400K Baht A Year For 13 Years Invested...

[Pacificperson]

I send my two boys to a mid-level private school. Many of the parents at this school have to make sacrifices to pay the tuition, while some do not. I tell people that I am not paying for the school, but rather I am paying for the other parents. My point is that I am quite happy with my sons’ friends and the attention that the other parents pay to their children's education and behavior. Peer pressure can be positive as well as negative. Plus my boys have time for a life outside of school.

I have many friends who send their kids to the local international school and I have no doubt that they do get a better education, but it comes at a price. These parents expect that their children will be given huge amounts of homework and many of the kids need tutors to make the grade. Plus, the cost is about twice the amount that I pay. It would cost roughly 900K Baht/year for my two boys to attend the international school. This is a lot of money. With the homework and the tutors, many of these kids get a very limited amount of exercise which will impact them in many ways for the rest of their lives.

Finally I also have friends who send their kids to public schools and who have done well with it. But, these particular friends are gifted themselves and totally focused on their kids’ education. Their kids wound-up as valedictorians and went on to Stanford or MIT for their PhDs. Other more normal friends have had their children struggle in public schools both from lack of attention and negative peer pressure.

[farang000999]

I am not saying to give your child the 6m baht when they turn 18. They can go to public school and only get that money when you deem they worthy. Perhaps after college.

I am really just questioning the value of 13 years of prep schooling in Thailand. Let's not forget that these are businesses after all. I personally find school a bit overrated in terms of its ability to make people smarter. I was always great at math. I would go to school tournaments from the age of 8 or so. It wasn't because my kindergarten teacher was a great math teacher. It was my inherent ability.

I feel that your parenting is much more influencing factor than the school you send you child to.

And... 6m baht is a lot of money in Thailand.

Edited November 2, 2010 by farang000999

[Furbie]

With decent education they will be able to secure good positions easily making 400k a month. I mean if they are motivated and intelligent enough to make it.

MJo, please name 10 companies and the relevant position in Thailand that will pay a recent graduate 400k THB per month to back up your statement. Its takes many, many years to bring in that kind of salaried money in Thailand - and there are just a relative few who achieve it. The MDs of most Thai companies earn half of that.

OP, if your child is considered a local, which he/she may very well be, then the competition for the top universities in Thailand is very tough. Without a very good high school education – forget it. Most well paid jobs in Thailand will require a Uni degree from a top Thai institution or from overseas. 6 million THB would be a nice start in life, but a good education is a much better one. Taking the US recession as a good example, look at the unemployment figures for those in the US with degrees versus others and see where the unemployment problems are.

[PattayaParent]

The advantage of the education is that the child can then attend a university in your home country and get a job there (at better pay than in Thailand) and later return to work in Thailand as an expat, at which time 6 million Baht will not seem like a lot of money.

[StreetCowboy]

The advantage of the education is that the child can then attend a university in your home country and get a job there (at better pay than in Thailand) and later return to work in Thailand as an expat, at which time 6 million Baht will not seem like a lot of money.

I think some people on this forum value money much more highly than I do... although, to be fair, I spend a lot more time now working for money than working on my education...

But it is a joy for me to be able to send my kids to the best school that I have seen anywhere in the world, regardless of price; that's the main reason that my family chooses to stay in Thailand...

And sure, its expensive, but what else would I spend the money on?

SC

[sarahsbloke]

As a parent the best option is to spend as much as you can afford on your kids education. Going to a private school does make a difference- if you kid is abit less bright in private schools they will get extra attention, if they are v. intelligent in private schools they have a great environment to flourish. The opposite is true of public schools- less bright kids will suffer, bright kids maybe be stifled and unable to meet their potential.

Deep down we all would pay for our kids to go to the best private schools if we had the means. Trying to justify not spending money on your kids education- well its just an exercise in trying to make yourself feel better when you know you are not doing the best you could for your kids.

As a teacher and someone involved in UK higher education.

This is just not true .... if fact it's total <deleted>!

In the UK unless you pay for the very top private school your children will do no better than someone in a state school.

But, the private schools do know how to manipulate the university entrance requirements, where the state schools don't.

