English Programmes Face Lack Of Teachers: Thai Education

[webfact]

EDUCATION

English programmes face lack of teachers

Wannapa Khaopa

The Nation

Problem poses challenge to plan to expand EP, MEP schemes

The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec)'s plan to increase enrolments in the English Programme (EP) and Mini-English Programme (MEP) is a positive initiative that will boost this much-needed skill among students, but like other education policies, obstacles threaten to compromise its quality.

People involved with the programmes say that to maintain quality, more students require more teachers, and that this is something that also affect students in non-English programmes.

Obec Secretary General Chinnapat Bhumirat recently announced the commission's plan to allow more than 200 schools offering such English programmes and special science and mathematics programmes to increase enrolment in them from 20 per cent of all new students to 30 per cent.

Watanaporn Ra-ngubtook, PhD, director of the English Language Institute of Obec in charge of EP and MEP, said that with limited resources, if this plan is to be implemented, the school would have to reduce the number of students enrolled in regular programmes conducted in Thai.

Yothinburana School Deputy Director Manoch Wangtrakul said the school would hold a meeting of its board to discuss whether the school will be able to increase enrolment in its EP, because it has limited space to build more classrooms. "If we agree to increase enrolment in EP, we will have to reduce enrolment in normal programmes and hire more foreign teachers."

Watanaporn said that foreign teacher recruitment was also a problem as it was difficult to find eligible teachers who were fluent in English, flexible enough to adjust to teaching in a Thai classroom context, and had good teaching techniques and academic qualifications.

"The schools cannot import only native English speakers, as it difficult to find ones who have all the required qualifications. Some are good at English, but not good at math and science. So, they hire teachers from the Philippines who are fluent in English and good at math and science," she added.

Chanwit Tubsuphan, director of Office of Private Education Commission (Opec), said private schools with EP found it even more difficult to find qualified foreign teachers, as they did not have international educational networks, like many of the state schools under Obec. "To create government-to-government partnerships with foreign countries to find foreign teachers is easier and faster."

"They have to spend more on salaries for foreign teachers than the Obec schools do, because they have not received any financial support from the government," said Chanwit.

"If Obec really wants to increase student enrolment in EP in Thailand in response to the demands, the government will have to allocate funds to the private schools, too, so, they will be able to hire more foreign teachers," he added.

Watanaporn said the quality of teachers was crucial. As a result, the schools had to strictly assess all the teachers' abilities. Obec also has EP and MEP coordinating centres in different parts of the country to give advice to the schools and survey what they need and report to Obec so it can give them assistance.

Meanwhile, Obec has to conduct internal assessments at the private schools every three years, while the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment does an external assessment every five years, Chanwit said.

He the schools had to keep the education quality high as parents whose children study in EP had higher expectations than those whose children were in normal programmes.

According to Obec, on average, three students compete for every seat in the special programmes.

The ratio is even higher at Yothinburana, a state school which has offered EP for 14 years. At this popular school, there is only one seat for every 10 applicants, according to Manoch.

EP and MEP are seen as good choices for middle class parents who want their children to be equipped with English, although they study in Thailand, as both programmes are much cheaper than international programmes.

Given the overwhelming demand, more schools are trying to grab this opportunity in both the state and private sectors.

Watanaporn said about 70 state schools had submitted requests to launch EP and MEP programmes, and that these were under consideration. Most are in the North and Northeast.

Chanwit said fewer than 10 private schools had submitted requests to open EP courses. Opec found that many of the private schools had been opened in response to an influx of foreign and Thai parents working at industrial estates.

Due to the free flow of labour in the upcoming Asean Economic Community, Chanwit wanted the government to equip skilled vocational students with English so they would be more competitive. Only six private vocational institutes provide EP now.

-- The Nation 2011-10-03

[ralphlsasser]

The first thing they need to do is get serious about education. They talk a good talk, but they don't walk the walk. Examples; if a teacher is absent for the day, the students do not have a sub. The hour they should have had with a teacher, they spend on their mobile phones talking to friends or off campus doing nothing. Anything and almost everything is ahead of learning, ie; sports, going to the temple,competitions, cleaning the classroom, culture, etc. Until they walk the walk, Thailand will stay the third world country is is and has been for many years.

Edited October 2, 2011 by ralphlsasser

[duncanb]

Ant the second thing they should do is have a clampdown on all of the Agents.

