Open Gates Closed

[maccaroni man]

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

I think you have hit the nail on the head and the post is very well written even if I do not agree with a couple of your points what you say about parents support is spot on. IMHO there is much more to securing a good school than simply paying tuition, many parents have the time to volunteer to help around the school even it is as simple as reading one on one with a child, the school would love it and what about old computers, toys etc..... the schools can always find a use for these things at the end of the day a good education is still in the parents hands.

[MSingh]

Whatever the reasons & the whispers that will no doubt surround this subject, bottom line is that it's a stress for the Kids & that's not a good thing..

[OnTheSnap]

I'm pleased that my post raised your righteous indignation to the point where you felt compelled to join the forum to refute it.

You do not "have a dog in this fight"- your opinion is based more on what others think then what you know personally.

I have visited every school of note on the island- I have met teachers, I have sat in on classes, I have talked to children and parents- as I said, there are some schools that are better than others on Samui, but the schools in Bangkok (which I also researched and visited) are superior in every respect (imho, of course).

Yes, there is more to a good school than what it costs to send a child there, but the best teachers and programs are found (for the most part) where the money is- that's a fact of life that I don't think anyone here needs to be taught- talent follows the cash.

Yes, the schools on the island are well-meaning and they try hard, but there are better available not far away.

I am planning to send my son to the US (or possibly the UK) for secondary school- I have been saving money to do so since before he was born- I cannot choose his profession or path in life, but I will do everything in my power to make sure he has the tools to do or be anything he wants.

How dare you imply that my son is being "farmed out"- you have no idea what you're talking about- my wife will now be spending 80% of her time in Bangkok to be with him, and he will have the loving support of a large network of family and friends.

There is a wide gulf between what you think and what you know.

[mustafa]

How dare you imply that my son is being "farmed out"- you have no idea what you're talking about- my wife will now be spending 80% of her time in Bangkok to be with him, and he will have the loving support of a large network of family and friends.

onthesnap you sly devil! Getting rid of the wife and the kid, while at the same time appearing to be the generous benefactor of a good education. Ingenious!!

What school in bangkok do you recommend?

[Prasert]

.....

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.

Same argument as in the last flamewar topic about BW versus OG.

If it really is an international school, it would not just use the standards from another island. It would use a standard that allows to continue education anywhere in the world, not just in the UK.

But then again, maybe it's only British parents posting on TV, only concerned about education standards from the country they once choose to leave.

[katyb]

Anyway.... back on topic.........

The children from OG are now attending Blue Water until the end of term on a no fee basis. Some of the mothers are also attending daily to supervise the influx of extra kids, by reading with them etc. A good friend of mine has a son at BW and she is one of the mums assisting. This is probably as factual as we can get at this point.

I know one teacher personally from OG who has a secured a postion at Bluewater in the last few days.... an English man with the appropriate teaching qualifications and experience in UK schools, and impressive CV. Another staff member from OG had an interview at BW yesterday, but I don't know the outcome of this yet.

[sbk]

Off topic discussion has been removed. Lets keep it to the subject at hand, thanks

[t.s]

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

it wouln't hurt if SBK could actually distiguish between libel and slander, one of which it would be impossible to commit using this meduium

[sbk]

forum rules

1) You will not use thaivisa.com to post any material which is knowingly or can be reasonably construed as false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, referencing prostitution (including bargirls and barboys), referencing suicide, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law

I think many lawyers could easily find something that can be 'reasonably construed as', and suggesting that teachers aren't qualified and were fired from other places is probably best not posted here.

[ceed]

As a former OG student, i can say that this so called school is a complete joke. At the time i was studying there (2006-2007) only 3 teachers were competent. With a lot of self tuition and support from this 3 teachers, i have managed to achieve respectable grades in my exams. I will not say about the other teachers simply because this is not the purpose of this post, and the list of imcompatibilities with them and what is expected from a real education center would be too long. I have then moved to bangkok and i can tell that bangkok Intl schools are completetly different infrastrutures, with proper organization, for the same price... Obviously, the Open Gates' owners were never really interested in providing their students with quality support and i guess that's why OG will never get to be called a School. They should have left the duty of managing the school to a real head teacher instead of a business man.

