International Schools Now Targeting The Thai Middle Class

[jackr]

It will not make any difference to the kids, they have to change the way they teach them first.

At least someone is thinking about these things, but sorry to say, the vast majority of kids will need to get away from their parents and country/Thai TV, to pick up a proper education.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hi,

I find it quite ironic that there are so many people on this forum lauding the American/British education system as if it is the best system that Thailand should hope to emulate, whilst almost simultaneously, the very same posters completely right off these two countries as having 'gone to the dogs' etc.

cheers

[moetownblues]

“We offer lower fees to Thai students, compared to foreign students,” she said.

What exactly does she mean by this? What is the definition of a Thai Student or an international student for the purpose of pricing.

Is an international student soley a resident of another country who come to Thailand for a better education or maybe short term residents. Is a thai student one who has two thai parents and an international student one with a farang mother/father.

[jdinasia]

Just to stir the pot a little more, I have taught in international schools over the years and in many cases a lot of the Thai parents sent their children to international schools for the bragging rights it gives them, the parents.

My son / daughter attends the Hi -So turn up my nose at the Thai school system.

We have money, we can buy class, we can buy our children intelligence.

Sadly breeding counts, and the greater majority of these parents have no breeding but they do possess extreme vulgarity and delight in flaunting their new wealth, it is indeed pitiful and it further hi-lights their insecurity.

"Breeding counts"? Wow!

If breeding counts then I wonder if that tells anything about your world view? One must assume that you yourself comes from the landed gentry

[palm]

Just to stir the pot a little more, I have taught in international schools over the years and in many cases a lot of the Thai parents sent their children to international schools for the bragging rights it gives them, the parents.

My son / daughter attends the Hi -So turn up my nose at the Thai school system.

We have money, we can buy class, we can buy our children intelligence.

Sadly breeding counts, and the greater majority of these parents have no breeding but they do possess extreme vulgarity and delight in flaunting their new wealth, it is indeed pitiful and it further hi-lights their insecurity.

What an ignorant and silly post. You say you are a teacher, and from your post you come across as just jealous that many Thai's earn far more than you do.

[siampolee]

Palm.

My salary level if it is of concern to you is a six figure salary per month. I speak from experience and some twenty years here in Thailand as a teacher and a father.

It may, or it may not interest you to know that our three boys (all luk krungs) I hasten to add all attend Thai schools not international schools.

I would suggest that you are the one who is ignorant of the way that many Thai parents actually view the whole international school system.

I have dealt with these people over many years, it may be that I am a little better informed than you concerning the subject.

Do you have, or have you had children that have an international school background here in Thailand, are you a product of the Thai international school system , are you involved in mainstream education perchance?

Your comments concerning the experiences you may have had would indeed be interesting and no doubt educational.

One is never too old to learn, I look forward to your enlightening me of your vast experience of the world of education.

As a matter of interest jdinasia and Palm our family tree is traced back and verified for some five hundred years in the U.K. money no, kudos yes.

Edited November 24, 2010 by siampolee

[saakura]

Just to stir the pot a little more, I have taught in international schools over the years and in many cases a lot of the Thai parents sent their children to international schools for the bragging rights it gives them, the parents.

My son / daughter attends the Hi -So turn up my nose at the Thai school system.

We have money, we can buy class, we can buy our children intelligence.

Sadly breeding counts, and the greater majority of these parents have no breeding but they do possess extreme vulgarity and delight in flaunting their new wealth, it is indeed pitiful and it further hi-lights their insecurity.

Whatever the social standing, it is the inherent nature of every parent to try and give the best education to their children. There may be a minority of foolish thai parents who may be sending their children to international/expensive schools for bragging rights, but such peolpe are not exclusive to Thailand alone.

[swerver]

My step daughter swallowed the sales pitch from ABAC on how an ABAC degree would set her up nicely for life. Now she has now qualified, and has been setup nicely with a huge student loan to pay off, and she now enjoys jobs such as working in bookshops and selling soft drinks on soft drink stands in markets. It would seem it gives her little benefit over completing secondary school?

While I am here, a foreign friend decided to study a degree in a Thai university; he gave up because it was not rated sufficiently in his home country that he would still need to complete several bridging courses in his home country to bring him up to standard. Thus he decided to return to his home country to study a degree there instead.

Thai education is expensive and low quality. I just think its run too much like big business rather than on the basis of academic excellence and achievement. Just my opinion and experience.

Also, what is this change in the law that you can only pass a qualification if you get 80% or above for all subjects? If I understand this right, this with either lead to two things; people will stop studying because its expensive as they know they won't pass OR teachers will give artificially high results so that most students pass. Either way it defeats the idea of studying; studying is about bettering yourself though learning and effort. Whether you achieved 90% or 30%, you would have gained something from the process. If people stop studying because they know they can't pass (or teachers give them artificial high marks meaning they don't need to try) then Thailand will either end up with no educated people or poorly educated people with qualifications! Either way the education level is lowered. Can't be good for the economy?

Cruising for a Bruising

Looking backward is always easier than looking forward.

Looking over my shoulder it will not surprise me with all this present-day uppity education in Thailand if the whole education episode is sliding back to the fifties and sixties and some overrun into the seventies when Chulalongkorn graduates were lucky to have a job wheeling the city busses around Bangkok. There even were a few female University graduate drivers among them.

Have a nice time ahead Thai parents wasting your hard earned money on things not absolutely necessary – SUV (Isuzu pickup truck does the same job), Famous name school (Thai Gov. schools do the same baby sitting for free) no need to go on, you get the idea.

In all my working life I was never hired on the name of the schools I attended, I was hired on my Grade Transcript (requested by prospective employer from the school). The Sheepskin Thais are so engrossed with mean absolutely nothing to a serious employer; it only shows the school the applicant attended and nothing more.

[Maestro]

Some nonsensical and off-topic posts have been removed.

[prometheus]

If the debate is about wealthy parents having bragging rights for their children attending good school / university, any ambitious parents who put lots of efforts into making the future of their children better than of their own deserves it. Children in wealthier family going to better off school happens everywhere you can think of, Bill Gates was attending Seattle Lakeside school costing $50,000 a year which could afford computer terminals in the time that most schools would have no idea what a computer even was, but paying off with a 50 billion USD net wealth seems like a good investment to me.

[mca]

Whatever the social standing, it is the inherent nature of every parent to try and give the best education to their children. There may be a minority of foolish thai parents who may be sending their children to international/expensive schools for bragging rights, but such peolpe are not exclusive to Thailand alone.

True. My daughter will certainly be attending international school at high school level. Maybe earlier. I want her to obtain her A levels and attend a decent university abroad. I simply want the best for her and I feel the Thai system is selling kids short. When you've got graduates proudly waving their BAs in English who can hardly construct a simple sentence then no more needs to be said. Bragging doesn't even enter the equation. I've got nobody I need to impress.