If you are unable to manipulate university entrance requirements in the UK yourself, then just send your children to private school for their A levels.

I do know how to work the system, In the UK I wanted my kids trained as doctors, dentists or pharmacists, they didn't go to private schools, every university they applied to offered them places (all good universities) ..... minor corruption was involved.

In Thailand, pretty much all the schools are low quality, state or private, but at least in the state schools the children will learn to read and write Thai correctly, something they won't learn in private schools. The only entrance requirement a Thai university wants is an upfront cash payment to the correct official. Good grades, you just pay the teacher a little bit extra.

If your children are stupid, it won't matter how much you spend on their education. Many stupid people make loads of money, the ability to make money does not relate to educational level or intelligence.

When it comes down to it, most parents know absolutely nothing about schools or the education system. Too lazy to find out how it works, spending money is just too easy. Spending a lot of money on your children doesn't prove you love them, spending your time with them and on them does.

Edited November 3, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[teatree]

In educating a child the buck stops with the parents. It is their responsibility to educate their child. Handing over the reigns of your child's mind to a bunch of strangers is just crazy.

School is for developing social skills, at home is where a child should get the bulk of their knowledge and values. Any gaps in knowledge that can't be provided by the family can be filled by private tutors.

I would send my child to a good state school and educate them myself. The money saved would be a nice little nest egg when the child reaches maturity.

Edited November 3, 2010 by teatree

[inthepink]

I am not saying to give your child the 6m baht when they turn 18. They can go to public school and only get that money when you deem they worthy. Perhaps after college.

I am really just questioning the value of 13 years of prep schooling in Thailand. Let's not forget that these are businesses after all. I personally find school a bit overrated in terms of its ability to make people smarter. I was always great at math. I would go to school tournaments from the age of 8 or so. It wasn't because my kindergarten teacher was a great math teacher. It was my inherent ability.

I feel that your parenting is much more influencing factor than the school you send you child to.

And... 6m baht is a lot of money in Thailand.

With the greatest respect, you might be great at maths but economics is definitely not your strong point. 6m baht isn't a huge amount of money now and in 13 years time you'll be lucky to afford one starter home with it (in Bangkok at least), let alone 3 properties, as someone mentioned earlier. If you honestly think that Bangkok properties will be avaiable for 2 miliion a throw in 13 years time then I'm shocked.

I would pay for the very best education I could afford assuming I thought my child would be able to make good use of it. If they were clearly not academically minded then I might choose a different approach.

Edited November 3, 2010 by inthepink

[doggie888888]

If I knew Daddy was giving me a lump sum just for turning 18yo and not for any other accomplishment, I might be a tad less motivated at school whether it's public or private. I will be busy day-dreaming about how to spend the loot! To an 18yo, 6mil baht may seem a lot.

[MrRichard2009]

The problem with your idea is that it will fail. Just the fact that you ask the question indicates you don't know good investments from bad ones, so expecting a 10% return each and every year is not sensible. The main problem however in your idea is that your going to give a large sum of money to an uneducated person and hope they will do well. Pretty much ALL uneducated lottery winners are bankrupt in 10 years, this is a similar situation. So in the end they lose the money however slowly and have no education to speak of to do something else and end up working for minimum wage ...... great job dad.

If your kid was smart the first thing he would spend his 6 mill on would be an education

[ExpatJ]

sarahsbloke

As a teacher and someone involved in UK higher education.

This is just not true .... if fact it's total <deleted>!

In the UK unless you pay for the very top private school your children will do no better than someone in a state school.

Now, that last sentance of yours is likewise total <deleted>. Various members of my family attended both state and private schools in UK- the kids who went private did a hel_l of a lot better and its not that they were smarter, just that the schools were obviously better. But lets agree to disagree in any case, if you are happy sending your kids to state schools (whether you have no choice because of lack of funds or not) im happy for you in either case.

Edited November 3, 2010 by ExpatJ

[ExpatJ]

Trying to justify not spending money on your kids education- well its just an exercise in trying to make yourself feel better when you know you are not doing the best you could for your kids.