[MSingh]

As a former OG student, i can say that this so called school is a complete joke. At the time i was studying there (2006-2007) only 3 teachers were competent. With a lot of self tuition and support from this 3 teachers, i have managed to achieve respectable grades in my exams. I will not say about the other teachers simply because this is not the purpose of this post, and the list of imcompatibilities with them and what is expected from a real education center would be too long. I have then moved to bangkok and i can tell that bangkok Intl schools are completetly different infrastrutures, with proper organization, for the same price... Obviously, the Open Gates' owners were never really interested in providing their students with quality support and i guess that's why OG will never get to be called a School. They should have left the duty of managing the school to a real head teacher instead of a business man.

Well you write better than most on here so someone done something right...

[rdog]

Anyway.... back on topic.........

The children from OG are now attending Blue Water until the end of term on a no fee basis. Some of the mothers are also attending daily to supervise the influx of extra kids, by reading with them etc. A good friend of mine has a son at BW and she is one of the mums assisting. This is probably as factual as we can get at this point.

I know one teacher personally from OG who has a secured a postion at Bluewater in the last few days.... an English man with the appropriate teaching qualifications and experience in UK schools, and impressive CV. Another staff member from OG had an interview at BW yesterday, but I don't know the outcome of this yet.

Interesting! That is a fact is it? So if you could just confirm, the Open Gates children who have moved to Bluewater are having the last two and a half weeks of term free?

What is this based on in terms of registering and paying enrolment for the coming school year?

Just be interested to know..

Edited March 20, 2009 by rdog

[ceed]

As a former OG student, i can say that this so called school is a complete joke. At the time i was studying there (2006-2007) only 3 teachers were competent. With a lot of self tuition and support from this 3 teachers, i have managed to achieve respectable grades in my exams. I will not say about the other teachers simply because this is not the purpose of this post, and the list of imcompatibilities with them and what is expected from a real education center would be too long. I have then moved to bangkok and i can tell that bangkok Intl schools are completetly different infrastrutures, with proper organization, for the same price... Obviously, the Open Gates' owners were never really interested in providing their students with quality support and i guess that's why OG will never get to be called a School. They should have left the duty of managing the school to a real head teacher instead of a business man.

Well you write better than most on here so someone done something right...

Oh don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing Open Gates' teachers and i have no reason to do so, indeed i have spent a wonderful time there and i have learnt English thanks to some very competent pedagogues at OG, who represent a minority of OG teachers nevertheless. I'm just saying that OG is not what it should be because of apathetic management, like hiring some teachers with definitely questionable backgrounds. All im saying is that if OG had kept on hiring qualified teachers and provide them with an agreeable atmosphere, it would maybe had prevent some of them to simply resign, which caused an apparent impact on OG organization i think, as it seems to dismantle little by little.

[maccaroni man]

forum rules

1) You will not use thaivisa.com to post any material which is knowingly or can be reasonably construed as false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, referencing prostitution (including bargirls and barboys), referencing suicide, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law

I think many lawyers could easily find something that can be 'reasonably construed as', and suggesting that teachers aren't qualified and were fired from other places is probably best not posted here.

fair enough if it is not true but when it is a proven documented fact one must be ready to go to the matt. I never post anything that i can not prove. FYI in the beginning of OG I was offered to buy in but when we reviewed the teachers CV and the school plan we had to pass as most of the teachers they planned to hire did not have certificates for teaching and one had even abandoned his previous class before the school year was over and another was on the slate to be fired from his current employment along with a whole host of other staff memebers that had been fired from their previous post. Your Honor I rest my case.

Edited March 20, 2009 by maccaroni man

[rdog]

Anyway.... back on topic.........

The children from OG are now attending Blue Water until the end of term on a no fee basis. Some of the mothers are also attending daily to supervise the influx of extra kids, by reading with them etc. A good friend of mine has a son at BW and she is one of the mums assisting. This is probably as factual as we can get at this point.

I know one teacher personally from OG who has a secured a postion at Bluewater in the last few days.... an English man with the appropriate teaching qualifications and experience in UK schools, and impressive CV. Another staff member from OG had an interview at BW yesterday, but I don't know the outcome of this yet.