I am happy to say that I have never worked through one but have heard numerous stories of people being owed a great deal of money due to questionable practices. One Agent that employs a lot of Africans requires Power of Atourney, they also require 100,000 baht should you not complete the contract, or 200,000baht should you complete the contract then work for the school directly- strangely they do not let the teachers have a copy of the contract and will prevent you from taking a copy out of there office. I wonder why!!!!!!

I suspect that there are a lot of teachers out there looking for work BUT they refuse to use an agent.

Take a look at a popular teachers website, all the adverts are by agents.

Take a look at the offered salaries- on average 25% less than a few years ago (I wonder where the money has gone- wink wink)

The first thing they need to do is get serious about education. They talk a good talk, but they don't walk the walk. Examples; if a teacher is absent for the day, the students do not have a sub. The hour they should have had with a teacher, they spend on their mobile phones talking to friends or off campus doing nothing. Anything and almost everything is ahead of learning, ie; sports, going to the temple,competitions, cleaning the classroom, culture, etc. Until they walk the walk, Thailand will stay the third world country is is and has been for many years.

[gk10002000]

I have enough resources to retire modestly and being 54 I qualify for a Thai retirement visa. However, I do not want to retire. I love to teach. I did teach in my USA Graduate school. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MS in Math. I have been frustrated by the work visa and training required process. And so many jobs seem to only involve teaching English. I would love to see some smoother process. I love Thailand and I think I would get a lot of satisfaction from putting my knowledge and background to work over there.

[Ijustwannateach]

The penny finally dropped. I was saying this the first time they announced Thailand as a 'hub of English/foreign/international' education, and that's been a few years back now. Too bad they can't do their market research BEFORE their marketing.

[bushwacker]

<"Watanaporn said that foreign teacher recruitment was also a problem as it was difficult to find eligible teachers who were fluent in English, flexible enough to adjust to teaching in a Thai classroom context, and had good teaching techniques and academic qualifications.>"

Let us think about this. The immigration department has allowed many thousands of qualified expats to retire in thailand but insist that they do no work in any way, on pains of deportation. The Government Education department is crying that they cannot get enough qualified english teachers and they are too expensive. Is there a simple solution here? Hmmmmm ..... guess not!

[soundman]

So, they hire teachers from the Philippines who are fluent in English and good at math and science

Sorry, this is not my analysis of Philippine teachers, whom I have witnessed in action. In fact their fluency is far from what would be known as an international standard of English.

Sure the shorthand is pretty to look at, spelling mostly correct, however, grammar and sentence structure is terrible.

[thunder30101]

Lets face it, its all about the money not education. Most schools have or want an ep program because of the budget allocated for it not for the benefit of thailand or the students. Any foreign teacher that has been in the system here for any length of time has seen the admin and senior ajarns steal every dime of money they are allocated. The MOE is the largest budget in the gov. yet schools are falling apart, thai teachers are paid a pittance for loads of work and after many years and billions of baht spent on english language instruction pattaya bargirls speak better english than most students. The Asean AEC is going to be the tsunami Thailand will never recover from, their only option will be to opt out of the free migration of labor clause which will cause many corporations and other members to not do business with thailand. Being thailands economy survives on exports this will be a crushing blow to it. Those with the power to change things and who claim to care about their beloved thailand just dont care about anything but themselves and the results are plain to see anywhere you look.

[hanuman2543]

Due to the free flow of labour in the upcoming Asean Economic Community, Chanwit wanted the government to equip skilled vocational students with English so they would be more competitive. If this becomes reality, then Thailand will loose big time against other neighbouring nations.

Edited October 3, 2011 by hanuman2543

[hammered]

Ant the second thing they should do is have a clampdown on all of the Agents.

I am happy to say that I have never worked through one but have heard numerous stories of people being owed a great deal of money due to questionable practices. One Agent that employs a lot of Africans requires Power of Atourney, they also require 100,000 baht should you not complete the contract, or 200,000baht should you complete the contract then work for the school directly- strangely they do not let the teachers have a copy of the contract and will prevent you from taking a copy out of there office. I wonder why!!!!!!

I suspect that there are a lot of teachers out there looking for work BUT they refuse to use an agent.

Take a look at a popular teachers website, all the adverts are by agents.

