Foreign Teachers: Thousands To Be Recruited

[wilko]

This is classic example of this governments "nape of the neck" thinking. Put out a half baked idea and then let it shrivel away.

It’s tantamount to designing a bicycle and then fitting it with square wheels to stop it rolling backwards!

[BlackJack]

As to the salary - important one this - will it comply with the new laws about minimum taxable salary by nationality introduced last July?  i.e. 60k per month for yanks and japs, 50k for Brits, Aussies etc.  Will the schools arrange all visas, work permits, teachers licenses, tax numbers (and tax payment)  etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What goes around comes around

i will bet that they have not budgeted 50-60K for teachers

lets see how they sqirm out of this one

Jeez I love Thailand

[slim]

Not to disparage the Brits, but I recall several years ago when a young acquaintance from Liverpool with a cockney accent so thick it was just not understandable

Those Bow Bells must have been loud when he was born.

[spencer]

Last night I talked with a Thai teacher from Mae Fah Luang University.  She has done extensive research with MFL students regarding studying with foreign teachers.  One of the most overlooked benefits she found from having foreign teachers in the classroom was that students gained confidence in their ability to talk to foreigners.  With the interaction between students and teachers, foreigners stop being objects of curiosity and are not just seen as "farang."  It might not be much but it is certainly a step in making Thailand a more international place. 

Imagine what will happen if their English gets good enough to understand the international press and what a sham Thaksinomics really is . . . 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You have a great point about the interaction with people that speak English like a native. I know a few Thais that can understand English quite well but are "afraid" of making a mistake so they do not speak English. The way the schools are going now is crazy. I met a Thai girl in the USA that had a bachelors degree in English from a Thai University and came to the USA to study for her Masters Degree. I could barely understand her when she first arrived. Also i have been interviewing Thais for a job that requires them to be able to speak english. I received a list of 30+ University graduates from the labor department that all marked on their application that they could speak,read, and write english. I had my Thai manager telephone them and let them know that they will be working for a Falang boss and English is a must for this job. They all said "no problem." Not one single person could answer even basic questions. I seem to remember advertisements that were hiring Americans to come to China to Stand on Street corners by the Universities so that students could come and practice their english.

Out of curiousity, how much are they paying falang english teachers in Thailand now that they raised the income requirements??

[iplay]

Those Bow Bells must have been loud when he was born.

Best and most meaningful post in this thread .

[Boatabike]

Those Bow Bells must have been loud when he was born.

Best and most meaningful post in this thread .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here here.

[No beleeeeve!]

I didn't read the entire thread but does this scam mean the teachers will have to move four times during this one year gig?

If so, who the ###### would bother?

[robsamui]

Another goverment minister spouting vainglorious nonsense that has been voiced with absolutely no prior thought or discussion. How do these politicians get away with being able to do this?

In this case:

1. 10,000 is a pie in the sky fiction. I doubt that Thailand would be able to attract even 100 teachers with B.A,s with the miserable salary they will be offering.

2. Rotating every 2 months would be unworkable. Utterly. (Even if there were only 100 teachers, the administration would foul it up)

3. The poor kids would be subject to 4 different approaches and methods, not even allowing for the fact that they would be faced with Aussies, Scots, Americans and South Africans. They wouldn't recognise the same words spoken in turn from each of these, let alone cope with the variation in UK and USA spellings.

Last month it was the telephones farce. 4 million phones each to be registered because this was the detonation method of several bombs.

This month's guffaw is the ten thousand farangs that will want to rush to the LOC...(not LOS...Land of Confusion)

Laugh a minnit, innit.

[kenkannif]

Not to disparage the Brits, but I recall several years ago when a young acquaintance from Liverpool with a cockney accent so thick it was just not understandable

Err not possible mate! Like saying you had a Texan with a thick Brooklyn accent

[kenkannif]

As to the salary - important one this - will it comply with the new laws about minimum taxable salary by nationality introduced last July?  i.e. 60k per month for yanks and japs, 50k for Brits, Aussies etc.  Will the schools arrange all visas, work permits, teachers licenses, tax numbers (and tax payment)  etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What goes around comes around

i will bet that they have not budgeted 50-60K for teachers

lets see how they sqirm out of this one

Jeez I love Thailand

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They'll squirm out of it the way they have for the last year or so, by making teacher EXEMPT from it! Same as journalists!

