This Is What They Teach In The Thai Schools

[jybkk]

There's a lot of discussions going on TV about what should change, who can bring this change, who can drive this country. I believe whatever color of shirt is at the head here, things won't change because Thai people aren't ready, regardless of their education level.

The problem is that no matter how many years you spent in the school system here, it will be long enough to be brainwashed in a way thay you will always support "feudal" social systems. Yellow or Red both have their elite system. One just want to replace the other, but in the end it will be the same.

I got hold of the official translation of the Thai Curriculum for primary school. It's quite revealing about what is expected from the education in Thailand, and, in my opinion, explains most of the problems of this country.

I attached the introduction of this curriculum, so you can have a look at it.

What I find the most striking is this (p.4):

Goals

The Basic Education Core Curriculum is aimed at the full development of learners in all respects morality, wisdom, happiness, and potentiality for further education and livelihood. The following goals have consequently been set for achievement upon completing basic education:

1. Morality, ethics, desirable values, self-esteem, self-discipline, observance of Buddhist teachings or those of one's faith, and guiding principles of Sufficiency Economy;

2. Knowledge and skills for communication, thinking, problem-solving, technological know-how, and life skills;

3. Good physical and mental health, hygiene, and preference for physical exercise;

4. Patriotism, awareness of responsibilities and commitment as Thai citizens and members of the world community, and adherence to a democratic way of life and form of government under constitutional monarchy; and

5. Awareness of the need to preserve all aspects of Thai culture and Thai wisdom, protection and conservation of the environment, and public-mindedness with dedication to public service for peaceful and harmonious co-existence.

My remarks:

Goal 1: So the first goal of education in Thailand is... religious morality, preferably Buddhist (the possibility of other religions seems to have been added as a second thought, the possibility that someione doesn't have a religion did not even occur). Right next to it, is the teaching of the principles of Sufficiency Economy... is this really so important for primary school students to study economical theories? What about reading and counting first?

Goal 4: Instilling patriotism is clearly one of the main objectives of thai education. 3-4 patriotic songs every morning in front of the flag take care of that. As a European, I tend to dislike this kind of blind patriotism. Last time Europeans were singing anthems, waving flags and standing up 3 times a day was right before WWII.

Goal 5: Later in the document they even talk about "Thainess". Nobody can clearly state what it means except that anything that looks new or different -i.e. any kind of progress - will be deemed at "not thai". The ministry of culture is actively working on this kind of "listing" and probably killing the thai culture itself through starvation

Don't you think critical things are missing?

What about Civic Education? Teaching the rights of thai citizens? The importance of the laws, their role?

What about critical thinking, building of opinions?

Even when looking in the details of the curriculum (I didn't convert it yet in pdf), you won't find such things.

Thai people don't have the tools to solve their problems. They misunderstand what democracy means, think law is just a tool to get rid of their opponents and have quite a hard time not falling into the traps of propaganda and fact distortion.

Not because they are stupid or uneducated, but because the system was meant to keep the ignorant.

That's the first change that should be done. After that, maybe in 10-15 years we can hope for actual democracy to take place here.

I hope it won't take too long. It really kills me to see this wonderful country digging its own grave on a daily basis.

[PeaceBlondie]

It's nonsense. They don't teach lots of that. Loyalty to Buddhist monks, the king and flag. Never ask questions. Cheat, plagiarize, copy, lie and steal big sums. Be a good Thai. It's not about learning.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/thai-Culture...ty-t355787.html

[lannarebirth]

Excellent post OP. Might make a good Letter To The Editor. (hint)

[gregb]

Right next to it, is the teaching of the principles of Sufficiency Economy... is this really so important for primary school students to study economical theories? What about reading and counting first?

Respectfully disagree here. Modern life is so full of advertisements about the joys of consumerism, and most parents are not even responsible enough to lead a sufficiency style existence, let alone instill those values in their children.

