Expand Good Schools, Thai Panel Says

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Expand good schools, panel says

Supinda Na Mahachai

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The panel tasked with coming up with remedial measures for former Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School students who were stripped of their right to continue with Matthayom 4 studies there, yesterday ordered the Bangkok Education Service Area Office 2 to have 12 schools make space for these pupils.

The schools are Triam Udom Suksa Pattanakarn, Thepsirin Romklao, Don Muang Thaharnagardbumroong, Bang Kapi, Rattanakosin Sompotch Bang Khen, Latplakhaophitthayakhom, Tepleela, Nawamintrachutit Bangkok, Mattayom Watbuengthonglang, Rajavinit Bang Khen, Sukum Navapan Uppatum and Surasak Montree.

Parents need to submit their requests by Friday so the students can attend the orientation on Monday, office director Sayan Rungpasak said. If parents fail to file the request in time, the committee would find a school for the kids based on the "neartohome" principle, he said. So far, 45 parents have filed a request, he said, adding that he felt sorry for the parents and students, but the panel was following the regulations set by the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec).

Meanwhile, Education Minister Suchart Tadathamrongvej said that since Obec was reviewing student enrolment for the 2013 academic year, he has told the commission to base the recruitment according to the parents' wishes.

He said he understood that parents wanted their children to go to good schools, but there was not enough space for everybody. Hence, he said, these "famous and good schools" should expand, and for that the government needs to provide enough resources. Suchart said he had told Obec to find out which school was the most popular so it could be expanded.

Suchart also said that the government should not set a ratio of students meant for the academic and vocational streams because youngsters should be allowed choose what they want to study.

Suan Dusit Rajabhat University's former rector Sukhum Chaleysub said the schoolexpansion idea could be implemented in Bangkok right away through the codevelopment school project. For instance, the government could place codevelopment schools next to each other and use the same administrative team. It could also focus on improving mid and smallsized schools.

As 5,000 students who got into Bodindecha School made their way to class yesterday, school director Suwat Wiwattananont was presented with bouquets of flowers. He said he felt sorry, but was not disheartened because he had only followed the regulations.

Secondary Education Service Region 3 committee member Yossarin Talapnak yesterday also presented a basket of flowers to Suchart in a move to offer support over the Bodindecha School case. Yossarin said he would meet with the AntiMoney Laundering Office on Saturday to ask that monetary transactions a leading member of a national antigraft network and parents' network might have participated in be investigated. These networks had called on the National AntiCorruption Commission to launch an investigation into the directors of 20 famous schools.

Yossarin went on to say that the person in question is coowner of a company that finds foreign teachers, and this person had allegedly sent threatening letters to many schools insisting that they hire the company's foreign teachers or else the schools would be sued for taking tea money. He said that many of these schools were among the 20 in question.

In related news, the Office of Women's Affairs and Family Development director Somchai Charoenamnuaysuk warned parents that encouraging their children to join a hungry strike went against the Child Protection Act.

-- The Nation 2012-05-24

[Gillespie]

Hence, he said, these "famous and good schools" should expand.

Does this mean the utterly hopeless schools should contract, possibly to the point on non-existence? What proportion of Thai schools would this cover?

Also: is anybody else confused by all those flowers that Suwat's getting?

[Narratio]

A question. "...the famous and good schools should expand..." Given that that requires dilution of available quality resources like teachers & support services, would that turn them into famous and mediocre schools?

Also, these 20 "...famous and good schools..." appear to be the same ones that a rich dude who supplies foriegn teachers is threatening to sue for not taking his teachers. Thus publically smearing or besmirching thier reputations, for paying tea money for something or other. So those will, assuming they don't give in to the cooercion / blackmail, become infamous and yet good schools.

If they give in do they then become infamous and I assume, mediocre schools? My assumption being that his foriegn school teachers are inferior to those already being supplied to these famous and good schools of course.

Heck of a way to run an education system.

And yes, the flowers are confusing me to. Unless they're cover for envelopes containing tea money perhaps?

[theajarn]

Hey, who were the ones saying this might be politically motivated? I think they may have a case:

1.) Popular schools want more money

2.) Popular schools goad kids into protesting

3.) Government goes "Oh poor kids... they can't get into the good school coz they're all to capacity"

4.) Popular schools get more budget, excuse to expand

5.) Popular schools make more money.

6.) Kids get transferred to a crap school anyway.

I love Thai logic. I guess it'd be too much work to improve the quality of the not-so-popular schools... so instead the popular schools should expand. I can definitely see how that will give the poor folk a better chance of getting into these schools... because everyone knows that the new seats will go to these students from less fortunate families.

[theajarn]

PS. I'm not seeing the flower pic above. Instead they have a pic of PRATHOM students bawling their heads off... which is funny given it's supposedly a story about MATHAYOM students...

[BigJohnnyBKK]

The quality of the writing here is atrocious, actually difficult to figure out what is meant in many instances. And yes the photo has nothing to do with the content other than conveying "unhappy students".

He's getting flowers as a show of support from those parents whose kids were "lucky" enough to get in.

The use of private agencies for recruiting foreign teachers is another huge area ripe for corruption, too bad that setting up government-run programs as in Korea and Japan would only make the problem worse.

The only solutions to the fundamental problems require so many changes at so many levels it's obviously impossible.