So it don't apply to us!

[sabaijai]

thailand becomes a 'hub' of english instruction ...

[kenkannif]

Like a lot of things here it's a good idea, and I think it's something they've tried before...with no success.

[robsamui]

On this same point, last year I was in regular correspondence with the Head of the English department at one of the BKK universities. Her written English was shocking. Fragmented sentence structure; disagreement of nouns and adjectives; floating clauses; badly spelled and with no idea of how to use even commas.

If she were to apply for any reporter's post on any minor suburban newpaper anywhere in an English speaking country, she just wouldn't get it! She couldn't write comprehendable English!

Sigh.

The way the schools are going now is crazy. I met a Thai girl in the USA that had a bachelors degree in English from a Thai University and came to the USA to study for her Masters Degree. I could barely understand her when she first arrived. Also i have been interviewing Thais for a job that requires them to be able to speak english. I received a list of 30+ University graduates from the labor department that all marked on their application that they could speak,read, and write english. I had my Thai manager telephone them and let them know that they will be working for a Falang boss and English is a must for this job. They all said "no problem." Not one single person could answer even basic questions.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Edited May 24, 2005 by robsamui

[wilko]

I taught English in Thailand for 3 years and I'm wondering who they're going to hire.

I know there are many well qualified, committed Farangs teaching English in Thailand but I would say that 60% of Farang teachers are alcoholic whore-mongers who don't give a shit about the kids, don't know what they're doing and are only teaching cos they don't want to leave...

Thai schools have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for years... what are they gonna find underneath it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not to disparage the Brits, but I recall several years ago when a young acquaintance from Liverpool with a cockney accent so thick it was just not understandable was excited to tell me he had landed a job teaching English. God help those kids if they really think they are speaking English. This guy was not a college or university graduate, yet because he was a "native speaker" he was hired. He was a young guy with the libido to match. Hope his classes were/are supervised. I was astounded he got the position with his credentials. I accept that standards are a bit lower in the LOS but that was ridiculous.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A Liverpudlian with a thick Cockney accent?!?!?! Whose the thick one here???

To teach Englsh now in Thailand you are required to have a Degree and TEFL cert. I happen to think that this is a shot in the foot.

[fire and ice]

If they really were serious about getting 10,000 native english speakers (with degrees!) then the **only** way they will get 10,000 of them to work for their piecemeal salaries will be to recruit Indians & Nigerians.

I relaise there are many western expats in LOS who would be interested in this, but 10,000 is probably about 20 times the number of *qualified* westerners willing to work for these conditions.

[kenkannif]

I taught English in Thailand for 3 years and I'm wondering who they're going to hire.

I know there are many well qualified, committed Farangs teaching English in Thailand but I would say that 60% of Farang teachers are alcoholic whore-mongers who don't give a shit about the kids, don't know what they're doing and are only teaching cos they don't want to leave...

Thai schools have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for years... what are they gonna find underneath it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not to disparage the Brits, but I recall several years ago when a young acquaintance from Liverpool with a cockney accent so thick it was just not understandable was excited to tell me he had landed a job teaching English. God help those kids if they really think they are speaking English. This guy was not a college or university graduate, yet because he was a "native speaker" he was hired. He was a young guy with the libido to match. Hope his classes were/are supervised. I was astounded he got the position with his credentials. I accept that standards are a bit lower in the LOS but that was ridiculous.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A Liverpudlian with a thick Cockney accent?!?!?! Whose the thick one here???

To teach Englsh now in Thailand you are required to have a Degree and TEFL cert. I happen to think that this is a shot in the foot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know who is?

A degree is not always needed, it depends on who, what and where you teach.

They should indeed make it easier though and not, most of the time, require a degree.

[haha]

so, where do I sign up? I don't know if I would be a good teacher. but I would try my best.