The only way to change this poison of modern culture is to indoctrinate the children to the importance of moderation when they are very young. I not only disagree with you that counting and reading are more important than this, I think the schools should raise this predominantly in the pecking order. Anyone can learn to read or count relatively easily, but learning how not to destroy the planet through rampant consumerism when everyone else around them is doing just that?

That takes training right from the moment they can breathe, and the parents should be assisting in that process. The government schools can't do it alone. Especially not when the teachers are all busy trying to figure out how to consume more themselves.

[nam-thip]

Thai education is piss poor and taught by poorly educated Thai’s that follow a curriculum that should have been thrown in the dustbin years ago.

My Thai wife had 14 years of Thai education then went on to further education and her knowledge of all things not Thai is abysmal.

She has very little knowledge of world affairs and struggles to name the capitols of most countries or point them out on a world map.

A few years ago I had to show her where Thailand was situated on a blank map of the world as she didn’t know where it was.

Says it all in my opinion.

What concerns me even more is the fact i'm just putting our three year old daughter through Thai private school.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hi,

Can any poster here think back to THEIR PRIMARY SCHOOL education and recall what was taught? Come on OP, "civic education, thai laws" should be taught to 11 year old students?

Also, the sufficiency economic theory is not some complicated Adam Smith-esq theory, more about teaching all people to live within their means. I think that is a pretty decent thing to teach young kids.

But, like PB says, this is a moot point because none of that stuff gets taught to Pratom level kids anyway!

Personally, I reckon the OP has read too much into the Thai document and has jumped to unfounded reasons...

Cheers

[LuckyFive8888]

Thai education is piss poor and taught by poorly educated Thai's that follow a curriculum that should have been thrown in the dustbin years ago.

My Thai wife had 14 years of Thai education then went on to further education and her knowledge of all things not Thai is abysmal.

She has very little knowledge of world affairs and struggles to name the capitols of most countries or point them out on a world map.

A few years ago I had to show her where Thailand was situated on a blank map of the world as she didn't know where it was.

Says it all in my opinion.

What concerns me even more is the fact i'm just putting our three year old daughter through Thai private school.

This is true. Sometimes I have to get an Atlas to show to my wife where I was going. Not that she is not clever but I think they skipped school the day they taught geography.

[chiangmaikelly]

Hi,

Can any poster here think back to THEIR PRIMARY SCHOOL education and recall what was taught? Come on OP, "civic education, thai laws" should be taught to 11 year old students?

Also, the sufficiency economic theory is not some complicated Adam Smith-esq theory, more about teaching all people to live within their means. I think that is a pretty decent thing to teach young kids.

But, like PB says, this is a moot point because none of that stuff gets taught to Pratom level kids anyway!

Personally, I reckon the OP has read too much into the Thai document and has jumped to unfounded reasons...

Cheers

Sufficiency theory is about making things close to home to avoid paying shipping charges. It is concerned with making communities self sufficient in addition to living within your means.

[jybkk]

Right next to it, is the teaching of the principles of Sufficiency Economy... is this really so important for primary school students to study economical theories? What about reading and counting first?

Respectfully disagree here. Modern life is so full of advertisements about the joys of consumerism, and most parents are not even responsible enough to lead a sufficiency style existence, let alone instill those values in their children.

The only way to change this poison of modern culture is to indoctrinate the children to the importance of moderation when they are very young. I not only disagree with you that counting and reading are more important than this, I think the schools should raise this predominantly in the pecking order. Anyone can learn to read or count relatively easily, but learning how not to destroy the planet through rampant consumerism when everyone else around them is doing just that?

That takes training right from the moment they can breathe, and the parents should be assisting in that process. The government schools can't do it alone. Especially not when the teachers are all busy trying to figure out how to consume more themselves.

I understand your point and I agree on the fact that school should be a place where children learn how not to fall into blind consumerism.

