Open Gates Closed

[TonyMontana]

Just heard that Open Gates school failed to open today.

Is it temporary or permanently?

Anyone got first hand information?

[Boater]

i know they are due to move site?

[sbk]

I don't know about private schools like Open Gates but I do know that today was the first day of end of term holidays for kids going to the govt schools here on Koh Phangan.

[churchill]

No holiday's until songkran at aunrak pre school

[limbos]

Heard that the age group between 6 and 12 was closed down because of lack of pupils. The Senior part of the school is still open.

Weren't they advertising a complete new complex for which eventually they didn't get a building permission?

[Mulder]

Heard that the age group between 6 and 12 was closed down because of lack of pupils. The Senior part of the school is still open.

Weren't they advertising a complete new complex for which eventually they didn't get a building permission?

It’s a mystery to me how a "school" that had no licence and yet charged exorbitant prices could last so long. Maybe there is someone finally watching what’s happened on this island and slowly cleaning it up step by step … maybe our forum gripes are getting through... maybe …

[Noodles]

Weren't they advertising a complete new complex for which eventually they didn't get a building permission?

Where was the new site meant to be?

Edited March 16, 2009 by Noodles

[maccaroni man]

the fact is anything that starts off wrong will typically end on its own doing. Most of the staff at OG were fired from where they were teaching before because of their lack of teaching certificates and skills. The owner always had big dreams but his main goal was to make money rather than deliver quality education as is evident by the fact that he never hired a real Head Master until the last term. The adult school still employees teachers with questionable back grounds and I predict that if OG is resold to someone who is interested in only hiring real teachers and facilitating high quality education it will be the end for many of the current OG staff.

[mattias33]

Seems to me, from only watching and listening, that alot of international schools go the same way on this island? They pop up one year and dissapear the next. And the foreign/Thai kids have the bad luck of being the victims since their foreign parent want them in these schools instead of Thai schools so they become "a little bit better" than regular Thai kids. I always thought of the international schools on this island as a buisness idea from a foreigner and nothing else. I See even Thai girls that have kids, and managed to hook up with a rich foreigner, all of a sudden the Thaischool is not "good enough" and they have to go to some more expensive school so mom can brag around her friends. Problem is these kids dont seem to learn much if you compare them to the kids in the Thaischools, from what i can see. I´ve seen many examples of this wich i will not post because it will make the post too long. For sure it can´t be good for the kids to move around from 3-4 different schools during their early education years, and especially when they all seem to have completely different education programs. And if it is due to closedowns you always get a period before you are in a new school, and then you have another period of time to catch up with the other kids in the different program. My oppinions are completely based on watching and i have zero personal experience in this matter, so you have to take my oppinion for what it is. But still i say, if i were to put a young kid in school here, i most lightly would put him in a government school.

[Boater]

Weren't they advertising a complete new complex for which eventually they didn't get a building permission?

Where was the new site meant to be?

Bophut, just of Soi Monkey Theatre, big 10 rai site.....

[sbk]

Just curious if any of the accusations being made on this thread (ie no license, teachers being fired from other schools etc) are based on known facts or just hearsay? Because if its just something you heard from your wife's cousin's husband then please don't state it as fact.

[OnTheSnap]

Just curious if any of the accusations being made on this thread (ie no license, teachers being fired from other schools etc) are based on known facts or just hearsay? Because if its just something you heard from your wife's cousin's husband then please don't state it as fact.

Most likely these people are supporters of Bluewater School- there is a bitter rivalry between the schools for the dwindling number of potential students on Samui and there is a lot of mud-slinging from both sides.

The bottom line is that if you live on Samui and want your child to have a quality education, you had better do your best to come up with the money to send him/her to a real school in Bangkok.

[southwest19]

Just curious if any of the accusations being made on this thread (ie no license, teachers being fired from other schools etc) are based on known facts or just hearsay? Because if its just something you heard from your wife's cousin's husband then please don't state it as fact.

Most likely these people are supporters of Bluewater School- there is a bitter rivalry between the schools for the dwindling number of potential students on Samui and there is a lot of mud-slinging from both sides.

The bottom line is that if you live on Samui and want your child to have a quality education, you had better do your best to come up with the money to send him/her to a real school in Bangkok.

I have many friends whose children attend one of the schools mentioned ( I won't say which one) and the only mudslinging that goes on is from posters on this forum who don't know anything but what's new there.

[MSingh]

Upper School closed today too...

[maccaroni man]

Just curious if any of the accusations being made on this thread (ie no license, teachers being fired from other schools etc) are based on known facts or just hearsay? Because if its just something you heard from your wife's cousin's husband then please don't state it as fact.