[Dragonman]

But that's the point, you don't have to be a good teacher to fit into most up country schools. From my observations, whilst living next door to a school, you have to be able to drink as much Beer Chang as possible whilst watching the kids exercise outside, and be clever enough to have 3 mia nois in the village without anyone letting on to their husbands. As well as this you have to have a total lack of any mathematical ability, other than working out your bar bill.

[Crushdepth]

Previous experience would suggest that this plan is doomed. The government does not want foreigners working in Thailand, it's that simple. If you turn up, don't get any ideas they will cut corners or try to make your life easier just because its a government scheme. Far from it.

[afalang]

"a young acquaintance from Liverpool with a cockney accent "

hey listen up r-kid, scousers don't speak with cockney accents.

[kenkannif]

No they don't do dat dere do da day! La?

[Laulen]

I taught English in Thailand for 3 years and I'm wondering who they're going to hire.

I know there are many well qualified, committed Farangs teaching English in Thailand but I would say that 60% of Farang teachers are alcoholic whore-mongers who don't give a shit about the kids, don't know what they're doing and are only teaching cos they don't want to leave...

Thai schools have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for years... what are they gonna find underneath it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not to disparage the Brits, but I recall several years ago when a young acquaintance from Liverpool with a cockney accent so thick it was just not understandable was excited to tell me he had landed a job teaching English. God help those kids if they really think they are speaking English. This guy was not a college or university graduate, yet because he was a "native speaker" he was hired. He was a young guy with the libido to match. Hope his classes were/are supervised. I was astounded he got the position with his credentials. I accept that standards are a bit lower in the LOS but that was ridiculous.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A Liverpudlian with a thick Cockney accent?!?!?! Whose the thick one here???

To teach Englsh now in Thailand you are required to have a Degree and TEFL cert. I happen to think that this is a shot in the foot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know who is?

A degree is not always needed, it depends on who, what and where you teach.

They should indeed make it easier though and not, most of the time, require a degree.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Thai authorities took a closer look at the applicants they get to teach in Thai state schools. They should first look for evidence of an English language teaching qualification, and set a short lesson planning task. This 'hang up' about a degree qualification is a 'kop out'. The Immigration Department couldn't care less, provided the teacher has a Work Permit, but the Education Ministry judges 'quality' by possession of a degree (any subject will do, even in Tiddly Winks).

Unless and until the Thai Government assesses applicants on merit (not 'tamboon') as well as academic/vocational qualifications, their laudable plans may result in a mediocre delivery of education.

And class dynamics and overall management is not helped by teachers 'hot-desking' from one place to another. Where is the continuity?

Incidently, this press release has prompted the school I was at to send me a renewed invitation to teach for them again. Needless to say, it is more than the Government are offering (around 45,000 Baht per month - in Bangkok).

In Britain today, provided that you have the Diploma, a degree is not necessarily required, as two British Council inspections have proved. Unfortunately, it does preclude you from any involvement in the state sector. The private sector have got it right; prove yourself on merit then you can have the job!

When will the education sector stop displaying such academic arrogance?

Edited May 24, 2005 by Laulen

[Rumpole]

Well,I think its a global thing,not many places in the world if any pay their teachers well.

I cant see how Thailand can afford to either.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is simply not true. Most places in Asia pay more than Thailand and/or offer significantly better benefits and working conditions. The perennial Thai plea of poverty will not wash, when some of their universities charge students more for tuition than universities in the West, and then spend billions of baht in white elephant construction projects.

Low salaries are also only the tip of the iceberg. The Thais have absolutely NO IDEA how to deal with an expatriate. And I do mean NO IDEA. I have never encountered employers who demand so much, yet offer so little in return. Until Thailand manages to get its collective head around a few simple facts like:

a. professional people expect to be given a work permit when employed by a government institution in a foreign country

b. professional people do not relish having to sign in or even clock in every morning like some blue collar factory worker

c. most people did not come to Thailand to work 50 or 60 hours per week (including weekends) for the pittance they pay

d. if done properly, teaching is a relatively stressful occupation (particularly in Thailand) and therefore requires more than eight days holiday per year

then the country will continue to attract precisely the kind of "teachers" it deserves.