But:

This should be education, not indoctrination

Who knows exactly what "Sufficiency Economy" means? I see it used for everything and it's contrary. The way it's taught is: "When someone tells you to do something because it is part of the sufficiency economy, DO IT". Critical thinking would really work better against consumerism than this kind rote learning.

[chiangmaikelly]

It's nonsense. They don't teach lots of that. Loyalty to Buddhist monks, the king and flag. Never ask questions. Cheat, plagiarize, copy, lie and steal big sums. Be a good Thai. It's not about learning.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/thai-Culture...ty-t355787.html

You forgot about flicking bills when you count the change five times before you hand it to the customer.

You have to flick the bills with your finger to make a slapping sound. This must be taught starting in the early grades because it reaches a point of perfection before they get a job at the 7/11 or Lotus.

[quartz]

Also, the sufficiency economic theory is not some complicated Adam Smith-esq theory, more about teaching all people to live within their means. I think that is a pretty decent thing to teach young kids.

Personally, I reckon the OP has read too much into the Thai document and has jumped to unfounded reasons...

I agree with your and gregb's remarks. To live reasonably and within one's means is a terrific lesson for youth to learn.

Also I think he has read too much into another aspect as the guideline doesn't say what he says it says

My remarks:

Goal 1: So the first goal of education in Thailand is... religious morality, preferably Buddhist

Further, I question the accuracy of his other remark in that at the government school where I used to worked, only 1 song was done in the morning. The Thai National Anthem; and that is something that is commonly found in schools world-wide.

Goal 4: Instilling patriotism is clearly one of the main objectives of thai education. 3-4 patriotic songs every morning in front of the flag take care of that.

Does education need to be reformed in Thailand? I think it does, but I think the OP is focusing on the wrong areas and doing so on a less than factual basis.

Lastly, I'm intrigued as to the OP's source for this information and would appreciate a link to it.

Edited April 18, 2010 by quartz

[chiangmaikelly]

Right next to it, is the teaching of the principles of Sufficiency Economy... is this really so important for primary school students to study economical theories? What about reading and counting first?

Respectfully disagree here. Modern life is so full of advertisements about the joys of consumerism, and most parents are not even responsible enough to lead a sufficiency style existence, let alone instill those values in their children.

The only way to change this poison of modern culture is to indoctrinate the children to the importance of moderation when they are very young. I not only disagree with you that counting and reading are more important than this, I think the schools should raise this predominantly in the pecking order. Anyone can learn to read or count relatively easily, but learning how not to destroy the planet through rampant consumerism when everyone else around them is doing just that?

That takes training right from the moment they can breathe, and the parents should be assisting in that process. The government schools can't do it alone. Especially not when the teachers are all busy trying to figure out how to consume more themselves.

I understand your point and I agree on the fact that school should be a place where children learn how not to fall into blind consumerism.

But:

This should be education, not indoctrination

Who knows exactly what "Sufficiency Economy" means? I see it used for everything and it's contrary. The way it's taught is: "When someone tells you to do something because it is part of the sufficiency economy, DO IT". Critical thinking would really work better against consumerism than this kind rote learning.

Do you know who thought of the idea self sufficiency economy?

[dudemeister]

Patriotism - ok, i see that.

The rest - total bolx

[jybkk]

Hi,

Can any poster here think back to THEIR PRIMARY SCHOOL education and recall what was taught? Come on OP, "civic education, thai laws" should be taught to 11 year old students?

Also, the sufficiency economic theory is not some complicated Adam Smith-esq theory, more about teaching all people to live within their means. I think that is a pretty decent thing to teach young kids.

But, like PB says, this is a moot point because none of that stuff gets taught to Pratom level kids anyway!

Personally, I reckon the OP has read too much into the Thai document and has jumped to unfounded reasons...

Cheers

Sorry, I said "primary" but, as you can see in the documents I attached, the curriculum is meant for grade 1 to 12. That's, for quite a lot of Thais, the entirety of their education.

You'll also see that the "social studies" are focussed on the morality and constantly linked to religious morale.

