Concern Rising About Quality Of Education In Thailand

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Concern rising about quality of education

By Wannapa Khaopa

The Nation

Enrolments are up, but learning levels are down or flat

Although, the majority of Thai children have access to basic education, as net enrolment for primary and secondary schoolage children increases, people still question the quality of education being provided as international learning assessments show Thai students' performances lag behind most Asian countries.

So, the Office of the Education Council (OEC) is preparing to propose government strategies to enhance the teaching levels and ensure quality education for all children in collaboration with the United Nations Country Team (UNCT).

The net enrolment for primary schoolage children in Thailand increased from 81 per cent in 2000 to 90 per cent in 2009. And, net enrolment for secondary schoolage children increased from 55 per cent in 2000 to 72 per cent in 2009, according to UN Data Online and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Education for All Monitoring Report.

Meanwhile, learning levels of Thai children of 15 years of age have either stagnated or declined, according to results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which first conducted assessments here in 2000.

Representatives from related local and international agencies met at a seminar last week to discuss the situation and come up with ideas on how the government can deliver quality education for all.

A group discussion by representatives from international agencies at the seminar agreed that United Nations agencies would encourage the Thai government to analyse and solve its educational problems. UN agencies would provide educational knowhow and innovations to the government and would also run pilot projects to enhance the education quality in Thailand.

Five other group discussions were held about ensuring quality teaching and learning, linking education assessments to learning reforms, the private sector's role in education and quality learning, vocational education for a changing labour market and bridging the urban and rural divide in education.

Participants from the quality teaching and learning discussion agreed that teacherstobe should be trained by teachers who were role models and via real working experience so they can absorb and imitate good practices from their trainers and understand conditions of working in real life. Then they would be able to teach students effectively.

They also urged the government to seek measures that help students know which fields they want to study early so they can better prepare themselves for study and work.

Education assessment should be communicated seriously among institutions to make administrators and teachers understand that the assessment aimed to reflect their strong and weak points in a bid to encourage them to improve weak habits.

Thus, the assessment aimed not to discourage but encourage them to fix their weak points. Participants in the assessment discussion also urged the government to add competency tests to students' performance assessments.

Those who discussed the private sector's role said more and more students should do internships at real workplaces, while private institutions that can provide high quality education should be promoted.

They also urged state and private educational institutions to pool resources so they can manage the use of resources effectively.

More corporate social responsibility projects should be promoted with private companies to boost education.

At the discussion on vocational education for a changing labour market, participants proposed that groups of different professions lead vocational education development in collaboration with private and industrial sectors because they know and understand personnel quality problems and goals of quality improvement, while the government should support their work.

A mapping chart needed to be created to show problems of students' skills in different parts of the country after their skills were tested. Those with good skills would be trained and prepared for Asean labour market, while the rest with lower skills would be trained to work in the country effectively.

To reduce the educational gap between rural and urban students, participants at the bridging the urban and rural divide in education discussion urged local administrative organisations to be the main body pushing educational development in rural areas.

They should seek cooperation from locals, private companies and agencies in their communities to develop education.

Educational media could also bridge the gap, but the government should ensure that such broadcasts were shown or played at the right time of the day so it reached more students.

A draft of the proposals will be issued within two weeks and sent to all participants for review before being concluded and later submitted to the government, said Waraiporn Sangnapaboworn, director of OEC's International Education Development Centre.

The meeting titled Development Cooperation Seminar on Quality Education 'Quality Learning in Thailand: for Some or for All?' was jointly organised in Bangkok last week by OEC and UNCT.

-- The Nation 2011-09-12

[thequietman]

A group discussion by representatives from international agencies at the seminar agreed that United Nations agencies would encourage the Thai government to analyse and solve its educational problems. UN agencies would provide educational knowhow and innovations to the government and would also run pilot projects to enhance the education quality in Thailand.

are they seriously suggesting that the thai education systems takes advice from farrang ! what does the farrang know ?

A serious loss of face if they dont come up with the ideas themselves.

however i feel they may take advice from Charlie Dimmock (gardener) as regards advice about how the shrubs and flowers are looking around the school grounds. looks good so must be a good school.

[whybother]

What quality?

[jonclark]

Missing the biggest problem - The lack of new graduates entering the teaching profession - result, large classes, unmotivated, over worked, under paid and resourced teachers in their mid fifties looking for early retirement.

[siampolee]

whybother

What quality?

Detention for you my boy appalling spelling.

What quality quantity ?

Please remember , "Big is beautiful,." when referring to class sizes.