Take a look at the offered salaries- on average 25% less than a few years ago (I wonder where the money has gone- wink wink)

The first thing they need to do is get serious about education. They talk a good talk, but they don't walk the walk. Examples; if a teacher is absent for the day, the students do not have a sub. The hour they should have had with a teacher, they spend on their mobile phones talking to friends or off campus doing nothing. Anything and almost everything is ahead of learning, ie; sports, going to the temple,competitions, cleaning the classroom, culture, etc. Until they walk the walk, Thailand will stay the third world country is is and has been for many years.

The whole idea of schools using agents who suck salary from potential educators without bringing anything worthwile at all to the table is disgusting but typifies the middleman making money for nothing attitude in many areas. Schools are given or have a certain amount to employ foreign educators and the middle men just reduce this hence reducing the number and quality of educators and lowering educational standards.

It would be better if use of agents rather than direct hiring was made totally illegal as it does nothing except damage the education of children and young adults and development of the country. Even parasites arent as hostile to their host as these groups.

[cmsally]

I will give you one example from a friend of mine who was taking a couple of years off in Asia and although didn't have to work didn't want to be totally on holiday.

She was more than well enough qualified and was accepted at the 2 places she went to enquire about jobs during her holiday.

In the end she didn't last long at both places. Although the salary was way lower than she was used to this was not the issue. Her issues were with the Thai management and the way they treated their staff. This was worse for the Thai staff but also an issue for her. She said she had never taught in a country where management had such a sense of self importance and were used to being treated with such deference.

She also had an issue when her pay was docked for missing hours. She went to the clock in thing and managed to prove that was not true at all. She never so much as received an apology and never received the additional money either. She was so disgusted she just handed in her notice and never went back.

[TomJoad]

Thai Administrators are never happier than when they have a Filipino teacher to boss around. It must up their egos somehow. It's a shame since the majority of Filipino teachers I've met deserve better.

[sirchai]

So, they hire teachers from the Philippines who are fluent in English and good at math and science

Sorry, this is not my analysis of Philippine teachers, whom I have witnessed in action. In fact their fluency is far from what would be known as an international standard of English.

Sure the shorthand is pretty to look at, spelling mostly correct, however, grammar and sentence structure is terrible.

Thanks for your honest words. I've got some colleagues from the Philippines, who neither understand me, nor my English colleague, when speaking 'normal'.

For my opinion, most of them are only in for the money to support their families back home, which is understandable.

We've got the word for today at our school and one woman even misspelled the word bottle.

She spelled it botlle, students had to hold the letters in the air.

This is not a post against colleagues from the Philippines.I'm also hiring teachers for our school and I've seen resumes, where I couldn't believe my own eyes.

Other foreigners do spent their salary in Thailand, while they sent most of their money home.

The salary seven years ago was higher than it is now; it started with some Filipinos who worked for 8,000 baht/month.

Some of them told me that white people would only make more money because of the color of their skin.

It's really very difficult to find decent teachers who can do their jobs nowadays.

Another problem is the salary. How can you find 'qualified' foreigners with experience working for 20,000 baht in an EP programme? Most activities have to be done by white foreigners… You get what you're paying for…………

Edited October 3, 2011 by sirchai

[jonclark]

So, they hire teachers from the Philippines who are fluent in English and good at math and science

Sorry, this is not my analysis of Philippine teachers, whom I have witnessed in action. In fact their fluency is far from what would be known as an international standard of English.

Sure the shorthand is pretty to look at, spelling mostly correct, however, grammar and sentence structure is terrible.

Filipino teachers are also cheaper which is a big bonus.

As for qualified maths and science teachers, this is moving away from TEFL teaching, however I'm fairly sure schools use TEFL teachers in this capacity, which is not what they were trained to do. The problem is the MoE thinks TEFL teachers are also maths and science teachers to boot which with all due respect they are not.

If the MoE wants a qualified specialist maths / Science teacher they should consider this; the starting salary (outside of London) for a NQT is approx 21'500 pounds , whereas TEFL teaching in the UK is about 10 - 15 pounds an hour. Perhaps the MoE needs to inquire as to why the UK doesn't use TEFL teachers to teach maths and science in UK schools.

TEFL teachers do a fantastic job in Thailand often under difficult conditions, but they are being asked to run classes or teach topics which most have little experience of since they left school.

[dumpling]

The hunt for new teachers is all well and good and I totally agree with those commenting that topic specific teachers should be employed but lets not get ahead of our selves first lets improve things for the teachers that are already here.

silly rules, shake downs and an unprofessional environment must be addressed first, then maybe they will attract better qualified people.