Interesting! That is a fact is it? So if you could just confirm, the Open Gates children who have moved to Bluewater are having the last two and a half weeks of term free?

What is this based on in terms of registering and paying enrolment for the coming school year?

Just be interested to know..

STILL waiting............ Any of the new Bluewater/Ex Open Gates parents wish to comment???????????????

[bbcsamui]

I picked up my kids from Panyadee today and also picked up a copy of the Cambridge certification– see attached documents. While it is not going to be much use for parents with children at secondary level it is pleasing to know for us with children at primary level … and they appear to be growing up in the right direction, not taking on too much and getting themselves organised

[HeadmasterOnSamui]

May I take this opportunity to try and answer some posts with regards to events that happened this week.

I was informed of the imminent closure of the Open Gates Primary School at the same time as the parents of the children at Open Gates on the afternoon of Friday 13th March.

Immediately following this my staff started to be contacted by a number of concerned parents from Open Gates. After numerous calls and requests from parents I informed all concerned that Bluewater would enrol children affected by the closure of Open Gates from Wednesday. This decision was made to allow my office staff, my teachers and me the time to plan for the new enrollment of children as well as discuss the options available to the parents from Open Gates and to ensure the smoothest of possible transitions given the circumstances for the children affected.

I have spoken with the majority of parents who have been affected and they have informed me that they have paid for either the current term or the year unsure if they will be able to gain a refund, I must stress that this is only what I have been informed. At the same time a number of the children have been very upset, understandably.

For this reason I made the decision to allow all of the children at Open Gates affected by the closure the opportunity to finish their term at Bluewater at no extra charge other than for uniform and lunch fees. I made this decision because I believe that the stress for the parents concerned with having to find a new school for their children at such short notice was more than enough in itself without the financial burden of having to find more money to pay for more school fees which as I understood had already been paid.

I was then informed on Tuesday 17th March that the Open Gates Secondary school had closed with immediate effect. My office staff were again inundated with calls from concerned parents, especially with parents of children currently studying for their IGCSE examinations.

My staff have as of today - Friday 20th March - enrolled over 45 students following the closure of Open Gates. They have worked late into the night for most of the week to ensure the process for the children has been as smooth as feasibly possible given the circumstances.

I do hope that now that the dust has settled, the children can now at least concentrate on the final two weeks of their term in a school environment where they can continue to learn. In the mean time I hope that the parents involved can visit all the schools on the Island to make an informed decision with regards to which school they will feel comfortable with for their children from next term onwards, whether it be Bluewater, Panyadee, Samui Centre of Learning, Oonrak, St Josephs or another school either on Samui or further afield.

I believe that Koh Samui needs a rich choice of schools to cater for the ever expanding and diverse international and local community on the Island. Each school on Samui currently offers its own personal touch and style which will attract some parents and not others. This is the same in any community around the world and we are lucky that Samui has this choice for parents.

At the same time I hope that the football matches that we are playing between each other continue, incidentally we were asked to join the football match mentioned in a previous post but due to prior commitments we were unable to, although we were able to join in another such event in December of last year in Lipa Noi which was a very enjoyable and rewarding experience for all the students involved.

With regards to the question of which examining body a school following the National Curriculum of England can choose from there are a number of institutions from the UK for these schools to choose from. Open Gates was an accredited Cambridge International Centre as is Panyadee now. Bluewater has chosen to be, and is, an accredited Edexcel International Examinations Centre as is Bangkok Patana and Regents to name a few known schools in Thailand as well as Dulwich College in China, again it is for each individual school to choose, each membership comes with an annual fee and ongoing fees depending on the organisation, payable by the school.

These organisations are private British companies but are regulated by the British Government via the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). They give schools outside of the UK the opportunity for their students to sit examinations and follow a curriculum that is designed along the lines of the National Curriculum of England and in the case of Secondary schools such as Bluewater they give the students the opportunity to sit examinations such as the IGCSE and GCE (more commonly known as A Levels - for University entrance).

As an example of other roles these organisations play Edexcel has recently been awarded the contract to run the UK annual SAT's tests by the British government and Cambridge Examinations itself has been developing a new type of A Level examination called the Pre-U under the sponsorship of the British Government which is currently being trialed by a number of private and state schools in the UK.

