Analysis New school year, same old story: Thailand’s education system ‘stuck in the past’

[paulikens]

Just now, brianthainess said:

My missus makes money from this, great init. Her shop is Just 2 doors away from the School, Chicken Nuggets and Chips, sweet drinks...

Fair enough we all got to make some money but I don't know if you should be so proud of the fact she's feeding kids junk food.  

[Presnock]

17 minutes ago, charleskerins said:

"accepted at a US college, with full scholarships but they didn't believe my wife planned to return after taking our daughter to the college because I had retired here in Thailand..."   ?

Yessir, formerly assigned at the Embassy too here but we applied for a tourist visa for my wife so she and I could take our daughter back for college...it took over a year of processing for US immigration in the states to approve her going to the states and getting a green card but by then, daughter had already decided to just go to college here...doing an arts degree - concentrating on foreign languages so can only help her as she thinks maybe US govt state dept can only fill 25 % of their foreign-language billets.

[NatureFilm]

So I learned today: If you have children in Thailand and you want them to be educated, be prepared to teach them by yourselfe 🤔.

[paulikens]

Just now, brianthainess said:

My missus makes money from this, great init. Her shop is Just 2 doors away from the School, Chicken Nuggets and Chips, sweet drinks...

Fair enough we all got to make some money but I don't know if you should be so proud of the fact she's feeding kids junk food.  

[shackleton]

Seems to be quite a few graduating out of Universities every year 

So no shortage of qualified  people entering the workforce there 🤔 

[nobodysfriend]

My step daughter graduated ( she says " finished " ) university a few years ago ... when she came to visit us , I asked her about her philosophy in life .

( The values she bases her decisions upon ...)

Sadly she did not know what ' philosophy ' means ...

[NobbyClarke]

Philippine English teachers that students do not understand doesn't help the situation.

How can someone teach English when English is their second language? 

Students need to speak English for all manner of positive reasons.

[StayinThailand2much]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai kids scored an average of less than 50% in all subjects assessed by PISA, which is run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

 

I'm sure, Thailand will soon come up with their own PISA assessment system, where nationalism, being obedient and knowing your place in society, as well as being good at "soft skills", kowtowing in the right and beautiful way, and Thai dancing will be the primary parameters, allowing Thai students to easily score 99.5 percent... After all, they also created their own national IQ scores.

Edited May 22 by StayinThailand2much

[paulikens]

Just now, NobbyClarke said:

Philippine English teachers that students do not understand doesn't help the situation.

How can someone teach English when English is their second language? 

Students need to speak English for all manner of positive reasons.

Unfortunately the schools are recruiting more and more Filipinos because it saves them money.  

[ruddick]

Before you can change the way the children are educated. You will need to carryout a radical upgrade to the administration. Followed by a ground up change to how the teachers are trained to be teachers.

Then perhaps the children will be taught to understand the subject rather than just remember it as is the current requirement.

[paulikens]

Everyone seems to be focusing on the critical thinking and not be able to question the teachers.   Were as I think the most absurd, ridiculous issue in Thai schools is all students will get a pass mark.  That will make so many students lazy and it will also have Thai students thinking that you can go through life without failing at anything.  When failing is part of life unfortunately.   

[IrishInThailand]

Perhaps that's why getting a job at Starbucks is considered a success in Thailand! While private schools could be an option for expats, they are often unaffordable.

Is educating your children within the Thai school system truly setting them up for success in the long run I wonder or giving them no chance in life which is beyond repair or remedy? 

 

Its a hard one really !!!

 

 

[brianthainess]

49 minutes ago, paulikens said:

Fair enough we all got to make some money but I don't know if you should be so proud of the fact she's feeding kids junk food.  

I don't pretend to be proud of it, there is a whole row of shops selling kids junk, the food she chose was the only one left that the kids would buy, I don't think tofu burgers would go down very well, if she didn't sell it then others would. Up to her anyway it's her shop.

[Thingamabob]

Most children in Thailand are raised in the same way as mushrooms ie kept in the dark, and fed on s..t. 

[paulikens]

My assumption from a lot of the comments on here is a lot of you liked school.  Because all this talk about being able to question the teachers and critical thinking is foreign to me.  When i was at school i didn't want to question the teacher or anyone else to question the teacher.   I just wanted the lessons to go as quickly as possible and get to home time and play football. And so did everybody else i know.   Only nerds and boffins liked school.  