[cup-O-coffee]

NOoooo!

Really?

Concern?

Only concern?

Yet again?:spam1:

Wow! I am deeply touched their "concern".

I feel better now simply knowing that Thais can be so concerned for so long

without ever doing anything other than being concerned.

I am concerned about the house that is burning down!

[elgato]

I live behind a middle school and I've already seen a rise in the "quality" of education in the last 3 months. It took several visits from my wife and some of the neighbors to complain about the kids doing nothing but yelling and screaming all day resulting in an almost daily presence by a "teacher" in most of the classrooms!

[Farang0tang]

To these UN Agencies:

Dont waste your time.

Better concentrate your efforts on other countries that will welcome, appreciate, and more importantly make a real effort to implement any recommended changes.

[ralphlsasser]

The only way to get better test scores is to first get serious about education. Thailand is not and never has been serious. They talk the talk, but do walk the walk. As a former teacher, I know for a fact that almost everything comes before education, ie; sports days that turn into a week, competitions, having fun, going to the temple, teacher not showing up for work and no substuite, no student accountability, no parent accountability, no meaningful despline, getting the students to clean the rooms, and the list goes on. They are more worried about the students hair length than education. I was told one time by the director at a school I worked at "the Monks will teach the students all they need to know." With that kind of minset, it's no wonder students that complete high school have the knowledge of a 6th grader in western countries. That is exactly why Thailand is and will be for many years to come a third world country.

Edited September 12, 2011 by ralphlsasser

[ralphlsasser]

A group discussion by representatives from international agencies at the seminar agreed that United Nations agencies would encourage the Thai government to analyse and solve its educational problems. UN agencies would provide educational knowhow and innovations to the government and would also run pilot projects to enhance the education quality in Thailand.

are they seriously suggesting that the thai education systems takes advice from farrang ! what does the farrang know ?

A serious loss of face if they dont come up with the ideas themselves.

however i feel they may take advice from Charlie Dimmock (gardener) as regards advice about how the shrubs and flowers are looking around the school grounds. looks good so must be a good school.

It would be good if Thailand took some of the advise the international community have been giving for years, but it goes in one ear and out the other because the powers that be can't see their hand in front of their face. The culture rules period.

[robsamui]

Educational advance will never occur until the nationalistic pride fades away.

English as a second language is imperative.

No longer can even the grass roots Thais try to pretend that they're the best country in the world and self-sufficient with it, as long as the continual influx of foreigners keeps up.

I was in a 7-11 the other day with 2 young Korean tourists trying to get the 7-11 girl to put a SIM card in their phone and activate it. The Koreans spoke fluent English but the Thai assistant couldn't understand a word of it. A German guy came in and asked to help and the Koreans chatted to him in German. The German spoke some Thai and between them they got it all sorted.

This is simply at street level. Elevate the whole process to Graduate students in Engineering or Medicine and the process is mirrored again there, too. Even the Thai teachers of English are hopelessly inept. I had a communication going with the Head of English at a big BKK university a few years ago and as horrified at her knowledge and understanding of English - no grasp of tenses of sentence structure at all.

R

[aaacorp]

Maybe they should be concerned with the "high So school", where a teacher has to give at least a 10 on 20, otherwise the parents will not pay anymore.

That s why thousands of students are graduated but are completly ignorants...just because dad and mum pressured the head office of the school to give their "wonderful son/daugther" the diploma thay PAID for....

Another boring thing come to my mind : on soi convent every day at the time the convent private school finish, the road is only one way, creating mass problems, traffic jams and more.

The parents park in the street, do not care about bothering the traffic and just wait for their children to come...

Strangely this is not happening on public school...

[zzaa09]

Missing the biggest problem -

.....an education process that extends and includes progressivism, critical thought, and encouraging curiosity.

[dalstonbill]

The myth of free education - state schools are NOT free in Thailand. If you want go get your kid into a school with a good reputation, you have to pay. For example, I know of a student who is about to enter his final year at what is supposedly Chaing Mai's best secondary school. 24,000 is what his parents have to come up with. At primary level, I know of a six year old whose parents are being asked for 6,000 for this term. This is described as Money for the desk and chair he will sit at, insurance, tax [is the governement now taxing itself on its own services? ] etc. And this is not at the supposed best primary school in Chiang Mai. The cheaper option is of course the temple school, but they still want cash up front from parents at the beginning of the school year. Let's face it - if you work in Lotus, or as a hotel cleaner, or Nurse Aid in a hospital, your salary will be barely 6,000 a month. How can you pay for the school plus uniform, lunch books etc.? This educational apartheid certainly ensures that only the chilrden of the relatively wealthy get decent schooling. So, if education is not free, is it surprising education standards are low?