That said none of the above organisations can 'licence' a school. Only the Thai Ministry of Education can do that as we are in their country following a different curriculum to that of the Thai Education System. I know there is an ongoing debate about such licensing requirements, especially on Samui. Just to clarify, a bilingual licence is a seperate licence to that of an International licence. The International licence issued by the Thai Ministry of Education formally allows a school to follow a different curriculum (ie another countries curriculum such as England or the USA or Sweden for example) than that of the curriculum of the Kingdom of Thailand along with alot of other requirements.

I hope that all of the current schools on Samui that are following the National Curriculum of England (It is the curriculum of choice of the majority of English speaking International schools around the world) can achieve this status in the near future. It can only be good for the Island. I know the process is very long and detailed, which is an extremely good thing. We ourselves started the application process over a year ago and I will not comment any further as it is for the Thai Ministry of Education to make their decision in the coming months. Furthermore as I understand other schools on the Island are in the application process as well which I believe can only be a good thing for the community as a whole.

I am sorry for the length of this post, I do not normally like to post but given the exceptional circumstances I feel that it is neccessary and I hope also informative.

Mr Jeremy Lees PGCE BSc (Hons)

Headmaster

Bluewater

[rdog]

Ok that makes sense!

So the current parents of Bluewater will also be getting a reduced rate for their children due to the hardship they are suffering at the expense of the closure of Open Gates and the sudden influx of extra students into their existing school?

People can choose to prepay for education or pay as the bills become due, if however some have opted for the first option it is their choice do we not think??

[maccaroni man]

rdog that seems a bit unfair to ask of any business and frankly i do not see your point; how are the current parents at BW being negativly effected? New students bring new personalities to the class room and this is a positive not a negative. In fact the Q could be will the BW staff being getting paid more, that would hold more water. As for prepayment of tuition many parents do the whole year because there is typically a small discount offered but No i do not think it is an understood risk that the school could close and that the money will be lost. do you?

[OnTheSnap]

rdog that seems a bit unfair to ask of any business and frankly i do not see your point; how are the current parents at BW being negativly effected? New students bring new personalities to the class room and this is a positive not a negative. In fact the Q could be will the BW staff being getting paid more, that would hold more water. As for prepayment of tuition many parents do the whole year because there is typically a small discount offered but No i do not think it is an understood risk that the school could close and that the money will be lost. do you?

I very much agree that parents that paid for the full semester upfront had a more than reasonable expectation that the school year would be completed- for OG to just close a few weeks from the end seems indefensible (I say "seems" because I don't know the whole story)- I would be very angry if I were an OG parent.

However, one of the biggest issue parents have with a private school is CLASS SIZE (the smaller the better)- it seems that class size at BW will either increase significantly or new classes will need to be formed, putting more stress on teachers- I wouldn't be too thrilled right now if I were the parent of a BW child.

Jeremy is a businessman- this very well will be a boon for his business, and he is making a very shrewd move to capture as many of the former OG students as he can before they might decide to choose his competitors (not too many parents will want to move their children to a third school). I'm not saying that he doesn't have altruistic motives as well, but giving "free" tuition for the remainder of the semester will certainly financially benefit him in the future.

Again, this makes me feel that I made the right move for my son by deciding to have him educated off the island.

[highdiver]

thank you Jeremy for your post.

i admire your decision of allowing kids to come over and do it for a reasonable fee a to allow then to finish the term.

while reading this thread and the debates i can help but feel so sorry for those kids who were left with out a school, i think children at this age view the school as a second home and having it shut down in one day must be very disturbing to those kids..

[rdog]

rdog that seems a bit unfair to ask of any business and frankly i do not see your point; how are the current parents at BW being negativly effected? New students bring new personalities to the class room and this is a positive not a negative. In fact the Q could be will the BW staff being getting paid more, that would hold more water. As for prepayment of tuition many parents do the whole year because there is typically a small discount offered but No i do not think it is an understood risk that the school could close and that the money will be lost. do you?

The point being, people have made a choice as to which school they sent their children to. The fact that one has run out of money and failed them does not mean that they should now receive free education at another. I understand that the children may be distressed but as has been stated, THIS IS A BUSINESS not a charity.

