Thai Education System

[khonkaen man]

I have recently discovered that it does not matter what you pay for your childs education, it will always be inadequate in Thailand. Okay for kids who will stay here their whole life but no good for Lok Krung children who have dual passports and can go work in most places.

I have decided that school is school here and it will not improve, well not in my kids time, so I am looking to supplement their education with some home learning. A course similar to the type running in Oz, I think its called 'outback learning'. I can only find religous based home learning programs which I dont require. Can anybody suggest an English Language program I can use or has anybody had experience with teaching kids at home in Thailand. Any useful information would be greatly accepted

[Neeranam]

I know luuk kreungs , and many Thais who were educated in Khon Kaen and are working abroad.

How old are your kids? There are international schools that are very good in Thailand.

Edited June 2, 2009 by Neeranam

[teacup]

Apparently you haven’t look hard enough, as there are many good thai schools.

Yes there are far and few between but there are out there.

This is in bkk tho, don’t know about your Khon Kaen area.

Speaking from my own experiences here.

[oldsparrow]

It may be difficult for student who graduates the Thai U. and get a job abroad but there are many Thai students who finish Thai school/U. went to good western U. and get a job in most place.

A guy in my Mor.6 room (last year of high school), after MSc here went to U. in Japan and afterward got a job with U of WA in Seattle, now the Singaporean get him.

From the next room, straight from Mor.6, 1 guy went to Princeton, 1 to Harvard and 2 to MIT. Some still work there now

[teacup]

Sparrow,

Did you go to the thai school?........b4 the university that is.

[Neeranam]

How old is/are your kid/kids?

I can recommend a very good school in the Khon Kaen area.

[oldsparrow]

Sparrow, Did you go to the thai school?........b4 the university that is.

ํำYes, I went to Satit Chula and Triam Udom. The sample is small fraction of TU cases, the CUD kid also do equally well. I am not one of those successful student though.

[scorecard]

You didn't mention ages or location.

If your in Bangkok, can I suggest you search my old posts (especially two posts about 4 or so weeks back) in regard to the bi-lingual school my ganddaughter has just started in.

The name of the school is Amnuay Sin, on Sri Ayudaya Road, near Phya Thai area.

Unfortunately their website is quite poor and is not a good representation of the school.

If your at all interested call the school and make an appointment to visit, you might be very pleasantly surprised. There facilities are quite impressive, and they are quite seriously focused on quality. They follow a British curriculm.

One of the admission ladies speaks excellent English and she always meets and talks with farang. She's a good listener and she's focused on quality.

And the bonus is that their fees are quite reasonable compared to other bi-lingual schools, and way way below International schools. And there is no 'tea money' donation at all.

[Neeranam]

Harrow and Bangkok Patana are both excellent schools. I'm beginning to think the OP is a troll.

[Artisi]

What I've seem with 2 young nieces (Thai) is, I think what is set down to learn is good but they are not taught to think or ask questions or to question the teachers - this results in passive learning - this doesn't develop real thinking skills. These 2 kids 9 and 5 can read and write and seem pretty good with their math as well as having a little English - they do their homework without too much forcing and are bright within the Thai school system - BUT- I think the secret is if you are not Thai to communicate in your native language and encourage them to learn at home, ask questions and get them interested in learning something different - any extra learning is good even if they don't excel with it its certainly better than nothing - and more importantly get them to ask questions - get clarification when not sure - apply thinking skills.

[teacup]

Sparrow, Did you go to the thai school?........b4 the university that is.

ํำYes, I went to Satit Chula and Triam Udom. The sample is small fraction of TU cases, the CUD kid also do equally well. I am not one of those successful student though.

Oh…haha U r one of those geekies who probably never seen an eraser!

Well my parents just barely got their money worth from my St John education.

Let’s just say….

I’m the type that… I know what's good for ME, whether I do it or not …hehe

[oldsparrow]

๊Uhm, I just know what is not good for me. In Triam Engineer Prgramme Room I hate Meth, Physic and Chemistry so I casually got F for all three. Then read French at home and took pure-Art entrance exam to CU Pol Sci. instead.

What an educaton system we have ! Back then we could got Mor.6 certificate from anywhere to enroll to the U. entrance exam. My friend took U. entrance AND Triam high school entrance exam on the SAME years after Mor.3. She went to Trium and went to U. after Mor.5 but she really could go to U. if she selected lower-score faculty.

[teacup]

๊Uhm, I just know what is not good for me. In Triam Engineer Prgramme Room I hate Meth, Physic and Chemistry so I casually got F for all three.

Well your “F” is probably a big “B” at my school….duh

Woohoo….you have a “Meth lab” too?…much more advanced than mine….wink wink

Or was that the sp-error?…haha

School will always be evil to me... but I'm more evil than school.