This latest scheme is simply another attempt to do things on the cheap, and will fizzle out because the Ministry of Education could not organize the proverbial p*** up in a brewery. There is no way on earth that the Thais will ever be able to organize anything as reasonably successful as the JET programme.

[arwan3870]

Thousands of teachers with at least a BA???

Another grand Thai daydreaming project. Many schools in Bangkok are hiring Filipinos and Germans to teach English,simply because there are not enough natives around.And qualified?

That is a joke.

[PeaceBlondie]

Political grandstanding, nothing more. It's the pie/sky promise of the week. They're not serious and won't implement this half-cocked idea. If they know anything about education in Thailand, they know they're lying or just posturing.

Teachers are apparently exempt from the farang/monthly income rules, although I doubt anybody knows for sure.

One does not need a degree and a TEFL cert to teach in regular govt. & private schools, but apparently (in theory or practice) that's the requirement at fancy schools and EP and bilingual programmes. Many schools simply ignore whatever the laws are, don't issue work permits or help with visas. Bulgarians who dropped out of school at age 16 are okay sometimes. After all, they speak English in Bulgaria, don't they?

This is a great country to retire in, find a long term partner, stay drunk or stoned, and have lots of sex. It's not a great country to seriously teach English.

[Rumpole]

It's not a great country to seriously teach English.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or any other subject.

[Ijustwannateach]

A lot of traffic on this thread, eh? Maybe from those who're considering making the leap? Well, now that I have your attention:

DON'T DO IT! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! IF THERE'S ANYTHING, ANYTHING AT ALL ELSE YOU CAN DO IN YOUR LIFE, DO *THAT*!!!!

There. If that won't dissuade you, then come away.

"Steven"

[Scott]

I have taught here for a number of years. For your information, the reason they want to rotate teachers so frequently has to do with culture. They do not want the students to get "close" to teachers. It will corrupt the Thai culture.

I know students who have been reprimanded for talking to teachers outside of classes.

Believe me, this has nothing to do with assisting the teacher.

[Darkling]

No specifics on salaries or visas, although the 4 times a year rotating schools matches nicely to 90 day visa runs, doesn't it?

"Mr. Robert, now that you are finishing your three months here at Nong Khai Primary... would you be so kind as to step over into Laos for a 1/2 day before you begin your next assignment in 2 days at Yala Primary?"

"well, uhmm... if I have to, I guess so, Khun Sombat. By the way, when do I go to Udon to catch my flight to Hat Yai?"

"Ohhh... Mr. Robert... so sorry, we can not pay for that. But there's a bus direct from Nong Khai to Yala that leaves right after you get back from Laos.  It's only 26 hours to Yala.  We hope you will enjoy your new assignment that begins the following day."

"Hmmm, Khun Sombat, if they had been paying more than the 15,000 baht all along, I would have bought my own plane ticket.  Well, off to a new adventure."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At least you are seeing it the way it will be. I coudn`t agree more. It`s a bit like the millionare gag, how to be a millionare in Thailand start with 30 million. i can see this as being the same , how to we get 100 native English teachers in Thailand, start with 10,000

[IsaanAlex]

Scott wrote"

I have taught here for a number of years. For your information, the reason they want to rotate teachers so frequently has to do with culture. They do not want the students to get "close" to teachers. It will corrupt the Thai culture.

I know students who have been reprimanded for talking to teachers outside of classes.

Believe me, this has nothing to do with assisting the teacher.

Good post: I was thinking the exact same thing.

But more along the lines that they don't want primarily farang men hooking up with their ladies and staying in Thailand. It's hard to develop a relationship if you're not on the market for longer than a few months...

On the other hand, if they were smart they'd encourange people to come and stay in one place for a year; the more farangs that hook up with locals the more chance they (the farangs) have getting sucking into the Thai teaching game and working crap wages just so they can stay and live with their Thai wives and kids in Thailand.

IA