Ive recently thought similar to the OP, i am in the process of registering my baby daughter at a few private schools in the UK ..... lets say she stays on until A Levels its approx 12k PA x 14 years = 168K, then university fees which by then id imagine will be 15-20K PA so lets say 50K for a 3 year degree .... plus accommodation and living cost another 10K PA ... so your looking at somewhere near 250K if your wanting a top end education.

I could put down 50k deposit on a house for her now, rent it out and by the time she is 21 itll be paid off, then if i were to save the remaining 200K for her she'd be set up for life ...... and just send her to state school in a decent area, throw in some private tuition and keep my fingers crossed she's got natural academic ability and doesnt get involved with the wrong crowd.

So she is 21, has a house, 200K but a state education greatly increases the chance that she becomes a blue collar/manual tye worker e.g. hairdresser/cleaner/shop assistant. Wouldnt you rather she had a quality education and a university degree in an area of her choice, so that she could choose what she wants to do with her life? In a good profession shed soon be able to afford a house and a put away savings as well as have a much higher standard of living given her higher income.

Its the old- give a man a fish he'll feed for a day (200K soon disappears if you are on a very low income), give him a net (good education) he'll be fine for rest of his life...

(Not related to my arguement but on the fish/net thing- light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day, set a man on fire and he''ll be warm for the rest of his life.)

[Englander]

Trying to justify not spending money on your kids education- well its just an exercise in trying to make yourself feel better when you know you are not doing the best you could for your kids.

Ive recently thought similar to the OP, i am in the process of registering my baby daughter at a few private schools in the UK ..... lets say she stays on until A Levels its approx 12k PA x 14 years = 168K, then university fees which by then id imagine will be 15-20K PA so lets say 50K for a 3 year degree .... plus accommodation and living cost another 10K PA ... so your looking at somewhere near 250K if your wanting a top end education.

I could put down 50k deposit on a house for her now, rent it out and by the time she is 21 itll be paid off, then if i were to save the remaining 200K for her she'd be set up for life ...... and just send her to state school in a decent area, throw in some private tuition and keep my fingers crossed she's got natural academic ability and doesnt get involved with the wrong crowd.

So she is 21, has a house, 200K but a state education greatly increases the chance that she becomes a blue collar/manual tye worker e.g. hairdresser/cleaner/shop assistant. Wouldnt you rather she had a quality education and a university degree in an area of her choice, so that she could choose what she wants to do with her life? In a good profession shed soon be able to afford a house and a put away savings as well as have a much higher standard of living given her higher income.

Its the old- give a man a fish he'll feed for a day (200K soon disappears if you are on a very low income), give him a net (good education) he'll be fine for rest of his life...

(Not related to my arguement but on the fish/net thing- light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day, set a man on fire and he''ll be warm for the rest of his life.)

I do think i'll send her to a private school on the basis i may well be working away much of the year, and the fact she is a female rules her out of doing well paid manual jobs with minimal qualifications such as i do ... and as society has fallen apart in Blighty in the last 20 years id sooner she was being corrupted by those at what is meant to be one of the best girls school in the country as opposed to young roughians as i was. (even though most kids at the state schools are raised well)

But if i wasnt working away enabling me to teach her, and i lived in an area in the UK which has the best state schools it is certainly a viable option that needs thinking about, and do as a previous poster said put her in private school aged 14-18 for GCSE and A levels, in the hope of getting her into a better uni. should she desire.

Though if i were in Thailand itd be private all the way.

[sarahsbloke]

So she is 21, has a house, 200K but a state education greatly increases the chance that she becomes a blue collar/manual tye worker e.g. hairdresser/cleaner/shop assistant. Wouldnt you rather she had a quality education and a university degree in an area of her choice, so that she could choose what she wants to do with her life? In a good profession shed soon be able to afford a house and a put away savings as well as have a much higher standard of living given her higher income.

Children rarely have any idea of what employment is available to them, what they would earn, what qualifications they need ..... you have to guide them.

(Most schools are useless in career guidance)

My daughter went to state school ...... at age 15 her and her mothers choice of career for her was ........... hairdresser.

I disagreed, stepped in and chose a pharmacy career for my daughter, I chose her 'a' levels, I arranged her university place ..... she put in the study and graduated with a 1st class masters degree.