I wish they mentioned a bit more some basic principles such as equity, importance of the rule of the law, etc. That's what I meant by "civic education and Thai laws". Nothing complicated.

I didn't jump to these conclusions right after reading these 5 goals, but after reviewing the whole curriculum, and then discussed it with my thai wife and several thai teachers I know.

PeaceBlondie said:

Loyalty to Buddhist monks, the king and flag. Never ask questions. Cheat, plagiarize, copy, lie and steal big sums. Be a good Thai.

That's an opinion shared by many. I think that these documents show that this opinion is a bit more than a simple cliché.

1_Background_p_1_41_edit_final_reviewed.doc

2__Thai_42_63_edit_final_review.doc

3_Math_64_105_edit_final_review.doc

4_Science106_150_edit_final_review.doc

5_Social_Studies_151_186_edit_final_review.doc

6_Health_and_Physical__187_211_edit_final_review.doc

8_occupation_238_255_edit_final_review.doc

9_languages_edit_final_review.doc

7_Arts_212_237_edit_final_review.doc

[jybkk]

Do you know who thought of the idea self sufficiency economy?

Yes, and that's why it's on the first line of the Goals of the Thai education.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

IMHO "the sufficiency economy" concept is close to becoming something completely other than HRH originally intended - like another poster stated, the term is being used by Thai bureaucrats in conjunction with completely unrelated ideas in order to simply have them 'rubber stamped' (as no-one would argue against an idea with the "sufficiency economy" contained within it...)

[beerdog]

for goal 1..the school does teach religons in first grade..my nephew got the book about religons....few chinese..few English..as well..

[jybkk]

Also, the sufficiency economic theory is not some complicated Adam Smith-esq theory, more about teaching all people to live within their means. I think that is a pretty decent thing to teach young kids.

Personally, I reckon the OP has read too much into the Thai document and has jumped to unfounded reasons...

I agree with your and gregb's remarks. To live reasonably and within one's means is a terrific lesson for youth to learn.

Also I think he has read too much into another aspect as the guideline doesn't say what he says it says

My remarks:

Goal 1: So the first goal of education in Thailand is... religious morality, preferably Buddhist

Further, I question the accuracy of his other remark in that at the government school where I used to worked, only 1 song was done in the morning. The Thai National Anthem; and that is something that is commonly found in schools world-wide.

Goal 4: Instilling patriotism is clearly one of the main objectives of thai education. 3-4 patriotic songs every morning in front of the flag take care of that.

Does education need to be reformed in Thailand? I think it does, but I think the OP is focusing on the wrong areas and doing so on a less than factual basis.

Lastly, I'm intrigued as to the OP's source for this information and would appreciate a link to it.

I attached the source documents in my previous post (forgot to attached in the original post).

You'll see that the wording "teaching of the Buddhism or of one's faith" is used many times along the document. I might be wrong, but when I ready this, I really feel the last part of the sentence was added after someone pointed out there are some minorities in Thailand.

I know for a fact that in my nearby school they sing 4 songs every morning: national anthem, King anthem, another anthem about Thailand (don't know exactly what this one is about, but I hear it every morning, thanks to powerful loudspeakers) then the school's anthem.

There are many countries who don't ask students to sing their national anthem on a daily basis. I'm pretty sure mos European countries don't.

I focussed my comments on the "Goals" section because it is a quite short summary that I found revealing. However, I agree that the subject is worth more than just this very brief overview.

Hopefully these documents can help you get a better idea about is learnt in Thai schools, and what isn't

[thunder30101]

The saddest thing about all of this is the amount per capita spent on education here and the end result. The other countries in the asean community are fast pulling away from thailand in the education department.

[Livinginexile]

Hi,

Can any poster here think back to THEIR PRIMARY SCHOOL education and recall what was taught? Come on OP, "civic education, thai laws" should be taught to 11 year old students?

Also, the sufficiency economic theory is not some complicated Adam Smith-esq theory, more about teaching all people to live within their means. I think that is a pretty decent thing to teach young kids.