[paulikens]

Just now, brianthainess said:

I don't pretend to be proud of it, there is a whole row of shops selling kids junk, the food she chose was the only one left that the kids would buy, I don't think tofu burgers would go down very well, if she didn't sell it then others would. Up to her anyway it's her shop.

As i said everyone has go to make money one way or the other but it come across as if you was proud of it but i obviously misconstrued your comment.

Edited May 22 by paulikens

[MikeUdon]

6 hours ago, brianthainess said:

So my understanding is they went back to school on Monday, and today Wednesday, is a public holiday, so are the kids not at school again today ?  

The students went back to school last Thursday, 16 May, here in Udon Thani. 🙏 Yes, today is a public holiday, Visakha Bucha. And of course the schools are closed. But my son's teachers presented him some nice homework, so he has something to learn today.

 

Edited May 22 by MikeUdon

[ChrisKC]

The straitjacket of education in Thailand is:

 

The preservation and continued cultivation of "Thainess"

[off road pat]

1 hour ago, shackleton said:

Seems to be quite a few graduating out of Universities every year 

So no shortage of qualified  people entering the workforce there 🤔 

Hm,...My wife graduated from University and had a law degree. She knew nothing of the world ! and spoke bad English !

I took her on multiple trips around SE Asia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam,..She knew very little about those country's. Except the negative things the Thai government wants them to know. We also traveled all around around Europe, half of the country's she never heard about !

 

Edited May 22 by off road pat

[Bvor]

4 hours ago, Peabody said:

Private schools, plagiarized work, and fake degrees.

nepotism and bribes endemic in LOS recruitment "process".

[Will B Good]

Parental ambition is the key......and that is totally absent for the most part.

[Aussie999]

5 hours ago, freeworld said:

Well, people are in employment in business, banking, govt and the military and are attending and graduating from colleges and universities.

 

So many when they apply  themselves must be receiving an education.

Put of a population of 75 million, the people you mention is a very small proportion. 

[ChrisKC]

1 hour ago, paulikens said:

Fair enough we all got to make some money but I don't know if you should be so proud of the fact she's feeding kids junk food.  

Most Thai food is junk food- You show me a dish that has any vegetables in it and no processed ingredients.

 

in any event, the lady is in business to satisfy a ready market.

 

Could be a lot worse - selling weed!

 

 

[sambum]

7 hours ago, 2baht said:

......or previous governments!!! Likely, nor future governments!!!

 

The Thai elite don't want the plebs to be educated - look what nearly happened at the last election!

[thesetat]

5 hours ago, happysoul said:

We were living in the country side up North, son went up to P5 in the local school, daughter in P2, so 8 years for the boy and 5 for the girl (counting anuban too). They hardly learned anything, military education, don't ask questions, just learn by heart what the teacher says and NEVER contradict him/her. The teachers in rural places are still considered, as it was 50 years ago, as the knowledge (that they don't have) and considered just under the boss (puyaibaan or kamnan). There is a Thai writer that wrote a book about a young teacher coming to teach in some rural village in the 1970's - 80's (can't remember the name of either book or writer). Well, nothing has changed. And probably not the salaries too. You cannot get a good education system if you don't pay correctly the teachers AND educate them too. But all this needs founding and won't bring back money profits. So probably not a priority (and as said above, keep people ignorant so the gig can continue). My daughter had some hard times going to school (only 2 half Thai kids in the school probably didn't help) and it was a heartbreak to force her put on her uniform (wife and I had to hold her very strong to force it on).

 

We now moved and they go to a private school. Tution budget has gone through the roof (from almost zero to much more ;)) but they love it. Also over with the times we get notified of 1 month holiday the day before it starts, the multiple absence of teachers for "patchoum" (meetings or so called) and have finally educated teachers that know where is thailand on a world map. They now have to forget the teaching style they know, get to ask questions and participate in class. Hopefully they'll get some logic, analytic and critic mindset. For now thinking is not prohibited yet 😉

 

What's quite sad is that 80% of the population cannot afford that kind of education.

 

Today is a day off, daughter is sad as she wanted to go to school, things change 🙂

 

 

 

It is sad. My kids are in Prathum government school. Every day they bring home homework and ask us what to do. Apparently, it is given and rote taught but never explained. They are clueless to doing it. 

Thailand is rated as the one of the most expensive countries for educating your children. They have one of the largest budgets given by the government yet, most of that money is used for extra-curricular activities. The teachers are not paid enough and have large class sizes. So they want the kids to pay extra for after school classes to be taught correctly. So many schools now have switched to using non-native english teachers and english subject teachers. So they can save half of the money that would be paid to a real native speaking foreigner english teacher. More Russian teachers and African teachers as I have noticed. 