Pharmacists earn 35k+ in the UK. (after a 4 year masters degree and 20k+ earnings on their 1 year pre-registration)

Edited November 4, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[travelmann]

So she is 21, has a house, 200K but a state education greatly increases the chance that she becomes a blue collar/manual tye worker e.g. hairdresser/cleaner/shop assistant. Wouldnt you rather she had a quality education and a university degree in an area of her choice, so that she could choose what she wants to do with her life? In a good profession shed soon be able to afford a house and a put away savings as well as have a much higher standard of living given her higher income.

Children rarely have any idea of what employment is available to them, what they would earn, what qualifications they need ..... you have to guide them.

(Most schools are useless in career guidance)

My daughter went to state school ...... at age 15 her and her mothers choice of career for her was ........... hairdresser.

I disagreed, stepped in and chose a pharmacy career for my daughter, I chose her 'a' levels, I arranged her university place ..... she put in the study and graduated with a 1st class masters degree.

Pharmacists earn 35k+ in the UK. (after a 4 year masters degree and 20k+ earnings on their 1 year pre-registration)

When I was at school careers advice was a joke all they said was go into engineering!!! GREAT, they may as well have just said "get a job" it was such a broad statement and said in 1981 when virtually all the engineering companies were going to the wall, no mention of "get into computing" which if they had of said it at the time would have made a huge difference to me.

easiest way to make money is to be left a shed load giving you the "step up" thats needed at a young age rather than having to work for 20+ years to get there.

[South]

geriatric kid. You are in Thailand, are you working? If you are on an expat package and not a english teacher then your education has paid off for sure. If you are pushing the past simple, then your parent deserve a refund.

But I do agree with a lot of what you say.

It seems obvious from the way you write that school was something you missed out on. Maybe a couple of sessions with an English teacher could help you. What a stupid post.

[David2up]

To provide your child with Freedom of Choice should be your primary goal and most would agree; that the better the education, the better chance of obtaining - freedom of choice. You decide.

Cheers,

David

[ilyelol]

To provide your child with Freedom of Choice should be your primary goal and most would agree; that the better the education, the better chance of obtaining - freedom of choice. You decide.

Cheers,

David

if they ask any questions regarding cheap public thai schools or private , they'll ALWAYS spend their measly salary on beer chang instead of education. That's how life seems to work.

[Spee]

In educating a child the buck stops with the parents. It is their responsibility to educate their child. Handing over the reigns of your child's mind to a bunch of strangers is just crazy.

School is for developing social skills, at home is where a child should get the bulk of their knowledge and values. Any gaps in knowledge that can't be provided by the family can be filled by private tutors.

I would send my child to a good state school and educate them myself. The money saved would be a nice little nest egg when the child reaches maturity.

Of all the responses in this thread, this is the one closest to my sentiments, except for the implication that teachers are strangers. Part of the child's education is the parental interaction with and trust of the teachers.

My partner and I send her daughter to a private school. While not a top school in terms of academic reputation or cost, it is a good, new, clean school with a caring, capable and well disciplined staff. With books, uniforms, tuition, transport, field trips, etc., the cost is in the 40k-50k per year range.

She has also been seeing an English tutor for the past several years. When she wanted to start taking music lessons and getting involved in other extra-curricular activities, we first insisted that she bring up her grades and do better with her chores at home. She did and is now fully occupied with school, English lessons, music lessons, swimming lessons and cheerleading. In the last few years, she has grown scholastically from the bottom 15% of her class to the top 15%.

Above all, children need to be kept busy and taught the value and rewards of work. They can learn part of this in the school and from tutors and mentors, but for the most part, it needs a foundation in the home.

Select a group of schools from which to choose. Make them compete for your business. Talk to your child. Make sure you understand their interests and what makes them tick. Education is a gradual thing that doesn't happen overnight and can't be forced upon anyone.

Take small steps. See what the child is capable of and willing to handle. Find the best bang for the educational buck and save the rest for a later day.

[sarahsbloke]

In educating a child the buck stops with the parents. It is their responsibility to educate their child. Handing over the reigns of your child's mind to a bunch of strangers is just crazy.

School is for developing social skills, at home is where a child should get the bulk of their knowledge and values. Any gaps in knowledge that can't be provided by the family can be filled by private tutors.