Most likely these people are supporters of Bluewater School- there is a bitter rivalry between the schools for the dwindling number of potential students on Samui and there is a lot of mud-slinging from both sides.

The bottom line is that if you live on Samui and want your child to have a quality education, you had better do your best to come up with the money to send him/her to a real school in Bangkok.

I can safely say that what I post is not because I am bias to blue water i.e. i have two school age children that I send to lamie because i believe that value for money the girls at lamie do as good if not better job than anywhere else on the island.

I base my comments on OG as fact, documented facts. the fact that a person has a 4 year degree and has accumilated teaching hours in fledgling schools with no real headmaster does not make them good teachers. I repeat myself by saying that if OG closes the odds are 99% that none of the higher eduction staff at OG would be hired by any other school on the island because of their lack of credentials.

One of the main reasons I am a supporter of the lamie centre is because of the piece of mind I have from knowing that the owners are real teachers and that they do their very best to insure a high quality education is delivered. The children are tested on the UK standards and the scores are marked in the UK to insure the validity of the testing, hence the one time need to move children off the island is rapidly becoming null and void.

[OnTheSnap]

I stand by my statement that the options in Bangkok are far superior to anything available on Samui- I looked into all the schools here- some try hard and are better than others, but "good for Samui" doesn't mean "good" in general- my son is starting school in Bangkok next year, and I'm confident I made the best move on his behalf.

[limbos]

Maccaroni man, what and where is lamie school?

Do you mean Lamai by any chance?

[sbk]

the fact is anything that starts off wrong will typically end on its own doing. Most of the staff at OG were fired from where they were teaching before because of their lack of teaching certificates and skills. The owner always had big dreams but his main goal was to make money rather than deliver quality education as is evident by the fact that he never hired a real Head Master until the last term. The adult school still employees teachers with questionable back grounds and I predict that if OG is resold to someone who is interested in only hiring real teachers and facilitating high quality education it will be the end for many of the current OG staff.

This post does not reconcile with your second post. Please do not post such things if you have no evidence that it is true. Thailand has very strict libel and slander laws.

[Pilchard]

Just curious if any of the accusations being made on this thread (ie no license, teachers being fired from other schools etc) are based on known facts or just hearsay? Because if its just something you heard from your wife's cousin's husband then please don't state it as fact.

As I understand it it's a chicken and egg thing. You can't operate a school without a government license but, you can't apply for a license until you have a school for them to inspect. So at some point there is always a grey area.

[simey]

Last week the 6-12 groups were closed, the teachers had not been paid for a while and so were not entirely surprised. OG asked that they continue to teach until the end of term and things would be made up for next year, but nobody beleived that so they walked out. Blue water have offered to take the children until the end of term, 2 weeks away, so thats some good news. I can't see the school group 6-12 opening next term at all, the teachers cannot afford to waive salaries on the hope that the school might survive.

[steveyorkshire]

Many parents and their children are disgusted at the fact that the head master of Open Gates international school was not present at the time of the closing of the senior school 1 week after the closing of the primary school.

This shows yet again a complete lack of commitment to the education of children that live in samui.

Hopefully the schools that are still operating on this island will show full commitment to the education of our children.

Rock on Bluewater!

[angiud]

mmmm, I remember another thread about Samui private schools, closed quickly after a war Bluewater/Open Gates.

Sadly I cannot afford the big money needed to send my son to these very serious, exclusive and professional schools.

[Boater]

well i think from the many posts here it has closed its doors to 6 - 12 year olds

i am sure the Samui Express will run the full exclusive story in there nxt edition

[maccaroni man]

the fact is anything that starts off wrong will typically end on its own doing. Most of the staff at OG were fired from where they were teaching before because of their lack of teaching certificates and skills. The owner always had big dreams but his main goal was to make money rather than deliver quality education as is evident by the fact that he never hired a real Head Master until the last term. The adult school still employees teachers with questionable back grounds and I predict that if OG is resold to someone who is interested in only hiring real teachers and facilitating high quality education it will be the end for many of the current OG staff.

This post does not reconcile with your second post. Please do not post such things if you have no evidence that it is true. Thailand has very strict libel and slander laws.

sorry sbk but i do not see any form of liable in my post, i did not state all just most, maybe i should have said most of the original and long term teaching staff at OG to be more accurate but i am only posting what I have the documented facts to.

oh btw if you could pass on the name of a good attorney that is aggressive enough to pursue such post please pm me as i have several cases i would love to lidigate

[sbk]

You'd be surprised maccaroniman. You'd be surprised. As for litigation, just read the forum rules please.

