12 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Without knowing it's a really small country, I probably couldn't find it on a map.  I only know where it is about, because geography interests me, and I did work for an international airlines.

 

Why the hell does a Thai person need to know where Luxembourg is.  That's one useless piece of info.

 

I know if the world was to go sh!t, I'd seek out Thais before expats, as I know most of them can live off the land.  Electric would go out, Lotus's & Villa Markets would close and expats would starve.

Perhaps Luxembourg was the wrong choice. My point being, the present education system is centred around Thailand with the rest of the world almost completely blocked out. Questions are discouraged as it may show up the teacher as not knowing, thus losing face. Try showing a Thai worker a better way to do a job and you get, 'Oh! Yes, I see.' Then as soon as you turn your back they return to doing it their way, because that's the way they were shown by a fellow Thai. 

Just one instance, I asked the electrician to install the light switches the opposite way up to their normal. The answer I got left me speechless. "Cannot, I have to twist wires, cannot."  The mentality of a child doing a supposed tradesman's job.

On 1/16/2024 at 11:45 AM, stoner said:

 

Are those cases a reflection of the whole system or individuals.

They a reflection of the fact that most resources and funding go to a tiny prcentage of schools where the rich and influential send their kidsto get a world class education while the rest of the scools offer an education even worse than the PISA scores suggest if you take out these few.

I'm not really in a position to judge how good the education system is here compared to the one that I received because I left university 50 years ago. But the PISA system seems to be using the same methodology over several years and so declining performance year after year should give decision makers pause for thought.

Even in a poor education system some students will excel and become prize winner as @KhunLa points out. But one cannot run a modern economy on a handful of really talented people. I tend to think the average student is more important in predicting if your economy will flourish or fail in the future. 

14 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Without knowing it's a really small country, I probably couldn't find it on a map.  I only know where it is about, because geography interests me, and I did work for an international airlines.

 

Why the hell does a Thai person need to know where Luxembourg is.  That's one useless piece of info.

 

I know if the world was to go sh!t, I'd seek out Thais before expats, as I know most of them can live off the land.  Electric would go out, Lotus's & Villa Markets would close and expats would starve.

 

I would do everything I could to get back home to the states, I have a large walk-in closet full of survival/hiking/camping/hunting/fishing gear. Let the eternal city dwellers starve to death ;-)

16 hours ago, Surasak said:

But ask any one of these students to point out Luxembourg on a map and it would result in getting splinters in their fingers from scratching their heads.

Not many students in the US can find DC on a map. 

8 hours ago, greeneking said:

Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University

I have often walked past this building by the Chao Phrya river and wanted to ask students what it is they study when there is only one answer that is allowed.

But I don't want to get them into trouble.

What one answer might that be? 

54 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

What one answer might that be? 

a 'guided' democracy directed by a Monarch.

8 minutes ago, greeneking said:

a 'guided' democracy directed by a Monarch.

So, if you asked them to name the river you were pointing at, the correct answer would be "a 'guided' democracy directed by a Monarch."

 

Tests must be pretty easy. 

 

 

Thai education is extremely effective! The goal is to brainwash students. Just look at how many kids are wearing face nappies!

Very little hope.

 

There is no driving force within government to change the status quo.......they are happy for the electorate to remain ignorant.

 

Parents lack the education to recognise the importance of education.