Thai Children Are Still Being Denied Decent Education

[Thaddeus]

I try to picture what this will mean, what Thailand will be like, in say... 30 years, when the progress "gap" (on a Global scale) has become more of a "gorge". Many possible outcomes....

The mind reels...

Excellent post, all of it (just too big to quote all of it) I couldn't agree more.

[Scott]

The Thai teachers I work with are generally so over-worked and much of it is in meaningless or minimally important tasks. They have few resources and demands are great. So where does all the money go that is allocated for education?

[Pakboong]

Seems as if times are tough all over. An extract from a CNN article below:

"An incomprehensible 42 million Americans cannot read, write or perform simple math. Another 50 million Americans cannot read past the 4th grade level. (Source: National Right to Read Foundation)

The Foundation reported, "According to current estimates, the number of functionally illiterate adults is increasing by approximately two and one quarter million persons each year. This number includes nearly 1 million young people who drop out of school before graduation, 400,000 legal immigrants, 100,000 refugees, and 800,000 illegal immigrants, and 20 percent of all high school graduates. Eighty-four percent of the 23,000 people who took an exam for entry-level jobs at New York Telephone in 1988, failed."

NBC anchor Brian Williams reported that 1.2 million teens hit America's streets every June unable to read or write. Detroit, Michigan epitomizes this country's educational dilemma: 76 percent dropout/flunkout rate. Dozens of cities across the country suffer 50 to 60 percent dropout rates.

CNN reported on August 30, 2010, "7,000 American high school students drop out every day; one every 26 seconds."

[asiawatcher]

"in fact, the Thai Education Ministry has a massive annual budget"? Graft, not education is our department motto.

Yes the Education Ministry does have a massive budget, but the facts are that of each 100฿ of that budget only 2 or 3 baht ever reach the classroom.

Whilst I agree with the point - please verify these 'facts'. Love to see the source!

My friends child in Lopburi is taken to school where the teacher promptly puts on a TV and then goes away. There is nothing taught for hours every day! He has brought he to BKK now and is teaching her English at his apartment and she is doing fine now.

[dighambara]

Most enlightened governments acknowledge the importance of education for a country's development. I am sure there are enough people who are in power in Thailand who also acknowledge this fact. So the question is why the people with the power do not act to improve the quality of and access to education? Perhaps it's to do with wanting to keep the general population ignorant so that they are more perceptive to propaganda and therefore easier to control. Better to have a steady stream of factory workers, farmers and serfs who merely accept what they are taught and do what they are told, without question. Otherwise, if the citizens get "too educated' they might start to demand more of the government and start to ask "inconvenient" questions and then heaven forbid, organise themselves to challenge the status quo.

Well said..!!

The "red shirts" don't come from Mars, but from right here at home where they or members of their family have been oput upon by the system...

Indirectly, via College Students, I have heard that all classwork is done by "teams", which like any system of community equality for work performed (socialism) means that one or two students in the team do all the work and everyone gets equal credit. End result are English teachers who can't 'speakee Englee' (or "no speak Angrit"), Math teachers who must use a calculator (***) and similar problems throughout the system. Additionally, private tutors make much better money than government teachers, so effective teachers won't start at the bottom in the school system, especially when there are so many bad teachers with seniority.

*** The use of calculators by everyday folks amazes me every day, because in the US, they are not used or needed... I buy an item for 9 Baht and give a 100 Baht note - out comes the calculator and the calculation is run two or three times to make certain I receive my 91 Baht change..?? UNBELIEVABLE..!!

[eurasianthai]

As was said many times, I think first by a French Education Minister "You think education is expensive? Try ignorance..."

He was talking about France, of course, not about Thailand.

Where ignorance of the majority of the population is bliss for the minority making money out of it...

[iko]

"in fact, the Thai Education Ministry has a massive annual budget"? Graft, not education is our department motto.

Yes the Education Ministry does have a massive budget, but the facts are that of each 100฿ of that budget only 2 or 3 baht ever reach the classroom.

Whilst I agree with the point - please verify these 'facts'. Love to see the source!