[bbcsamui]

Just curious if any of the accusations being made on this thread (ie no license, teachers being fired from other schools etc) are based on known facts or just hearsay? Because if its just something you heard from your wife's cousin's husband then please don't state it as fact.

Not sure if hearsay or fact but...

1. a few months back I was with my children from Panyadee at a sports day where nearly all Samui schools were present ... except Open Gates and Bluewater. I asked the owner of Panyadee why Bluewater and Open Gates were not present and he stated it was because they were not licensed by the Thailand education board and therefore could not attend education board sanctioned activities ...

2. An ex teacher of Open gates was in my restaurant yesterday stating that he now has a new job at Bluewater after having to leave Open gates because it closed yesterday and that Open Gates has not paid his salary for 6 weeks.

[Geppis72]

Just curious if any of the accusations being made on this thread (ie no license, teachers being fired from other schools etc) are based on known facts or just hearsay? Because if its just something you heard from your wife's cousin's husband then please don't state it as fact.

Most likely these people are supporters of Bluewater School- there is a bitter rivalry between the schools for the dwindling number of potential students on Samui and there is a lot of mud-slinging from both sides.

The bottom line is that if you live on Samui and want your child to have a quality education, you had better do your best to come up with the money to send him/her to a real school in Bangkok.

Yes right ! So tell me why many Farang childrens come to Samui from Bangkok ?

Do you know that ?

[Boater]

Just curious if any of the accusations being made on this thread (ie no license, teachers being fired from other schools etc) are based on known facts or just hearsay? Because if its just something you heard from your wife's cousin's husband then please don't state it as fact.

Not sure if hearsay or fact but...

1. a few months back I was with my children from Panyadee at a sports day where nearly all Samui schools were present ... except Open Gates and Bluewater. I asked the owner of Panyadee why Bluewater and Open Gates were not present and he stated it was because they were not licensed by the Thailand education board and therefore could not attend education board sanctioned activities ...

2. An ex teacher of Open gates was in my restaurant yesterday stating that he now has a new job at Bluewater after having to leave Open gates because it closed yesterday and that Open Gates has not paid his salary for 6 weeks.

seems true then,

are there any parents here who's kids go there???

[rdog]

Is the senior school definately closed? Such a shame for the older students who are either studying for or taking exams, they don't need an interruption if it is the case?

[Tropicalevo]

I stand by my statement that the options in Bangkok are far superior to anything available on Samui- I looked into all the schools here- some try hard and are better than others, but "good for Samui" doesn't mean "good" in general- my son is starting school in Bangkok next year, and I'm confident I made the best move on his behalf.

and there are schools that are far more superior than Bangkok in the UK (or the USA or Australia....)!

Get real. Some people do not want to 'farm' their children out, and they are just trying to get the best education that they can on Samui.

I have lived on Samui for 9 years, and I believe that now - there are some good schools that offer a level of education to an international standard. (I am not saying that an 'international' standard is perfect - just that it is good).

Having read all of the bickering on this forum, I am finally motivated to make some observations based on personal knowledge and intelligence. I have no children on the island and I am not a teacher, sponsor, investor etc in any educational facility.

From opinions from others to me (plus my own), the following have a good reputation.

Samui Learning Centre (was Lamai Learning centre). Good school - professional teachers and professional head teacher.

Panyadee. Good school - professional teachers and professional head teacher

Bluewater. Good school - professional teachers and professional head teacher

Open gates. Started life as Bencaya. Then closed and re-opened as The Internatioal Academy. Then closed and re-opened as Open Gates. Lots of rumours - but who knows? However, why the continual opening and closing?

Sadly - I have no personal knowledge of international schools on the west of the island.

Thai schools - very large classes and problems with gangs, drugs and the 'tea money' syndrome. However, St Joseph's in Nathon has a good rep. That is, if you can get your child in there. My Thai manager (single mum) could not.

Regarding qualifications of teachers - I am lead to believe that the first three above do follow up and check the qualifications of the teachers. (Many are rejected.)

However, I do KNOW one teacher who was working at one of the above, but they could not prove their qualification (photocopy certificates only) - did end up working for Open Gates.

Let's remember that the politics/bitching etc is not important here. The losers are the children. Even if Open Gates was not the best school on the island - there are a lot of very unhappy children and parents.

(Children crying saying 'did it close because we were bad?' and parents who paid hard earned cash to do the best for their children.)

To all you parents out there looking for a good school - look at the above and make a decision. Then SUPPORT that school. Support that school 100%. It might even be better than you think.

Sorry this is a long post - but it's a serious topic