Psoriasis Treatment in Thailand

[femi fan]

Done lots of searches and learned a lot about varee school...

But very little comment from posters who have kids going to the two schools in my thread title. I'm looking to get my stepdaughter into one of these three schools next year. She'll be in M4 then.

Any comments from parents with kids at wachirawit or wichai schools? I'm not really interested in hearing about the general level of thai education being poor or whatever, just how the kids and parents view their choice of school. One thing i noticed about varee for example was many parents saying their kids were enjoying school. Now, THAT, is an achievement!

I'm keen for the school i choose to have extra-curricula activities on offer.

Looking forward to hearing about these two schools if any parents are reading.

[whopper]

I lived near Wachiwarit school for quite a while. I was teaching english at the time and went there for a interview. I taught one class and it was chaos, there were at least 60 kids in the room with half out of their chairs playing. If I remember correctly they wanted me to use a bull horn because of the noise. I always saw lots of students during school hours in the internet cafes around changklan rd. I wasn't impressed.

My son goes to varee and enjoys school. Class sizes are limited to around 30. It is a little more expensive than wachiwarit, overall think worth the extra baht.

[thaimiller]

My daughter is in the last year of the junior school at watchirawit on Chang klan, she is doing the ESP course and he class size is 27. So far I have been really impressed with her grades, they have risen dramatically from her old school which I will not shame on here. Her English has improved alot also. We have just signed up for her to go to the upper school starting in April behind Carrefour. I am also very happy about the extra-curricula activities available. She takes extra lessons in Piano and that is coming along nicely. If I had one complaint it is that the school don't send enough information home in English, which is ok as my wife is Thai but some parents at the school are both Farangs and it must be difficult for them to keep updated on things.

[naboo]

So far I have been really impressed with her grades, they have risen dramatically from her old school which I will not shame on here.

There's nothing to stop a teacher increasing the % grade of all students in the class to make themselves look like a better teacher in Thailand, and some schools actively encourage it. With a high score, everyone can see how well the class are doing, all the parents will be very proud. There is absolutely no standardisation across schools except the national tests, which most students fail, then graduate from high school anyway.

Once had a very weak student show me his grades from his aturday school, he was really happy as he'd scored 80+% in all subjects. He'd never passed an actual test at school, just been given 50% by a Thai teacher on some mysterious retest I never saw. Later, another student told me everyone else had scored over 95%. Glad the lad felt proud, but perhaps a little misleading for the parents.

[femi fan]

My daughter is in the last year of the junior school at watchirawit on Chang klan, she is doing the ESP course and he class size is 27. So far I have been really impressed with her grades, they have risen dramatically from her old school which I will not shame on here. Her English has improved alot also. We have just signed up for her to go to the upper school starting in April behind Carrefour. I am also very happy about the extra-curricula activities available. She takes extra lessons in Piano and that is coming along nicely. If I had one complaint it is that the school don't send enough information home in English, which is ok as my wife is Thai but some parents at the school are both Farangs and it must be difficult for them to keep updated on things.

Cheers for the comments mate. Have you met any of the teachers, or at least seen them?

What does your daughter say about school? About the teachers?

The school behind carrefour is the one i went in to see yesterday. How come it starts in april? Is that summer course?

Have you heard anything from other parents about how the upper school shapes up compared to the one your daughter is in at the moment?

[hanuman1]

So far I have been really impressed with her grades, they have risen dramatically from her old school which I will not shame on here.

There's nothing to stop a teacher increasing the % grade of all students in the class to make themselves look like a better teacher in Thailand, and some schools actively encourage it. With a high score, everyone can see how well the class are doing, all the parents will be very proud. There is absolutely no standardisation across schools except the national tests, which most students fail, then graduate from high school anyway.

Once had a very weak student show me his grades from his aturday school, he was really happy as he'd scored 80+% in all subjects. He'd never passed an actual test at school, just been given 50% by a Thai teacher on some mysterious retest I never saw. Later, another student told me everyone else had scored over 95%. Glad the lad felt proud, but perhaps a little misleading for the parents.

Unfortunately I have to agree with your main point.

My daughter was getting 70-80%+ almost across the board in exams and for an entire term I never saw her doing homework or even revising for exams. When I went in to ask about the lack of homework I was told to get her extra classes at the weekend. I knew she was weaker in certain subjects and didn't make much effort, but all I ever saw were high exam results and her teachers all telling me that everything was fine.