Yes obviously the headmaster of Bluewater is a business man but this doesn't appear to a be a very shrewd move on his behalf. I will be very interested to hear/see what parents of Bluewater have to say when they learn of this, I would imagine there are a lot that will read this thread and I would also imagine they will be talking about it next week. His motives are obviously well meant but this has from what I see just devalued the education cost per head of each and every child at Bluewater. I wonder if you had just bought a car and paid 500,000 baht for it and as you were walking away you heard the salesman saying that he could sell it for 400,000 baht to someone who walked in behind you, wouldn't you be turning around and asking why?? I would think so because I know I would.

One rule for one and one for another doesn't really cut it does it?

Edited March 21, 2009 by rdog

[maccaroni man]

rdog that seems a bit unfair to ask of any business and frankly i do not see your point; how are the current parents at BW being negativly effected? New students bring new personalities to the class room and this is a positive not a negative. In fact the Q could be will the BW staff being getting paid more, that would hold more water. As for prepayment of tuition many parents do the whole year because there is typically a small discount offered but No i do not think it is an understood risk that the school could close and that the money will be lost. do you?

The point being, people have made a choice as to which school they sent their children to. The fact that one has run out of money and failed them does not mean that they should now receive free education at another. I understand that the children may be distressed but as has been stated, THIS IS A BUSINESS not a charity.

Yes obviously the headmaster of Bluewater is a business man but this doesn't appear to a be a very shrewd move on his behalf. I will be very interested to hear/see what parents of Bluewater have to say when they learn of this, I would imagine there are a lot that will read this thread and I would also imagine they will be talking about it next week. His motives are obviously well meant but this has from what I see just devalued the education cost per head of each and every child at Bluewater. I wonder if you had just bought a car and paid 500,000 baht for it and as you were walking away you heard the salesman saying that he could sell it for 400,000 baht to someone who walked in behind you, wouldn't you be turning around and asking why?? I would think so because I know I would.

lets look at it a bit more form a bsuiness stand point, he gives 2 weeks of tuition away for free with the prospects of picking up 45 new students translating into a sizable sum in tuitions which goes backl into the school making it better for the current and new students. devalued???? i do not think so.

One rule for one and one for another doesn't really cut it does it?

[OnTheSnap]

rdog that seems a bit unfair to ask of any business and frankly i do not see your point; how are the current parents at BW being negativly effected? New students bring new personalities to the class room and this is a positive not a negative. In fact the Q could be will the BW staff being getting paid more, that would hold more water. As for prepayment of tuition many parents do the whole year because there is typically a small discount offered but No i do not think it is an understood risk that the school could close and that the money will be lost. do you?

The point being, people have made a choice as to which school they sent their children to. The fact that one has run out of money and failed them does not mean that they should now receive free education at another. I understand that the children may be distressed but as has been stated, THIS IS A BUSINESS not a charity.

Yes obviously the headmaster of Bluewater is a business man but this doesn't appear to a be a very shrewd move on his behalf. I will be very interested to hear/see what parents of Bluewater have to say when they learn of this, I would imagine there are a lot that will read this thread and I would also imagine they will be talking about it next week. His motives are obviously well meant but this has from what I see just devalued the education cost per head of each and every child at Bluewater. I wonder if you had just bought a car and paid 500,000 baht for it and as you were walking away you heard the salesman saying that he could sell it for 400,000 baht to someone who walked in behind you, wouldn't you be turning around and asking why?? I would think so because I know I would.

One rule for one and one for another doesn't really cut it does it?

You may very well be correct, though (at this point) I disagree- I would think that (purely from a business perspective) the net gain of students (and therefore income) will certainly outweigh the loss of a few parents removing their kids from BW and sending them to different schools due to the influx of a large group of new students (no one wants to subject their kids to that kind of stress unnecessarily).

[highdiver]

total agree with the above.

i think it was a good move from a business perspective as parents will not soon forget the assistance they got in time of problem

i don't think other parents who already have kids will take the kids out..and i think if at all they will probably sympathize with the new parents situation (no one would want to be in that position of finding out that the school is closed and your money gone)

its also establishing a business reputation of fairness and not taking a financial advantage of those who are in distress.

i think that this head master is not running just a business, he runs a school.

we all like to believe that the school is also supposed to educate values, ethics and morals.. i think coming to the aid of someone in distress is something that the kids can look up to and learn from..

