teachers teaching English had a degree in English. One Maths and 5 Education.

[cooked]

We put my step granddaughter through 7 years of the so called "Chinese school' - Hua Khiao school. They were supposed to learn amongst other things Chinese, none of them ever did apart from learning a song, which none of them understood. We didn't pay the suggested sum of ฿20 000.- to get her into the supposedly best school in the district after that for further education so she went to a state school. 

Doesn't seem to have made much difference, she is now in technical college, plenty of stuff there I don't like but never mind, she's doing fine. 

[puchooay]

4 hours ago, cooked said:

We put my step granddaughter through 7 years of the so called "Chinese school' - Hua Khiao school. They were supposed to learn amongst other things Chinese, none of them ever did apart from learning a song, which none of them understood. We didn't pay the suggested sum of ฿20 000.- to get her into the supposedly best school in the district after that for further education so she went to a state school. 

Doesn't seem to have made much difference, she is now in technical college, plenty of stuff there I don't like but never mind, she's doing fine. 

Your grand daughter seems to struggle where ever she has been studying. With the exception, as it appears, of Technical college.

 

Are you sure the issues are not nearer to home? Maybe she is not interested, maybe a bit lazy? Maybe she needs to be checked for learning disabilities, which is not something the school would ever suggest.

[Hummin]

If me and wife get kids, it is straight back home when they reach school age. There is no way I can let them grow up here being at a public school know how the system and the environment around really is! Not to mention the culture difference to rise a kid here versus home. 

[FarAway]

Just completely take your kids out of school. Simple.

[FarAway]

On 6/2/2022 at 12:12 PM, Kenny202 said:

Well this is the other worry. Never had any instances of kids nicking money from home but there is always change laying about. I mean if they are seeing other kids buying this rubbish they will want to also right? We were told not to worry about giving the kids any money as all the vendors are outside and they are not allowed out of their rooms unsupervised as their class mostly 6 / 7 yo. A teacher doing that back home would be on the nightly news, and next day in court. I would still think it odd but not mind as much if she was selling moderately healthy food but this is just rubbish. been here a long time now and not easily shocked but find this incredible. Mrs doesn't seem to be too phazed. I'm not going to make a big issue out of it but my god......I doubt even most Thai parents would be happy about it. But of course will probably tolerate it without complaint

 

How can you even be in a relationship, not even mentioning raising a child together, with so different values?
You are rightly <deleted>**ed up by this situation and your wife does not give a damn?

How can you tolerate this? You are way older and more ugly than her and do not want to lose her or what?

I cannot understand. Really.

[Lucky Bones]

Kids will learn many things at school.

Sadly, common sense is not included.

The kids are learning from other bad experiences.????????

 

[Hummin]

4 minutes ago, FarAway said:

Just completely take your kids out of school. Simple.

I believe kids need other kids in their life, as well a structured day with learning, play, and sports as well 

[FarAway]

Just now, Hummin said:

I believe kids need other kids in their life, as well a structured day with learning, play, and sports as well 

And this does not work without a <deleted>ty government school? You can either setup your own learning center with values you want your kids to learn or find a place that is as close as it gets.

Playing and sports have nothing to do with a school anyway, can be easily done outside, even better.

[Lucky Bones]

2 minutes ago, Hummin said:

I believe kids need other kids in their life, as well a structured day with learning, play, and sports as well 

Hummin, that is a fair call. Simplistic and so true.

My wife family is 6 women/girls, age 85 to 6, all under one village roof.

Wifes' son is a lady boy so nothing for the 10 year male old to aspire to.

He grows up with girls. 

I can only offer so much. He is a great kid, hope it stays that way.

[Hummin]

9 minutes ago, FarAway said:

And this does not work without a <deleted>ty government school? You can either setup your own learning center with values you want your kids to learn or find a place that is as close as it gets.

Playing and sports have nothing to do with a school anyway, can be easily done outside, even better.

There you go, even culture differences between foreigners as well ????

 

 

[Lucky Bones]

11 minutes ago, FarAway said:

And this does not work without a <deleted>ty government school? You can either setup your own learning center with values you want your kids to learn or find a place that is as close as it gets.

Playing and sports have nothing to do with a school anyway, can be easily done outside, even better.

Agreed with you and Hummin.

Sport (to me) is integral with growth.????????