Mainly due to this, I took her out of that school and put her in another.

[anonymouse]

So far I have been really impressed with her grades, they have risen dramatically from her old school which I will not shame on here.

There's nothing to stop a teacher increasing the % grade of all students in the class to make themselves look like a better teacher in Thailand, and some schools actively encourage it. With a high score, everyone can see how well the class are doing, all the parents will be very proud. There is absolutely no standardisation across schools except the national tests, which most students fail, then graduate from high school anyway.

Once had a very weak student show me his grades from his aturday school, he was really happy as he'd scored 80+% in all subjects. He'd never passed an actual test at school, just been given 50% by a Thai teacher on some mysterious retest I never saw. Later, another student told me everyone else had scored over 95%. Glad the lad felt proud, but perhaps a little misleading for the parents.

This no way invalidates Thai millers post but I'd agree about the grading system. My son studies in a bilingual programme and speaks fluent English and read and writes at a level equal if not better than his western counterparts at 6 years old. He was given 90% for his English the same as his Thai classmates who have no fluency whatsoever.

[thaimiller]

My daughter is in the last year of the junior school at watchirawit on Chang klan, she is doing the ESP course and he class size is 27. So far I have been really impressed with her grades, they have risen dramatically from her old school which I will not shame on here. Her English has improved alot also. We have just signed up for her to go to the upper school starting in April behind Carrefour. I am also very happy about the extra-curricula activities available. She takes extra lessons in Piano and that is coming along nicely. If I had one complaint it is that the school don't send enough information home in English, which is ok as my wife is Thai but some parents at the school are both Farangs and it must be difficult for them to keep updated on things.

Cheers for the comments mate. Have you met any of the teachers, or at least seen them?

What does your daughter say about school? About the teachers?

The school behind carrefour is the one i went in to see yesterday. How come it starts in april? Is that summer course?

Have you heard anything from other parents about how the upper school shapes up compared to the one your daughter is in at the moment?

What I meant was the term after Songkran, its usually the end of April, begining of may. There was a summer school this year which my daughter found lots of fun, not much learning took place but it was great for her.

I have met a few of the lower school teachers on numerous occasions and found them very friendly and easy going, I have only met 1 or 2 of the western teachers from the upper school and they again seemed very approachable.

My Daughter had a few days at the end of last term up at the high school and found it good, but she was a little lost for the first day.

Regarding the grades that people are saying could be made up, then all I can go on is her home work which I sit down everynight and check and she seems to be improving alot. But I suppose it can't be true as all the comments on here say that its impossible and her grades must be made up. Typical Thai visa users I suppose.

[naboo]

So far I have been really impressed with her grades, they have risen dramatically from her old school which I will not shame on here.

There's nothing to stop a teacher increasing the % grade of all students in the class to make themselves look like a better teacher in Thailand, and some schools actively encourage it. With a high score, everyone can see how well the class are doing, all the parents will be very proud. There is absolutely no standardisation across schools except the national tests, which most students fail, then graduate from high school anyway.

Once had a very weak student show me his grades from his aturday school, he was really happy as he'd scored 80+% in all subjects. He'd never passed an actual test at school, just been given 50% by a Thai teacher on some mysterious retest I never saw. Later, another student told me everyone else had scored over 95%. Glad the lad felt proud, but perhaps a little misleading for the parents.

This no way invalidates Thai millers post but I'd agree about the grading system. My son studies in a bilingual programme and speaks fluent English and read and writes at a level equal if not better than his western counterparts at 6 years old. He was given 90% for his English the same as his Thai classmates who have no fluency whatsoever.

Its a suggestion as to why the grades have risen. High grades doesn't mean high levels of achievement, as hanuman1's experience shows.

[anonymouse]

My daughter is in the last year of the junior school at watchirawit on Chang klan, she is doing the ESP course and he class size is 27. So far I have been really impressed with her grades, they have risen dramatically from her old school which I will not shame on here. Her English has improved alot also. We have just signed up for her to go to the upper school starting in April behind Carrefour. I am also very happy about the extra-curricula activities available. She takes extra lessons in Piano and that is coming along nicely. If I had one complaint it is that the school don't send enough information home in English, which is ok as my wife is Thai but some parents at the school are both Farangs and it must be difficult for them to keep updated on things.

Cheers for the comments mate. Have you met any of the teachers, or at least seen them?

What does your daughter say about school? About the teachers?