[rdog]

rdog that seems a bit unfair to ask of any business and frankly i do not see your point; how are the current parents at BW being negativly effected? New students bring new personalities to the class room and this is a positive not a negative. In fact the Q could be will the BW staff being getting paid more, that would hold more water. As for prepayment of tuition many parents do the whole year because there is typically a small discount offered but No i do not think it is an understood risk that the school could close and that the money will be lost. do you?

The point being, people have made a choice as to which school they sent their children to. The fact that one has run out of money and failed them does not mean that they should now receive free education at another. I understand that the children may be distressed but as has been stated, THIS IS A BUSINESS not a charity.

Yes obviously the headmaster of Bluewater is a business man but this doesn't appear to a be a very shrewd move on his behalf. I will be very interested to hear/see what parents of Bluewater have to say when they learn of this, I would imagine there are a lot that will read this thread and I would also imagine they will be talking about it next week. His motives are obviously well meant but this has from what I see just devalued the education cost per head of each and every child at Bluewater. I wonder if you had just bought a car and paid 500,000 baht for it and as you were walking away you heard the salesman saying that he could sell it for 400,000 baht to someone who walked in behind you, wouldn't you be turning around and asking why?? I would think so because I know I would.

lets look at it a bit more form a bsuiness stand point, he gives 2 weeks of tuition away for free with the prospects of picking up 45 new students translating into a sizable sum in tuitions which goes backl into the school making it better for the current and new students. devalued???? i do not think so.

One rule for one and one for another doesn't really cut it does it?

Each to their own obviously. You have your opinion to which you are entitled as do I.

Edited March 21, 2009 by rdog

[rdog]

total agree with the above.

i think it was a good move from a business perspective as parents will not soon forget the assistance they got in time of problem

i don't think other parents who already have kids will take the kids out..and i think if at all they will probably sympathize with the new parents situation (no one would want to be in that position of finding out that the school is closed and your money gone)

its also establishing a business reputation of fairness and not taking a financial advantage of those who are in distress.

i think that this head master is not running just a business, he runs a school.

we all like to believe that the school is also supposed to educate values, ethics and morals.. i think coming to the aid of someone in distress is something that the kids can look up to and learn from..

Totally agree that what he is doing is done with all good intentions and yes it is something that is unselfish and can be looked upon by others as an extremely good deed, after all I am guessing that it is his pocket that the money is coming out of in the short term.

However it will be interesting to see if any of the existing parents who may be also suffering financially take to it, that is the point I am making, I am not bad mouthing the guy for helping people when something as bad as this happens to them.

[Boo]

IMO any existing BW parent who get narked over the school taking in opengate kids for 2 weeks need to get their head examined & show a bit of compassion & sympathy to those kids who got left hanging through no fault of their own.

[Jimjim]

He actually shows very shrewd business sense. You show little of it, though, rdog. Businesses give free stuff to new customers all the time. His compassion will not go unnoticed and will bring more money to the school, surely, as some of those new students will become paying customers, and the word-of-mouth will help greatly, as well. Methinks you don't have an MBA, and if you do, it has been mightily wasted.

[rdog]

He actually shows very shrewd business sense. You show little of it, though, rdog. Businesses give free stuff to new customers all the time. His compassion will not go unnoticed and will bring more money to the school, surely, as some of those new students will become paying customers, and the word-of-mouth will help greatly, as well. Methinks you don't have an MBA, and if you do, it has been mightily wasted.

Read my last post Did I not agree that what he is doing is a good thing?? Obviously the children are the most important concern here no one is disputing that.

It's sad that you feel the need to attack me personally when I have merely stated facts, hang on this is a forum what am I doing stating facts!! The world is indeed flat and I can prove it!

Jeez some of you people need to relax. Never stated my schooling qualifications but judging by some of you posters it would appear kindergarten level is well and truly enough.

Felling a bit touchy about this by the sound of it, maybe just take a deep breath and count to 10........