But, like PB says, this is a moot point because none of that stuff gets taught to Pratom level kids anyway!

Personally, I reckon the OP has read too much into the Thai document and has jumped to unfounded reasons...

Cheers

Very good post!

I have a child just starting school. In this country one needs to spend a lot of money to educate ones child to western standards.

No way I would send him to a Thai public school, or a Thai private one for that matter.

[hawthorne]

Hi,

Can any poster here think back to THEIR PRIMARY SCHOOL education and recall what was taught? Come on OP, "civic education, thai laws" should be taught to 11 year old students?

Also, the sufficiency economic theory is not some complicated Adam Smith-esq theory, more about teaching all people to live within their means. I think that is a pretty decent thing to teach young kids.

But, like PB says, this is a moot point because none of that stuff gets taught to Pratom level kids anyway!

Personally, I reckon the OP has read too much into the Thai document and has jumped to unfounded reasons...

Cheers

Sufficiency theory is about making things close to home to avoid paying shipping charges. It is concerned with making communities self sufficient in addition to living within your means.

I believe this was known as Protectionism by William F. Buckley Jr. We don't need the world we are who we are and better at living than any other country. Be dependent only on ourselves.

[hawthorne]

The saddest thing about all of this is the amount per capita spent on education here and the end result. The other countries in the asean community are fast pulling away from thailand in the education department.

I don't know if they are fast pulling away or just playing on different fields!!!! For many of my asian friends the Thais are the farthest behind. This is for all Thais.

[naughtybadfurrimunki]

I must say I agree in principal with the OP. Most middle class and so-called well educated Thais I know are so brainwashed it's difficult to comprehend.

[Ijustwannateach]

The curriculum officially changes nearly every year (or more often), which is why it never actually changes.

[Maccheroncini]

Agree with you, how ever "Sufficiency Economy" is the suggested direction from the King and has nothing to do with the study of "Economy" but rather the concept of simplicity, sustainable living, economically independent from others.  (but IMHO very little appreciate and understood by most Thai).

[PattayaParent]

Maybe if the schools in the West taught the same basic goals there wouldn't be as many problems there as there is.

[seenbetta]

for goal 1..the school does teach religons in first grade..my nephew got the book about religons....few chinese..few English..as well..

Chinese and English are religions?

[isanbirder]

"Education is what is left after everything which has been learnt has been forgotten." (Sorry, don't know the source) What they teach is not so important as HOW they teach.

In a Thai school, teacher is always right, and students are always wrong... and when those students become teachers, suddenly, by a miracle, they become 'always right'. What chance is there of any education?

And I'm not just being cynical. I once told a group of headmasters that my happiest moments as a teacher were when a student said to me, very politely, "Teacher, I think you're wrong". The headmasters simply couldn't believe it.

Edited April 19, 2010 by isanbirder

[phetaroi]

First, let's remember that document is a mission statement. Now perhaps they follow mission statements here in Thailand a lot more than a school's mission statement is followed in America, but I doubt it. So it's a generalized blue print of what is valued by Thais, or at least the Thais who control the Education Ministry.

I'm not going to argue what's good or bad about it.

But who are any of we farangs to tell them what they should value?

[SantiSuk]

When I lived in the US 30 years ago I was staggered at how little the average American knew about geography or history outside the US. I don't think Thailand is alone.

Local TV in Houston asked 20 people attending a St Patrick's day parade where is Ireland? Only one got it right - some of the answers were hilarious ('a Canadian state north of Idaho - that's why the potatoes are so good' - ok that guy clearly had had too much Guinness and probably knew full well but was bright enough to have a bit of Irish fun) and many had a vague notion it was somewhere off the coast of New York.

I don't entirely blame them - why should it be important? - like I don't blame the Thais. I'd far rather see primary schools concentrate on building blocks of arithmetic, logic and language than history or geography. Those can be left for later.