I would send my child to a good state school and educate them myself. The money saved would be a nice little nest egg when the child reaches maturity.

Of all the responses in this thread, this is the one closest to my sentiments, except for the implication that teachers are strangers. Part of the child's education is the parental interaction with and trust of the teachers.

My partner and I send her daughter to a private school. While not a top school in terms of academic reputation or cost, it is a good, new, clean school with a caring, capable and well disciplined staff. With books, uniforms, tuition, transport, field trips, etc., the cost is in the 40k-50k per year range.

She has also been seeing an English tutor for the past several years. When she wanted to start taking music lessons and getting involved in other extra-curricular activities, we first insisted that she bring up her grades and do better with her chores at home. She did and is now fully occupied with school, English lessons, music lessons, swimming lessons and cheerleading. In the last few years, she has grown scholastically from the bottom 15% of her class to the top 15%.

Above all, children need to be kept busy and taught the value and rewards of work. They can learn part of this in the school and from tutors and mentors, but for the most part, it needs a foundation in the home.

Select a group of schools from which to choose. Make them compete for your business. Talk to your child. Make sure you understand their interests and what makes them tick. Education is a gradual thing that doesn't happen overnight and can't be forced upon anyone.

Take small steps. See what the child is capable of and willing to handle. Find the best bang for the educational buck and save the rest for a later day.

Both great post apart from ..... 'cheerleading'

Which confuses me, why do American parents allow their underage daughters to dress up as a sex object for males to lust after.

Just seems too wierd for me.

Edited November 5, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[GuestHouse]

I'll let you into a secret.

State Schools in the UK range from poor to superb, the best are as good as any school in the world - And they are free.

Getting into these top state schools takes a lot of effort and planning on part of the parents - Having a bright kid is an enormous help - Getting really involved in your child's education is likewise an enormous help, but the single biggest help you can give your child is to buy a house in the catchment area of the school (Legislation attempting to combat Post Code School Selection has not worked) - The right post code gets you into the right school.

But it will cost you - The extra money the OP mentions saving would go towards paying for the house in the right catchment are - But there is a double payback.

Your child gets into the right school and because houses in the catchment area of good schools are at the top of the good property list, you get your money back ++ when you move on later in life.

Hanging a wad of cash in front of a child does exactly what others have noted here - removes all motivation to do something for themselves in life.

It's the mindset that sends families from rags to riches to rags in three generations

[Spee]

why do American parents allow their underage daughters to dress up as a sex object for males to lust after.

Cheerleading at an elementary school in Thailand (she's in 7th grade) is not exactly the same as the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, or even high school football or basketball cheerleading. She supports sporting and non-sporting functions alike. It's more akin to being involved with school spirit. It was something that the child wanted to do, and all we said was as long as she kept up with her studies, chores and tutored lessons, she could participate in this activity. She has honored her part of the bargain.

Also, just to keep perspective, the credit is due primarily to the child and her mother as I'm in Thailand only infrequently. My part is mostly limited to making the opportunity available financially, and daily over the phone morale support and coaching.

Apologies to the OP for digressing from the topic.

[jayboy]

As a teacher and someone involved in UK higher education.

This is just not true .... if fact it's total <deleted>!

In the UK unless you pay for the very top private school your children will do no better than someone in a state school.

But, the private schools do know how to manipulate the university entrance requirements, where the state schools don't.

If you are unable to manipulate university entrance requirements in the UK yourself, then just send your children to private school for their A levels.

I do know how to work the system, In the UK I wanted my kids trained as doctors, dentists or pharmacists, they didn't go to private schools, every university they applied to offered them places (all good universities) ..... minor corruption was involved.

In Thailand, pretty much all the schools are low quality, state or private, but at least in the state schools the children will learn to read and write Thai correctly, something they won't learn in private schools. The only entrance requirement a Thai university wants is an upfront cash payment to the correct official. Good grades, you just pay the teacher a little bit extra.

If your children are stupid, it won't matter how much you spend on their education. Many stupid people make loads of money, the ability to make money does not relate to educational level or intelligence.