[sirchai]

Lets face it, its all about the money not education. Most schools have or want an ep program because of the budget allocated for it not for the benefit of thailand or the students. Any foreign teacher that has been in the system here for any length of time has seen the admin and senior ajarns steal every dime of money they are allocated. The MOE is the largest budget in the gov. yet schools are falling apart, thai teachers are paid a pittance for loads of work and after many years and billions of baht spent on english language instruction pattaya bargirls speak better english than most students. The Asean AEC is going to be the tsunami Thailand will never recover from, their only option will be to opt out of the free migration of labor clause which will cause many corporations and other members to not do business with thailand. Being thailands economy survives on exports this will be a crushing blow to it. Those with the power to change things and who claim to care about their beloved thailand just dont care about anything but themselves and the results are plain to see anywhere you look.

Doesn't that show that Thai bar girls are always practicing their English,while most Thai students never have the chance to speak English at home?

Plenty of websites are available if students are really interested in learning English for free.

Only those who've got extra lessons (liang piseth)are obviously good at English.

But the poor majority can't afford it, which shows the quality of the educational system.

I guess I haven't been the only foreigner who wrote the thesis for a Thai colleague, gaining a Master degree, without the ability in speaking the English language.

I was already thinking of going to Europe to teach Thai;wouldn't it be the same ball game?

Edited October 3, 2011 by sirchai

[marquess]

So, they hire teachers from the Philippines who are fluent in English and good at math and science

Sorry, this is not my analysis of Philippine teachers, whom I have witnessed in action. In fact their fluency is far from what would be known as an international standard of English.

Sure the shorthand is pretty to look at, spelling mostly correct, however, grammar and sentence structure is terrible.

Thanks for your honest words. I've got some colleagues from the Philippines, who neither understand me, nor my English colleague, when speaking 'normal'.

For my opinion, most of them are only in for the money to support their families back home, which is understandable.

We've got the word for today at our school and one woman even misspelled the word bottle.

She spelled it botlle, students had to hold the letters in the air.

This is not a post against colleagues from the Philippines.I'm also hiring teachers for our school and I've seen resumes, where I couldn't believe my own eyes.

Other foreigners do spent their salary in Thailand, while they sent most of their money home.

The salary seven years ago was higher than it is now; it started with some Filipinos who worked for 8,000 baht/month.

Some of them told me that white people would only make more money because of the color of their skin.

It's really very difficult to find decent teachers who can do their jobs nowadays.

Another problem is the salary. How can you find 'qualified' foreigners with experience working for 20,000 baht in an EP programme? Most activities have to be done by white foreigners… You get what you're paying for…………

The salaries have remained the same in literal terms in the 11/10 years that I have been here, and in real terms I would say they are at least 40% if not 50% less. Yet the literal figure seems to be what employers focus on without realising that as it decreases in real terms it is getting less and less attractive. 10 years ago one may be have been able to get by on 30k, but now you could probably only pay the rent and buy food with it and never go out. To get your mind around the problem just think of some of the places that are paying 600 per hour or even a famous childrens' institution that pays 700, ten years ago I thought--wow that is a good rate, but alas ten years later they are still paying the same. I wonder if they are still charging students the same fees as ten years ago? I doubt it!

[thunder30101]

No thai bargirls are outside the system of hierarchy that stifles students from even thinking about speaking english outside the classroom, the same system that says we are thai and everyone else is wrong, the same system that does not encourage any independent thought by students or provide any history books with an iota of truth in them for students to be able to at least even consider there might be another viewpoint. The same system that will make sure a student who does any of the above will not have any opportunities in their lives unless their family has money or status to provide them protection from this system. This is not a blanket statement demeaning all thais as I have worked with many good young thai educators since teaching here and the honest ones have told me they have no choice but to stay in line and do the dirty work of those above them or be ostracized and expelled from the system, I cant fault them and do feel for them as they are the future of thailand, but watching them and the students being cheated of a positive future by a minority who care only about themselves angers me to no end. And PLEASE save your comparisons to other countries out of a discussion about the education system of thailand as I dont live in that world.

[sirchai]

Ant the second thing they should do is have a clampdown on all of the Agents.

I am happy to say that I have never worked through one but have heard numerous stories of people being owed a great deal of money due to questionable practices. One Agent that employs a lot of Africans requires Power of Atourney, they also require 100,000 baht should you not complete the contract, or 200,000baht should you complete the contract then work for the school directly- strangely they do not let the teachers have a copy of the contract and will prevent you from taking a copy out of there office. I wonder why!!!!!!