My friends child in Lopburi is taken to school where the teacher promptly puts on a TV and then goes away. There is nothing taught for hours every day! He has brought he to BKK now and is teaching her English at his apartment and she is doing fine now.

As we can see, technology can be dangerous, sometimes Joking aside, I really think that the most important thing is good teachers. My teachers had nothing but the chalk and I'd venture to say that they did a very good job and when they didn't it wasn't because of lack of "gadgets". Sure, Internet and Pc are important for living in a modern world. I've been working in this field (Internet) for more than 12 years now. I learned to use a pc just before graduating (I needed it for formatting my thesis, mainly). It takes few days to any normal human being to learn how to use a pc and how to surf the web. To learn how to think and to memorize it takes years. And it takes good teachers (along with good parents). Technology alone can also be "dangerous" (in terms of atrophying a brain) if not accompanied by a good education. As for the "chalk and talk", for a guy named Plato (who was pretty well-endowed intellectually) the worst thing one can do is writing down the lessons. There's a famous anecdote when Socrates, to a a pupil who was complaining about having lost his notes, says something like: "You should have written the lesson onto your mind".

[JimShortz]

There is an excellent article discussing this at a well known English language newspaper (that must remain nameless, in this forum) that I would love more people to read.

It is against forum rules to post direct links to this article. Try this as a puzzle for you to work out, as an alternative to a link (that is not allowed in this forum):

wwwDOTbangkokpostDOTcom/opinion/opinion/193467/is-thailand-getting-more-stupid

[eurasianthai]

Well, the Bangkok Post is just a little less biased than The Nation.

But overall, still too biased for me to read it.

[JimShortz]

Well, the Bangkok Post is just a little less biased than The Nation.

But overall, still too biased for me to read it.

...although Opionion pieces are often very thought provoking and interesting to read. Personally I choose never to read The Nation though.

[truethailand]

From the comments above, from farangs in the Thai Education system, it is obvious there is no profit in revamping a victorian curriculm. I tend to get my own back on the system by telling my two youngest, that everyday they must ask the question 'why' at least once a day. Then on picking them up I make sure they have asked the question and what the teachers response was. My best translation from a 5 year old is 'a stunned silence from teacher and all' . I tell them not to worry and if you dont understand something you must ask why. The question 'why' is probably the most potent question anybody can ask and now I can only wait for all the other kids to do the same.

Can anybody imagine what would happen if every school and college/uni student asked the question 'why' at least once a day of every teacher. It may sound simplistic but such behaviour from students will either foster interactive teaching or bring this state system to its knees. A farang teacher once told me that a relocated student, from a good school in Bangkok, was continually asking him questions during classes and he loved it. Over time this one student changed the behaviour of many students, who then felt easy about asking questions and involving his classmates in group discussion. The problem was this students behaviour was not appreciated by some of the local teachers because in their position they did not expect or like to questioned by students they considered less than them in social standing.

The children are the future of every nation....only if they are encouraged to express themselves

[fiercesnake]

Seems surprising that not many people seem to think of the probable reason for WHY the government doesn't really want to properly educate the populous. Those with real education in power know very well that an educated populous is much harder to control. The emphasis is on maintaining the status quo with those in power staying in power and the poor need to keep complying as they always have. The poor need to continue to grovel around looking after the rich and powerful elite of this country.

Yet the winds of social change are on the way. One only needs to look a little deeper at societal challenges that have obviously been ignored and surfaced at recent red shirt demonstrations. If they don't address the base issues underlying growing unrest it will only resurface at a later date.

One day they will have to offer real education, but for now, they will continue to make superficial improvements and continue to keep the general "nobody" exactly that - NOBODY!