When it comes down to it, most parents know absolutely nothing about schools or the education system. Too lazy to find out how it works, spending money is just too easy. Spending a lot of money on your children doesn't prove you love them, spending your time with them and on them does.

As someone who was educated in the UK state school system and then at Cambridge, I disagree with your comments on private schools in the UK.However until you define what you mean by "very top private schools", it's difficult to be too specific.In other words are you talking for example about the top ten private schools or the top 300.Anyway your comment about private schools manipulating university entrance requirements is simply foolish.You may possibly be referring to the work of the Sutton Trust that demonstrated that a relatively few private schools (about 50 from memory) had a disproportionate success in Oxbridge entrance.There is also evidence that private school pupils have disproportionate representation in the other elite Russell Group universities.This tells us however not that the universities are prejudiced against state school pupils (from the newsletter of my Cambridge college I see they bend backwards to favour bright state school children) but simply that the better private school pupils are on the whole better taught.One massive misconception is that Oxbridge admissions tutors prefer middle and upper class applicants whereas in fact they are desperate to secure the brightest applicants from all classes.The sad reality is that with the best of motives politicians in the 1960's and 1970's destroyed the old grammar school sysyem which despite the inequities of the 11+ gave huge numbers of working and lower middle class children (including your truly) the opportunity of an elite education.

You are incidentally living in cloud cuckoo land if you think there is no link between the ability to make money and educational level/intelligence.The evidence just doesn't support it.(If you said there was no link between educational level and intelligence, that's a position I would agree with).

Finally you say that you were able to work the system and that your state educated children secured good university places and successful careers.That's good and I congratulate you.But really this just confirms the need for pushy ambitious parents.Just imagine if the parents of children now in the major private schools transferred over to the state system.Would they be intimidated by the appalling lefty state school teachers who have done so much damage to the prospects of poorer children.They would not and in fact would put the fear of God into the mediocre and second rate in the state system.Generally the upper and upper middle class tend to take charge and this would be wonderful for the state system.Could it happen? Well perhaps since private school fees are increasingly beyond the reach of their traditional clients..let's see.

[Livinginexile]

Thailand!

Edited November 5, 2010 by Livinginexile

[PlanetX]

Home-school

Keep the cash and prepare for the crash

Build an underground shelter in New Zealand

[sarahsbloke]

Off topic, but may be of interest

University places in the better unis are offered by looking at predicted 'a' level results. Predicted 'a' level results are purely generated by the personal opinion of the subject teachers.

In state schools teachers generally predict low ... when the student does better the teacher gets to boast about how they pushed that student into better results .... if a student does worse that predicted, the headmaster wants to know why that teacher has 'failed'

In private schools, the teachers predict high ...... so their students get offers from the best universities.

So how does this make a difference ..... if the student doesn't get the correct grades?

Universities usually ask for much higher grades in their offers than they actually want or need the students to get. Oversubscribed courses will ask for 3 As and offer 3x as many students as they can take, places.

10% of the students get 3As ....... they then fill up their places with lower than requested graded students until the course is full. Empty places cost them money, too many students is a disaster.

In one course I know of they get 3000 applicants for 100 places.

Only students predicted 3As get interviews, usually about 300, all are offered places ...... the university doesn't even read the application forms, the computer does it all, 3As ... and an interview and offer (the interview isn't actually an interview, it's a sales pitch).

Out of the 300 offers, about 60 students will get 3As, but it doesn't matter, they give the 100 places to the students highest out of the 300.

A kid from a state school, predicted 3Bs won't get an offer

A kid from a private school, predicted 3As will get an offer

Doesn't matter if the actual results of either student is 3As, no offer to state school kid, private school kid might get on the course with 2Bs

Then we have 'preferred places', where universities reserve places for children from the 'right families' or 'right schools'.

Then we have university entrance exams, that bypass the A level system entirely, no oversight on the exams or marking.

Then we have 'purchased places' where daddy buys a new wing for the library.

Edited November 6, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[Tokay]

Considering 80% of Thai teachers fail their own subjects, I would keep him out of a public school and be very picky about the private one.

[Darvil]

I'll push this back to topic. This might be a bit of a read.