I suspect that there are a lot of teachers out there looking for work BUT they refuse to use an agent.

Take a look at a popular teachers website, all the adverts are by agents.

Take a look at the offered salaries- on average 25% less than a few years ago (I wonder where the money has gone- wink wink)

The first thing they need to do is get serious about education. They talk a good talk, but they don't walk the walk. Examples; if a teacher is absent for the day, the students do not have a sub. The hour they should have had with a teacher, they spend on their mobile phones talking to friends or off campus doing nothing. Anything and almost everything is ahead of learning, ie; sports, going to the temple,competitions, cleaning the classroom, culture, etc. Until they walk the walk, Thailand will stay the third world country is is and has been for many years.

The whole idea of schools using agents who suck salary from potential educators without bringing anything worthwile at all to the table is disgusting but typifies the middleman making money for nothing attitude in many areas. Schools are given or have a certain amount to employ foreign educators and the middle men just reduce this hence reducing the number and quality of educators and lowering educational standards.

It would be better if use of agents rather than direct hiring was made totally illegal as it does nothing except damage the education of children and young adults and development of the country. Even parasites arent as hostile to their host as these groups.

I've given some schools a written advice how to find and test teachers using *edited out* or other websites.

The problem is mostly that teachers and directors at Thai schools do not know how to use this easy technique in the 21^st century.

Using agents doesn't help anybody, excluding the agent.

If backpackers make it one year, they'll receive good money.

Nobody cares about the quality of the students' education, or the foreigners' experience.

There's too much window dressing at Thai schools.

This is indeed disgusting.

Let's face it, how many computers in Thai schools are without an Anti virus program, like the Thai motorcycle drivers without a helmet?

Not mentioning the power of money, that gives many Thais jobs, where lots of them fail……..

Edited October 3, 2011 by Scott
Direct link edited out/Scott

[ozzieovaseas]

Ant the second thing they should do is have a clampdown on all of the Agents.

I am happy to say that I have never worked through one but have heard numerous stories of people being owed a great deal of money due to questionable practices. One Agent that employs a lot of Africans requires Power of Atourney, they also require 100,000 baht should you not complete the contract, or 200,000baht should you complete the contract then work for the school directly- strangely they do not let the teachers have a copy of the contract and will prevent you from taking a copy out of there office. I wonder why!!!!!!

I suspect that there are a lot of teachers out there looking for work BUT they refuse to use an agent.

Take a look at a popular teachers website, all the adverts are by agents.

Take a look at the offered salaries- on average 25% less than a few years ago (I wonder where the money has gone- wink wink)

The first thing they need to do is get serious about education. They talk a good talk, but they don't walk the walk. Examples; if a teacher is absent for the day, the students do not have a sub. The hour they should have had with a teacher, they spend on their mobile phones talking to friends or off campus doing nothing. Anything and almost everything is ahead of learning, ie; sports, going to the temple,competitions, cleaning the classroom, culture, etc. Until they walk the walk, Thailand will stay the third world country is is and has been for many years.

The whole idea of schools using agents who suck salary from potential educators without bringing anything worthwile at all to the table is disgusting but typifies the middleman making money for nothing attitude in many areas. Schools are given or have a certain amount to employ foreign educators and the middle men just reduce this hence reducing the number and quality of educators and lowering educational standards.

It would be better if use of agents rather than direct hiring was made totally illegal as it does nothing except damage the education of children and young adults and development of the country. Even parasites arent as hostile to their host as these groups.

I've given some schools a written advice how to find and test teachers using www.ajarn.com, or other websites.

The problem is mostly that teachers and directors at Thai schools do not know how to use this easy technique in the 21^st century.

Using agents doesn't help anybody, excluding the agent.

If backpackers make it one year, they'll receive good money.

Nobody cares about the quality of the students' education, or the foreigners' experience.

There's too much window dressing at Thai schools.

This is indeed disgusting.

Let's face it, how many computers in Thai schools are without an Anti virus program, like the Thai motorcycle drivers without a helmet?

Not mentioning the power of money, that gives many Thais jobs, where lots of them fail……..

Actually when all is said and done, the one and only problem is that these places are run as a business to make money.

Lots of talk about Phillapino teachers here, but everyone does know that they will work for 15-20 baht or even less, and that is why they get the jobs. Have you ever wondered why a white farang without a degree will get turned away from a school, yet that same school will have 3 or 4 female Phillipinos...without degrees.

