Thai Culture, Language & Ethics Course

[pattayapete69]

Hi All,

One of my teachers informed me this morning that the Thai Culture, Language & Ethics course that was dreamed up by the Teachers Council of Thailand is no longer a requirement, i.e. doing the 20 hour course followed by 4 tests. I have been searching on the internet to see if I can find any references to this, but have been unable to do so.

Does anyone have any information, to either confirm this or otherwise.

Many Thanks

Peter

[Loaded]

Is your teacher's name Dave by any chance?

[PeaceBlondie]

Hi Dave,

That may be true. Especially it may be true about the impossible 4 tests. You can check the thread here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Teacher-Lice...0&start=760 but just the last few pages.

Soon we will merge this topic with the twenty pages on that long thread

[markg]

It wouldnt surprise me in the slightest.

I have found out, on a recent recruitment drive for Thai teachers at our school, that there are no other requirements other than a degree, to initially get work as a teacher.

No additional post-grad training. Nothing.

I've said this before and i'll say it again. Thailand has some great ideas about how to improve things. The trouble is that they give little thought about the implementation of these ideas. They then spend ages trying to find a face saving way of getting themselves out of the mess that they are in.

This is another classic example.

I think the difficulty is that, as in many many countries, teaching has reasonably poor/mediocre salary structures. The TCT are in effect asking unqualified Thai teachers to go on a post graduate course that costs something like 6 months salary. (about 60,000 baht).

I note on the other hand that to do the PGCE in the UK, the government give YOU a grant and a golden handshake to do it.

I'm guessing take up of the course in Thailand by the indigenous population has been low, coupled with a high failure rate in the tests. I also suspect the take up by foreign staff has been less than minuscule.

It's been a balls up from start to finish, and the foreign teachers have been caught up in the middle of it.

Lets hope that someone sees sense and has a major rethink about this scheme.

[Ijustwannateach]

It's all been about the money, anyway, as the horrible reports about the various TCT 'courses' and 'tests' have shown.

[PeaceBlondie]

And all about the money to take long graduate courses which no TCT person has ever promised on their honour would qualify for bypassing the impossible tests. We usually see 60K bandied about as the cost of the Ramkahaeng course, but it may be 80K or 100K, or canceled halfway, or taught in Ugaritic or in Uruguay.