[tomyummer]

What makes us think that education is important in Thailand when the people that students are meant to look up to are crooks and selfish individuals who gain wealth and notoriety through cheating and deception? So obvious by the past yellow and red events that knowledge and smarts means absolutely nothing in this country. Who do these children have to look up to? When you have the politicians, police, and any of the armed forces driving around in 10 mil+ baht cars and wearing gold Rolexes, all on government salaries, you think education got them there? hel_l no. It's all about family name (if you're lucky), trickery, popularity and cold hard cash. The government serves only for the purpose of one's pocket. Not the nation's well being and growth. When the tills are pillaged, whatever happens to be left may trickle to the public projects and improvements. Even these 'donations' and 'charities' are a scam and disgrace.

International schools in Thailand are a joke too. The mandatory 'entrance fee' is unheard of in any other industrialized world. And for what? Teachers who used to be backpackers teaching science for two years before getting arrested for child molestation? Paying the same tuition for ISB as Phillips in the US or Eton in the UK? Absurd.

For those lucky enough to send their kids out of Thailand for education to places like Singapore, where education actually works, why look back? Those countries that have pride in their educational systems also have in place the supportive tools such as public libraries, museums, and recreational centers. Not here, we have mega malls!

[moskito]

So which government needs educated citizens?

Educated people asking questions and demand answers.

[connda]

This is a cultural issue at many levels: whether it's the diversion of resources to enrich certain "entitled" individuals who feed at the top of the educational food chain; to Pu Yai school administrators who will not lower themselves to interacting with the rank-and-file teachers; to the teachers who find it impossible to enforce anything that resembles educational diligence and excellence in the classroom to the utter detriment of their students; to the students and parents who believe that learning will somehow take place if the student simple shows up for class -- no thought or effort required once you're there because of course, the teachers are not allowed to fail students. The rigidity of the Thai cultural system simply does not allow positive change to happen.

The only way change happens is when change in embraced. That sounds simple enough. Change requires a willingness to change, and then an investigation of the organizational processes to determine what works and what is truly lacking. But that involves self-critique, and self-critique leads the admission that perhaps there is something wrong with the system, and identifying defects in the system leads to loss of face -- and ain't nobody from the highest head of MOE down though the system to the lowest student in the most destitute, underfunded village school is going to suffer a loss of face. Uh Uh -- No way -- Ain't gonna happen here! There is no working feedback loop -- those of lower status won't risk rocking the boat by offering opinions and suggestions to their superiors and those with higher status don't want to hear it anyway. Maintain the status quo at all costs. So the system remains broke.

The educational system in Thailand is culture bound. It needs to become culturally acceptable to embrace change for the betterment of the country though the education of the Thai children. And until some enlightened, altruist, educated, and capable individuals are able to come to power within the political and educational bureaucracies of this country, then you can pretty safely bet that nothing is going to change for the better anytime soon. Which is pretty sad because pretty soon, Thailand is going to have difficulties keeping up with the Zhang's, the Najib's, the Nguyễn's, the Suharto's, and Guptas in this rapidly developing Asian region. But ironically, that just might be the catalyst needed for change!

Anyway I go to the bed now for I go to shopping tomorrow.

Edited August 31, 2010 by connda

[robsamui]

As an ex-senior teacher who's taught in the UK, Bangkok and (almost) on Samui I can confidently say that the infrastructure of Education in Thailand is a crumbling and rotten as most other areas of government.

Education is not compulsory (in practice) making the entire subject a jest. Teachers in Government schools teach a narrow curriculum based around the history and culture of Thailand and normally by rote and questioning a teacher is explicitly discouraged. There is NO creative education at all: no interest on making new stories or poetry or music or art - merely copying and memorising traditional fables, dances and temple designs.

I was in regular correspondence with the professor of English studies at a major BKK university and was horrified at her lack of grasp of punctuation and grammar - no idea at all!

And on Samui I was pleased to be invited to teach full time at a local government school. I assumed it would be as an English teacher (ex HOD) but no - they already had one of those - would I teach science to 8 year-olds? I attended for two days. There were no science books for the class, only four (different) in Thai for the teacher to work from. There was no equipment of any kind. I can barely express myself in Thai and the kids spoke no English. No workschemes, no programs of study and no science curriculum, even if I could have communicated any of it. (And no departmental records of what had previously been taught.) The principal seemed genuinely confused and puzzled by my objections, mentioning at one point that nobody had ever needed these things before!