They will try to explain this away by stating the children like the female teacher better and therefor learn better, even though they sometimes can't even string a sensible sentance together

[Jody0012]

Hey guys....

Another thing is that all thai students pass at the end of every semester. I just got a Phone call today saying that I will have to go back to school tomorrow till the 10th of October, because some of my students that failed for reasons like showing up to class maybe 4 or 5 times out of the semester, I will have to re-test them so that they can pass. Mind you my contract finished on the 30th of September already. Anyway got to do what you got to do.. Bite the bullet.....hahahahahaha

[thunder30101]

^ So you are going to go work for 10 days illegally without a contract or work permit coverage ??? What incentive do they have to pay you ??? Good luck when they tell you sorry you not employee and your fault they fail test so no money.

[Kwasaki]

I don't understand all this waffle of needing Teachers, a Thai teacher friend of mine who is teaching English and speaks reasonable English has just been told he has to leave at the end of the month because the school cannot afford him, 8,000 bht a month.

They have no other Thai people in the school to teach English he was the only one.

Give me a break greed and corruption comes to mind.

[Jody0012]

Hahahaha no man it's not like that... I have a work permit till the end of march next year for that school. I've been working there for a while now.. They said they will pay me for the 10 days so i suppose it's not a big deal since I have nothing to do during this october holiday... I have always failed students throughout my time at this school but it seems that this semester even the thai teachers are getting their heads blown off by the directors about their own students failing. So now they want me to pass them all so everyone can be happy...

[SAffer]

The first thing they need to do is get serious about education. They talk a good talk, but they don't walk the walk. Examples; if a teacher is absent for the day, the students do not have a sub. The hour they should have had with a teacher, they spend on their mobile phones talking to friends or off campus doing nothing. Anything and almost everything is ahead of learning, ie; sports, going to the temple,competitions, cleaning the classroom, culture, etc. Until they walk the walk, Thailand will stay the third world country is is and has been for many years.

I never saw any real sport being pursued in a serious way at Thai schools... so I disagree that sport comes before learning in Thailand. In my country the best schools academically are usually also the best sport schools. Sport is nothing here... I never even saw inter-school sports, only the once a year inter-house sports day. My High School had better sporting facilities than even the Universities do in Thailand.

[SAffer]

So, they hire teachers from the Philippines who are fluent in English and good at math and science

Sorry, this is not my analysis of Philippine teachers, whom I have witnessed in action. In fact their fluency is far from what would be known as an international standard of English.

Sure the shorthand is pretty to look at, spelling mostly correct, however, grammar and sentence structure is terrible.

Filipino teachers are also cheaper which is a big bonus.

As for qualified maths and science teachers, this is moving away from TEFL teaching, however I'm fairly sure schools use TEFL teachers in this capacity, which is not what they were trained to do. The problem is the MoE thinks TEFL teachers are also maths and science teachers to boot which with all due respect they are not.

If the MoE wants a qualified specialist maths / Science teacher they should consider this; the starting salary (outside of London) for a NQT is approx 21'500 pounds , whereas TEFL teaching in the UK is about 10 - 15 pounds an hour. Perhaps the MoE needs to inquire as to why the UK doesn't use TEFL teachers to teach maths and science in UK schools.

TEFL teachers do a fantastic job in Thailand often under difficult conditions, but they are being asked to run classes or teach topics which most have little experience of since they left school.

I am not a teacher, I work for an engineering company. Recently I got a Filipino IT assistant- and his folks are both English teachers here in Thailand. I never met his folks, but this guy working as an IT assistant has superb English. I met others before, so I know that some of the Filipino teachers actually battle with English... but I think they get their reputation for good English from the Filipinos who are actually well schooled.

[SAffer]

So, they hire teachers from the Philippines who are fluent in English and good at math and science

Sorry, this is not my analysis of Philippine teachers, whom I have witnessed in action. In fact their fluency is far from what would be known as an international standard of English.

Sure the shorthand is pretty to look at, spelling mostly correct, however, grammar and sentence structure is terrible.

Thanks for your honest words. I've got some colleagues from the Philippines, who neither understand me, nor my English colleague, when speaking 'normal'.

For my opinion, most of them are only in for the money to support their families back home, which is understandable.

We've got the word for today at our school and one woman even misspelled the word bottle.