I went through the system in BKK studying at Ekamai International School for most of my HS years. Of course this school isn't 400k a year and it is considered lower tier (when I say that I don't mean by quality but rather the cost). The only way my mother could afford this was because she happened to be a teacher at the school which deeply discounted the costs. My mother herself went to a similar type of school in Burma when she was a kid and she tried to do the same for me in BKK even though it was quite an expensive investment as a single mother with 3 kids. My personal feeling about this is that, it was probably one of the smartest thing she has done.

Now that I'm a little older (getting close to 30) my feeling is that most international schools are about the same in terms of teacher quality. By that I mean, most schools will have a few really great teachers and mostly average teachers. In terms of the success of the students in education, although teachers obviously have an effect on their learning, I am with the sentiment on this thread that it is more often the child's aptitude and the parents' involvement that is more essential. By involvement I don't mean sending kids to tutors (which I see alot) but actual constant feedback (think of President Obama and his mother). The peers I know who are most success in their education right now have had this sort of attention. Now I didn't get that kind of attention as my mother was too busy working hard to make ends meet. But lucky for me, I developed an insatiable desire to read and to fiddle on a deep level with computers in general.

Now would I have been fine with a more regular school? Probably but I want to mentioned a few things that I got from my HS education. First of all, the environment was quite competitive (but friendly) and I discovered the power of peer pressure; imagine coming to class the next day and everyone was already done with their math homework. I had the fortunate experience of being in the US (while my mother did her MA) during my 8th and 9th grade (so a slice of middle school and HS) in a public school. So when I was back in BKK for the rest of the years, the difference in the environment was quite an experience and caught me off guard. Your peers actually will respect you if you do well in certain classes (mainly because they want to leech off you) but it was a form of positive feedback. Once those study groups forms they're going to start hassling you to join them. The 2nd big thing for me was the interaction between all types of people. There was a well rounded amount of representation of ethnic groups, whether it was Chinese, Indian, Thai, Foreigners etc. Lucky for me, I wasn't a very shy fellow so I was able to get into all sort of discussions on things like views on religion, parents, life and all that sorta of thing. This experience really brought me out of my comfort zone (I was raised as a Christian) and to this day I often reflect back to those days. The 3rd thing I got out of the school was just the amount of connections I made through the school. Many of the people I knew in HS are all over the world now and I was able to take advantage of this today using social networking (such as Facebook). For example, this summer I went on a bit of a global trek. I ended up in Japan for a while and meet up with two friends from HS; one Thai and one half-thai/japanese. Could I have went to Japan by myself? Sure but it definitely can't beat meeting good friends, having a good time, talk about issues that matters to us and absorbing part of their life experiences to my own through sharing of information.

Now lets take a look at a general view of how well my peers have done many years after HS. I recently was in BKK this summer for a month and after meeting up with many people, I've come to some conclusions. The most important thing is that the education definitely has paid off for most of them as many of them earn above average pay in terms of their income. Some of them are doing extremely well and these guys weren't considered to be top of the class back in HS. A few of the top of the class students have earned their PHDs from different countries(and some from ivy league) but in terms of economic wealth the ones that did really well for themselves are ones who finished their bachelors and just have been leveraging themselves effectively these past years. This of course is very anecdotal but it does reinforced my personal belief which is, education does have an important impact (So hel_l yes on investment) but it isn't the end all to having success in life.

Now after this excellent summer trip, I've decided to move back to Thailand sometime around late next year, and I will be coming back as an expat. I definitely will live well in Thailand and I have to say it all goes back to the risks my mother took coming to BKK and giving me a chance at an excellent education as a start. She made up her lack of involvement in my education as a teenager by getting me to the US and a US citizenship.

[Spee]

^^ Nice story Darvil. Thanks for taking the time to write it up.

[jayboy]

Then we have 'preferred places', where universities reserve places for children from the 'right families' or 'right schools'.

Then we have 'purchased places' where daddy buys a new wing for the library.

Can you give any examples of either? Thought not.

You're living in a chippy dreamworld where the odds are deliberately stacked against the disadvantaged.

Actually the odds are stacked but for a variety of complex social reasons.But for you it's just a simplistic conspiracy of the privileged classes and the private schools.