[Violet Fonce]

U guys are thai?…Me too

Very funny…who would imagine we’ re all over here, of all the places on the net.

Are you all in Thailand, or scattering all over the globe like a tiny stardust?

Yeah I wish I should have study harder tho, so I can choose to work in a normal office, with a nice cool normal air-con room. Instead of putting up with all these researches at the volcanic base over here….who knows when it will go …rom rom..shhhhhh on me….if I live to tell the tale, that is.

Have nice day y’all

Violet

[7baht]

Dear OP,

Home schooling is as big a nightmare as getting a non bashing reply from these people. there are of plenty of Google sites that can answer ur questions I would strongly suggest u seek it out there before the vultures pick ur bones for asking

[Jungian]

I will take a Thai school over most American public schools any day of the week, at least the Thais spend their money on books and computers where as we spend it on rent-a-cops and metal detectors. Thailand boasts a 92% literacy rate while the USA is only 77% literate and of those 77% a government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information."

Source: National Center for Educational Statistics 2008

So, I'm fine with Thai schools my child is bilingual and studying a 3rd language at 8 years old and is quite happy and well adjusted and our 18 month old is starting to speak both languages which we are pleased with as well.

[7baht]

hahahahah Mai pen lie hahahahahahahahah ok lets educate u and ur children in Thailand

[7baht]

Dear OP

Again home schooling is far better than the Thai education system. but remember... ur children might enjoy the social gatherings and watching the farang clowns dancing and singing in the classroom. small reminder do they sing and dance in the UK school system? another benifit for home schooling u get to pick the books. also ur child isnt drowned in 17 subjects that thais dont talk about . remember this do ur best if u home school. if ur in the outback in thailand home schooling is a good choice. if u decide to enter into 1 of the local schools...per say the dam rip off international schools that are like McDonalds in America..remember this. here its all about money and no matter what they blame the teacher cause ur money comes first before ur childs education

[bonobo]

I will take a Thai school over most American public schools any day of the week, at least the Thais spend their money on books and computers where as we spend it on rent-a-cops and metal detectors. Thailand boasts a 92% literacy rate while the USA is only 77% literate and of those 77% a government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information."

Source: National Center for Educational Statistics 2008

Odd, as the United Nations Development Program, using the same criteria for both nations, reports that the US adult literacy rate is 99% and the Thai adult literacy rate is 92.6%.

[7baht]

why use a fact someone else gives you when some that lives in the area tells you thats nonsense

[7baht]

example U ask the jew he says there is no problem u ask the people in Gaza...ahhhhhhhhhh u see who has the correct %. u want the truth u have to go in for urself.

[Jungian]

I will take a Thai school over most American public schools any day of the week, at least the Thais spend their money on books and computers where as we spend it on rent-a-cops and metal detectors. Thailand boasts a 92% literacy rate while the USA is only 77% literate and of those 77% a government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information."

Source: National Center for Educational Statistics 2008

Odd, as the United Nations Development Program, using the same criteria for both nations, reports that the US adult literacy rate is 99% and the Thai adult literacy rate is 92.6%.

Yes, but read the fine print.

[Jungian]

Literacy Statistics:

http://www.begintoread.com/research/literacystatistics.html

US Department of Education:

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/...Ed/aefacts.html

Yes it is sad but this is what happens when students have to be treated like inmates.

[khonkaen man]

Sorry I have not been back for a while, maybe I should expand on my concerns. I am not criticizing the staff, though there are many, thai and english, who should be no where near kids. I am criticizing the system. I live in Khon Kaen and have checked out every school here and the same story comes back time after time.

They only teach a maximum of 3 periods a day from 08.30-15.30 and they have ridicoulously long holidays, compare this with a western school and they teach 4 periods a day and for more than 30 days a year more. What cheeses me off is that from 11.30 until 14.00 kids between the ages of 3 and 7 are encouraged to sleep then they give them homework 4-5 days a week.

My personal research shows that this is the most important time when learning. The brain is like a sponge and can absorb everything at this age. My son is 5 and he is fluent in Thai(and isan dialect) and about 90% in English. He has also started learning Chinese with his classmates. This time is when the building blocks are put in place so we teach them to sleep..... am I missing something.

Thai nationals leaving this country to be educated or work usually have rich Chinese parents and are not local Thai People. If this country aspires to be a world power it needs a better education system. When you speak to the local wealthy they agree that the system is cr-p and they just pay for extra tutoring at night and weekends.

I believe the system is outdated and only serves to not educate the kids. Most of the kids with my children are from extremely wealthy parents and there futures are already secured in the family business. As an exercise,anyone reading this post, go find your old school (when you where 4-5) online and checkout the timetable. I will nearly guarantee that your week will be made up of 10 hours, 5 of your native language and 5 of maths, then a range of other subjects. Then find aThai Curriculum for a young child. Usually 2+2 of the above.... and there begins the problem