She spelled it botlle, students had to hold the letters in the air.

This is not a post against colleagues from the Philippines.I'm also hiring teachers for our school and I've seen resumes, where I couldn't believe my own eyes.

Other foreigners do spent their salary in Thailand, while they sent most of their money home.

The salary seven years ago was higher than it is now; it started with some Filipinos who worked for 8,000 baht/month.

Some of them told me that white people would only make more money because of the color of their skin.

It's really very difficult to find decent teachers who can do their jobs nowadays.

Another problem is the salary. How can you find 'qualified' foreigners with experience working for 20,000 baht in an EP programme? Most activities have to be done by white foreigners… You get what you're paying for…………

The salaries have remained the same in literal terms in the 11/10 years that I have been here, and in real terms I would say they are at least 40% if not 50% less. Yet the literal figure seems to be what employers focus on without realising that as it decreases in real terms it is getting less and less attractive. 10 years ago one may be have been able to get by on 30k, but now you could probably only pay the rent and buy food with it and never go out. To get your mind around the problem just think of some of the places that are paying 600 per hour or even a famous childrens' institution that pays 700, ten years ago I thought--wow that is a good rate, but alas ten years later they are still paying the same. I wonder if they are still charging students the same fees as ten years ago? I doubt it!

You make a good point Sir, but how can the teachers affect change?

[SAffer]

Hey guys....

Another thing is that all thai students pass at the end of every semester. I just got a Phone call today saying that I will have to go back to school tomorrow till the 10th of October, because some of my students that failed for reasons like showing up to class maybe 4 or 5 times out of the semester, I will have to re-test them so that they can pass. Mind you my contract finished on the 30th of September already. Anyway got to do what you got to do.. Bite the bullet.....hahahahahaha

Yes, I heard about that... it is a disgrace. I am sorry for you mate.

[Ijustwannateach]

Well, in some ways, the fact that they aren't raising salaries eventually helps the ones who are left. When the desperation levels rise finally we'll be the ones picking up the salary pieces, or some such metaphor. At least, I hope so.

The 'frozen salary' effect bizarrely obtains both in Thai and foreign worlds. A Thai boss of mine once confided in me that he did some 'business consulting' on taxes and other things for some hi-so friends, but that the rate they paid him- 300B/hr- hadn't changed in 20 years!!!

[jonclark]

So, they hire teachers from the Philippines who are fluent in English and good at math and science

Sorry, this is not my analysis of Philippine teachers, whom I have witnessed in action. In fact their fluency is far from what would be known as an international standard of English.

Sure the shorthand is pretty to look at, spelling mostly correct, however, grammar and sentence structure is terrible.

Filipino teachers are also cheaper which is a big bonus.

As for qualified maths and science teachers, this is moving away from TEFL teaching, however I'm fairly sure schools use TEFL teachers in this capacity, which is not what they were trained to do. The problem is the MoE thinks TEFL teachers are also maths and science teachers to boot which with all due respect they are not.

If the MoE wants a qualified specialist maths / Science teacher they should consider this; the starting salary (outside of London) for a NQT is approx 21'500 pounds , whereas TEFL teaching in the UK is about 10 - 15 pounds an hour. Perhaps the MoE needs to inquire as to why the UK doesn't use TEFL teachers to teach maths and science in UK schools.

TEFL teachers do a fantastic job in Thailand often under difficult conditions, but they are being asked to run classes or teach topics which most have little experience of since they left school.

I am not a teacher, I work for an engineering company. Recently I got a Filipino IT assistant- and his folks are both English teachers here in Thailand. I never met his folks, but this guy working as an IT assistant has superb English. I met others before, so I know that some of the Filipino teachers actually battle with English... but I think they get their reputation for good English from the Filipinos who are actually well schooled.

Indeed there may well be a fairly reasonable fiscal argument that the MoE needs to look at: Employing Filipinos to teach Science and Maths. The MoE drafts an agreement with the Filipino government to allow qualified Filipino teachers an easier path into Thai teaching (the MoE gets to fill up its MEP foreign teacher quota and also screen applicants prior to arrival in Thailand), in return the agreement guarantees a decent net wage of 20'000 baht per month (if current levels are any indicator), fast tracked paid for WP and visa including a single re-entry. Would seem like a win : win case?

Some might argue the 'unqualified' card against this, but on balance I'm sure that there is a comparable level of poor teaching practices in both the Filipino and Western teaching communities, race is no indicator of ability.