[zzaa09]

Education [per se] is a purely business situation with room for profit venturing.

Sad, even for the lovely ideals of a basic foundation.

Edited September 12, 2011 by zzaa09

[chooka]

Why waste your time getting an education when you can simply buy your degree. Geez people wise up.

[roamer]

Another boring thing come to my mind : on soi convent every day at the time the convent private school finish, the road is only one way, creating mass problems, traffic jams and more.

The parents park in the street, do not care about bothering the traffic and just wait for their children to come...

Strangely this is not happening on public school...

Living in an area of London that has the highest concentration of private schools in Europe I can assure you the problem does not only apply to Bangkok. That Porsche Cayenne Turbo blocking the road is making a statement....

[Scott]

In most countries a great deal of emphasis is put on students developing into productive members of society. For most, this means learning. In Thailand it means something different.

To be a good Buddhist, you must learn not to question, to accept your lot in life etc. (An over-generalization, I know). It means nationalism2. It means memorizing the great deeds of the nation and its leaders. The Ministry of Education and the people who control it likely have an agenda that is counter to what Westerners would call education.

Once that's done, there isn't much time left for other things.

[AbdulJabaar01]

The school I work at in Prakanong is Thai government school and is supposed to be free, no charge to the parents.

I believed this line from the staff at the school and the director, until. The apartment manager was looking for a local school to enroll her son into. She inquired at my school. They wanted 75,000 up front for one semester.

I asked one of the directors at the school about this policy of charging parents for kids, when Thailand said "all" government schools are to be free. His comment was "So,"

The myth of free education - state schools are NOT free in Thailand. If you want go get your kid into a school with a good reputation, you have to pay. For example, I know of a student who is about to enter his final year at what is supposedly Chaing Mai's best secondary school. 24,000 is what his parents have to come up with. At primary level, I know of a six year old whose parents are being asked for 6,000 for this term. This is described as Money for the desk and chair he will sit at, insurance, tax [is the governement now taxing itself on its own services? ] etc. And this is not at the supposed best primary school in Chiang Mai. The cheaper option is of course the temple school, but they still want cash up front from parents at the beginning of the school year. Let's face it - if you work in Lotus, or as a hotel cleaner, or Nurse Aid in a hospital, your salary will be barely 6,000 a month. How can you pay for the school plus uniform, lunch books etc.? This educational apartheid certainly ensures that only the chilrden of the relatively wealthy get decent schooling. So, if education is not free, is it surprising education standards are low?

[rucus7]

Continued ignorance helps control the populace. Is it truly in the best interest of the current government to improve education? The elite are doing fine. Both Yingluck and Thaksin were educated in the U.S.A. Why change a good thing? If you can afford an education, clearly one is available.

[zzaa09]

Continued ignorance helps control the populace. Is it truly in the best interest of the current government to improve education? The elite are doing fine. Both Yingluck and Thaksin were educated in the U.S.A.

I believe you'll find that a greater percentage of Thai elite of every pursuasion to have been educated abroad [primarily the Anglo-American world]....all the while promoting the national pride of a home education and touting up the Thai education system in general.

[looping]

For a moment I read:

"CONCERN RISING ABOUT QUALITY EDUCATION"

and thought WOW, finally an honest statement from the new government

[Bagwan]

Why waste your time getting an education when you can simply buy your degree. Geez people wise up.

So, you would advise not to consult with a Thai doctor, lawyer or engineer then?

[kraplung]

Thaksin once told us that Thailand has one of the best education systems in the world as more Thais get university degrees than almost anywhere else in the world.............

[zzaa09]

Thaksin once told us that Thailand has one of the best education systems in the world as more Thais get university degrees than almost anywhere else in the world.............

Yet, still lack the critical thinking skills to flourish beyond the stagnet repression.

[ginjag]

Thaksin once told us that Thailand has one of the best education systems in the world as more Thais get university degrees than almost anywhere else in the world.............

This all well and good but the degree obtained in English by Thaksin and Yingluck from the USA didn't seem to help them when they talk to the world leaders-press- hearing them speak English is embarrassing. I have to point out that many world leaders don't speak English, but maybe they havn't got a degree in English.

I'm hearing so many stories about state run schools =Free-not free. What is free for a child here? the attending school-and every thing else to pay?? some pay for a term some not?? If this is the case why not give all children free--completely--and forget the TABLET.