But, as one of the first posters pointed out, it is not at all in the interests of the ruling classes to have the peasants educated. For Thailand's upper crust, what on earth would be the point!? Why do farmers need to know more than a bit of basic reading and writing?

Until the entire social, political and economic structure of this country is utterly different, I really can't see how anything will alter ...

Rob

[Ricardo]

What amazes me are the huge number of school age kids not even going to school for whatever reason. How can any education system claim to be succesful when so many are left out of the system altogether, for lack of money for uniforms, books, mandatory haircuts etc.

Another complaint around these parts is that a fair percentage (a high one) of the kids show no willingness to learn anything, especially the boys.

Now, is that down to poor teaching aids, or just a resignation that most of them know they are only going to end up cutting rice or laying bricks when they leave school anyway.

There are also likely to be many opportunities, in the Rent-a-Mob and Security industries, as the existing corrupt political-machinery continues to grind away.

[Pakboong]

This is a cultural issue at many levels: whether it's the diversion of resources to enrich certain "entitled" individuals who feed at the top of the educational food chain; to Pu Yai school administrators who will not lower themselves to interacting with the rank-and-file teachers; to the teachers who find it impossible to enforce anything that resembles educational diligence and excellence in the classroom to the utter detriment of their students; to the students and parents who believe that learning will somehow take place if the student simple shows up for class -- no thought or effort required once you're there because of course, the teachers are not allowed to fail students. The rigidity of the Thai cultural system simply does not allow positive change to happen.

The only way change happens is when change in embraced. That sounds simple enough. Change requires a willingness to change, and then an investigation of the organizational processes to determine what works and what is truly lacking. But that involves self-critique, and self-critique leads the admission that perhaps there is something wrong with the system, and identifying defects in the system leads to loss of face -- and ain't nobody from the highest head of MOE down though the system to the lowest student in the most destitute, underfunded village school is going to suffer a loss of face. Uh Uh -- No way -- Ain't gonna happen here! There is no working feedback loop -- those of lower status won't risk rocking the boat by offering opinions and suggestions to their superiors and those with higher status don't want to hear it anyway. Maintain the status quo at all costs. So the system remains broke.

The educational system in Thailand is culture bound. It needs to become culturally acceptable to embrace change for the betterment of the country though the education of the Thai children. And until some enlightened, altruist, educated, and capable individuals are able to come to power within the political and educational bureaucracies of this country, then you can pretty safely bet that nothing is going to change for the better anytime soon. Which is pretty sad because pretty soon, Thailand is going to have difficulties keeping up with the Zhang's, the Najib's, the Nguyễn's, the Suharto's, and Guptas in this rapidly developing Asian region. But ironically, that just might be the catalyst needed for change!

Anyway I go to the bed now for I go to shopping tomorrow.

Change requires only effort while improvement requires both wisdom and effort. There seems to be a general lack of wisdom at most levels here. I am not just talking about wisdom at the top of government but a proportionate amount of grass root wisdom.

[selftaopath]

Most enlightened governments acknowledge the importance of education for a country's development. I am sure there are enough people who are in power in Thailand who also acknowledge this fact. So the question is why the people with the power do not act to improve the quality of and access to education? Perhaps it's to do with wanting to keep the general population ignorant so that they are more perceptive to propaganda and therefore easier to control. Better to have a steady stream of factory workers, farmers and serfs who merely accept what they are taught and do what they are told, without question. Otherwise, if the citizens get "too educated' they might start to demand more of the government and start to ask "inconvenient" questions and then heaven forbid, organise themselves to challenge the status quo.

AMEN. I agree. We've recently relocated to my wife's village. I see children who attend school who can not read; young girls w/ no education sitting around "all day" appearing very bored. I guess this is another reason some find their way to places like Pattaya. Yes, the rich and powerful could not care less and to think so many claim to love Thailand/Thai people and Buddhism.

LOL - I don't thinnkkkkkkkk soooooooooo.

Pity. The average Thai really deserves better.