The school behind carrefour is the one i went in to see yesterday. How come it starts in april? Is that summer course?

Have you heard anything from other parents about how the upper school shapes up compared to the one your daughter is in at the moment?

What I meant was the term after Songkran, its usually the end of April, begining of may. There was a summer school this year which my daughter found lots of fun, not much learning took place but it was great for her.

I have met a few of the lower school teachers on numerous occasions and found them very friendly and easy going, I have only met 1 or 2 of the western teachers from the upper school and they again seemed very approachable.

My Daughter had a few days at the end of last term up at the high school and found it good, but she was a little lost for the first day.

Regarding the grades that people are saying could be made up, then all I can go on is her home work which I sit down everynight and check and she seems to be improving alot. But I suppose it can't be true as all the comments on here say that its impossible and her grades must be made up. Typical Thai visa users I suppose.

I am in no doubt your daughter's learning is improving and if she is enjoying going to school all the better... but being an old cynic i tend to agree with the other posters and still question if her grades have any relevance at all. I hope I'm not a typical anything let alone TV user but I'd say that your input into your daughters education will have more of an impact than anything.

[naboo]

But I suppose it can't be true as all the comments on here say that its impossible and her grades must be made up. Typical Thai visa users I suppose.

You've clearly never worked in a private Thai school, where the director or owner will not accept average class scores below a certain level.

I'm not saying your daughter's education isn't better where she is now than where she was previously, but I suggest all parents compare their childs' grades with the class average to get a more complete picture. What's 80% against a class average of 95% compared to 60% against a class average of 40%?

[afarang]

I taught at a highly respected 2nd tier uni. As part of the course marking, if the student presented me with a note book, comprising of everything , I had written on the whiteboard,during every class, they would automatically get 40% .Only 5 out of about 40 did.So, theother 35 got zero. Those students that were too lazy to write down or submit, what I had written, they got zero. That meant that they had to get 50 + % out of 60 to pass. No way possible. I failed them. Helluva hullaballo. I had left the Uni, after marking, with the exam papers ,in my possession. All of the students were re-marked. 100% passed. Cute, No?

[Loaded]

Thaimiller sits down with his daughter each evening and sees her improvement. He has met her teachers. This is followed (and preceded) by posts from people who don't know the school, school director, student, teachers or parent but comment the school somehow is fiddling with her test results to achieve this improvement.

[femi fan]

Mainly due to this, I took her out of that school and put her in another.

Was her old or new school one of the schools i'm asking about in the title of my thread?

[femi fan]

Its a suggestion as to why the grades have risen. High grades doesn't mean high levels of achievement, as hanuman1's experience shows.

But this has absolutely nothing to do with my thread, and i even asked in the op for this kind of stuff to not clog up my thread.

[femi fan]

I am in no doubt your daughter's learning is improving and if she is enjoying going to school all the better... but being an old cynic i tend to agree with the other posters and still question if her grades have any relevance at all. I hope I'm not a typical anything let alone TV user but I'd say that your input into your daughters education will have more of an impact than anything.

Thaimiller, bless him, is answering my thread. You're not mate. Please start your own thread if you want to debate the merits of the thai education system. I want to know about direct experiences about these two schools.

[femi fan]

Thaimiller sits down with his daughter each evening and sees her improvement. He has met her teachers. This is followed (and preceded) by posts from people who don't know the school, school director, student, teachers or parent but comment the school somehow is fiddling with her test results to achieve this improvement.

Well exactly, thank you mate.

Can posters please bother to read the op to find out what this thread is about if they can't detect this from the title.

[mtone9317]

I was over at the Wittaya school last year and talked to several of the teachers. One American told me that they don't hire any teacher over 50 years old, but I looked in on a teachers meeting in a small room and the Thai leader was talking on a microphone. I never saw such a bunch of depressing looking teachers in all my life. Later I met one at a guest house eating dinner, and a having a beer. He smoked continually after the dinner. He said he was an Algebra teacher in the EP program and they told him that because he was 50 he had to retire at the end of the year.

I worked in an elementary classroom for a Principal who was doing the self-esteem grades dance. She was fired two years later.

Failure is a part of life. As a musician, I took an audition in New York City that auditioned 50+ people and I got the job. Why? I don't know to this day. When you tell students they can't fail all but a few will acually study. I went for a teaching position in a ghetto school and I knew 2 of the 4 people doing the interview and I didn't get the job...until one year and one month later when the teacher quit because he couldn't deal with the students.