We hear every term how education is lacking-EVERY TERM. This place is NEAR full of bulsh#t

[dalstonbill]

Update - have just learned today - the primary school kid is being asked for 15,000 for 2 semesters, broken down into Education Development fee , 3,750, Lunch 4,500 [that's about 250 per school day, more than a decent restaurant in Chiang Mai for dinner], 6,750 Computer studies [obviously does not include free tablet - Yingluk ain't provided that yet] And all to be paid by the 23rd of this month with less than 3 weeks notice... good business for the moneylenders and pawn shops ...

The school I work at in Prakanong is Thai government school and is supposed to be free, no charge to the parents.

I believed this line from the staff at the school and the director, until. The apartment manager was looking for a local school to enroll her son into. She inquired at my school. They wanted 75,000 up front for one semester.

I asked one of the directors at the school about this policy of charging parents for kids, when Thailand said "all" government schools are to be free. His comment was "So,"

The myth of free education - state schools are NOT free in Thailand. If you want go get your kid into a school with a good reputation, you have to pay. For example, I know of a student who is about to enter his final year at what is supposedly Chaing Mai's best secondary school. 24,000 is what his parents have to come up with. At primary level, I know of a six year old whose parents are being asked for 6,000 for this term. This is described as Money for the desk and chair he will sit at, insurance, tax [is the governement now taxing itself on its own services? ] etc. And this is not at the supposed best primary school in Chiang Mai. The cheaper option is of course the temple school, but they still want cash up front from parents at the beginning of the school year. Let's face it - if you work in Lotus, or as a hotel cleaner, or Nurse Aid in a hospital, your salary will be barely 6,000 a month. How can you pay for the school plus uniform, lunch books etc.? This educational apartheid certainly ensures that only the chilrden of the relatively wealthy get decent schooling. So, if education is not free, is it surprising education standards are low?

[dalstonbill]

Government Schools are NOT free and parents will be asked for cash simply to get their kid admitted and then asked for more cash each semester or year. The amount required depends on the school's reputation and the corresponding demand for places. A school with a good name can ask up to 24,000 baht in Chaing Mai [18,000 for the "best" primary school]. The cash will be variously described as being for the desk and chairs in the classroom, insurance, education tuition development fee and an amount for computer studies... yes indeed, it would be better to scrap the tablet idea and really make school free, but I reckon many schools are now dependent on this cash and some of the cash received may even, god forbid, go into certain individuals' pockets...

Thaksin once told us that Thailand has one of the best education systems in the world as more Thais get university degrees than almost anywhere else in the world.............

This all well and good but the degree obtained in English by Thaksin and Yingluck from the USA didn't seem to help them when they talk to the world leaders-press- hearing them speak English is embarrassing. I have to point out that many world leaders don't speak English, but maybe they havn't got a degree in English.

I'm hearing so many stories about state run schools =Free-not free. What is free for a child here? the attending school-and every thing else to pay?? some pay for a term some not?? If this is the case why not give all children free--completely--and forget the TABLET.

We hear every term how education is lacking-EVERY TERM. This place is NEAR full of bulsh#t

[sfbandung]

Cynicism abounds here as usual. Education has always been an elitist concept, quality education anyway. Good people and a cohesive, law abiding (largely, there are crims everywhere) society is dependent on many factors, education being one of them. The monks teach peace, harmony and tolerance (once again, largely) which is a vital factor in a safe and peaceful community.

I live in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea most of the year for work. Come and spend some time here and you'll realise that Thailand is a great place, far from perfect, but great nonetheless. Comparisons are odious as they say, but compare Thailand with other poor nations, not Australia, the US or Europe, and it comes up looking pretty good.

Just sayin'

Edited September 12, 2011 by sfbandung

[Kf6vci]

Well, the schools offer learn-as-you-pay schemes aka "special classes" with aircon etc. A buy in such a special class handed in a basically blank exam sheet. What now?! Re-sit, help him? There is the no fail policy

Then there are some really gifted students in say M2/9. but they have no chance due to a few terrible students disrupting classes any way they can. (Messing with chalk and water, running around and changing seats, hitting fellow students etc.)

One boy has a vacant look and he keeps wandering around, often sitting in at other classes. He would draw male and female genitalia any chance he gets on the black board.

Moving the bright kids into a better class would give them a chance. which makes me wonder about their parents - don't they care? don't they realize whether their kid is gifted, or not?!?