The whole education system needs a reboot. From the buildings to their methodology in teaching. 

It is easy to see that if the kid has no self-thought then he will be a follower and never a leader with ideas. So that keeps the population passive so the government and rich can keep better control over them. Ignorance is bliss hmm.. 

Private schools are a little better. But not really unless the kid themself pushes themselves to learn more and understand. After a child reaches Prathum 5 they begin to understand it does not matter if they learn or not because they will still pass their grades and move on to the next level. I have seen kids washing rooms to pass their grade after failing scores. Even in private schools. 

But i think the worse part is the parents. They treat the schools as babysitters. They do not become involved in their kids learning. They do not push kids to do their work at home. They blame the teachers and school if the kid is not doing well but give no support if the child acts out or does not do any work in school or at home. 

[MikeUdon]

2 hours ago, NobbyClarke said:

Philippine English teachers that students do not understand doesn't help the situation.

How can someone teach English when English is their second language? 

Students need to speak English for all manner of positive reasons.

At Holy Mary Udon Thani School, many teachers from the Philippines are employed. These teachers do not only teach English language but also a variety of other subjects such as Social Science, Maths, Science, Arts, Phonics, Grammar and more. All subjects are also taught in Thai Language by Thai teachers. All of these teachers are highly qualified and possess strong educational backgrounds. While it is true that English is their second language, Filipino teachers are known for their proficiency in English, often using it as a medium of instruction in their own country from an early age. Their comprehensive training and experience make them effective educators, capable of delivering lessons in English with clarity. For many years I had 2 'English speaking' neighbours. One from Australia and one from Scotland. With the Aussie guy it was ok after some time. But the guy from Scotland? Sometimes I had no idea what he was talking about. So did the guy from Australia😅

Edited May 22 by MikeUdon

[Cabradelmar]

Under achieving teachers using out of date textbooks in substandard facilities pushing rote learning... That's about the sum of it all.

[new2here]

Here’s my take.. and it’s not a compete “pass” nor a condemnation either… I think when you’re taking about changing an entity like “education” in Thailand - that’s absolutely massive.. consider all tens of thousands of people that it encompasses, the various major divisions (ie OBEC,OHEC,OVCE,etc) and the overall top-down vertical structure that it currently operates under.

 

Anything with that size, scope, breadth and diversity is going to be hard to change and any change that does come, will most likely be incremental and gradual.

 

The other thing that I myself don’t see enough of is direct parent involvement.. Yes, I recognize that in many cases the local teachers and school directors hold a great deal of explicit and implicit power - and that can make openingly questioning them a socially difficult thing to do.. but I really do think change will also require parents to have a “seat at the table” as for any change to really take hold will require their buy-in so to speak. 

 

I do think it can be done.. but as it is with making an aircraft carrier size vessel turn a 180 turn, that’s going to take time, may make some uncomfortable during said transition as new norms are formed and others must come to the table to give input and support.

[dirtybirty]

It's easy really keep the masses uneducated easy to control.

[Surasak]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Students returned to school for the new academic year last week – but most found that little had changed in Thailand’s subpar education system.

 

“Thailand’s education is still stuck in the 2.0 era instead of stepping into the 5.0 era,” prominent educator Assoc Prof Dr Sompong Jitradub commented at the start of the 2024 academic year.

 

He said the country’s much-hyped educational reforms were mostly physical and focused on things like buildings, cleaner toilets, the hiring of school janitors and administrative staff, as well as higher pay for teachers.

 

But reforms tackling the essence of education have simply not materialized, he added.

 

That view is backed by the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), in which Thai children’s academic performance was the lowest since the country joined the program in the early 2000s.

 

Thai kids scored an average of less than 50% in all subjects assessed by PISA, which is run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

 

‘No progress’ under current government

 

Sompong said the current government has made no real progress since announcing its policy statement eight months ago.

 

There has neither been real educational reform nor a significant reduction of longstanding educational inequality, he said.

 

For decades, the performance of rural schools in Thailand has significantly lagged behind their urban counterparts.

“From what I’ve observed, the government has merely been repairing the current education system.

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2024-05-22

 

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“From what I’ve observed, the government has merely been repairing the current education system".

It has neither the tools or the parts required to make the repairs. Throw all the money you want at the broken system, but it will never improve until the learn by rote is scrapped, and students can ask questions. Teach them to think, not what to think with teachers who can teach, not someone applying for a cushy job for life.