Our Kids' I Q Is Down? It's The Education, Stupid!: Thai Talk

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THAI TALK

Our kids' IQ is down? It's the education, stupid!

Suthichai Yoon

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thai kids' IQ and EQ haven't improved in the past 10 years. Our children aged six to 15 are lagging far behind their counterparts in Singapore and Malaysia. Bhutan, which is economically behind Thailand, has placed more emphasis on improving its children's IQ than we have.

Those are some of the disturbing findings of a recent study cited by the Senate's Health Subcommittee. Its chairman, Surin Senator Dr Anant Ariyachaiyanich, said that, if the trend continues, today's children won't grow up to be intellectually and emotionally competent enough to compete with others on the regional, not to mention international, stage.

The study, conducted by the Health Ministry's Mental Health Department, found children in 20 provinces averaged an IQ of 100 or above, but in 38 other provinces the average fell below the 100 threshold.

The initial conclusion is that the factor contributing to lower IQ is diet. The survey found that children fed with their mother's milk for six months had higher IQs than those breastfed for only three months. Other factors include consumption of iodine and iron.

What was left without so much of a mention was the effect of social environment and parents' core values. Most important, perhaps, is the hopeless state of the country's education system.

The diet issue can be resolved with a clear-cut policy on nutrition, with budget allocations based on scientific studies. Populist policies have diverted considerable amounts of money to various grass-roots political organs. Now is the time to feed our children to make sure they grow up as healthy citizens.

But the real challenge lies in revamping the country's education system so that the IQ and EQ ratings of our next generation of citizens become much more competitive than is the case now.

The past 10 years have seen great improvement in our dietary provisions. If, therefore, studies find that Thai kids' IQ and EQ scores have failed to rise with the passage of time, diet certainly isn't the main issue anymore. Education is the weakest link here.

No government in the past few decades has managed to lift the country's education standards in a meaningful way, despite fervent election pledges. Most of the budget for this ministry has gone toward administration costs and wages, leaving little for real improvement of standards of teachers in all fields.

A large number of teachers are either unqualified or heavily in debt. The teaching profession, once held in great esteem, has eroded to the point that teachers no longer command the kind of respect previously shown by students and parents alike.

What's worse, politicians have exploited the limited budget allocations for the country's educational activities for their own ends. Good, qualified bureaucrats are sidelined, while those ready to serve their political bosses take charge of the most important roles in the education system.

As a result, students don't get the kind of quality schooling that makes them inquisitive, imaginative and ethical. When teachers discourage our kids from asking questions, young minds aren't developed to boost the kind of IQ that is required in today's world. Science and mathematics have fallen by the wayside, and a good command of foreign languages has become the exception rather than the rule.

When IQ falls, it is inevitable that our children's EQ also suffers. Several surveys have found that a rising number of young people say they would "accept" corruption in higher places if they stood to benefit personally. In other words, the ethical standards of the new generation have fallen to an alarmingly low level.

The ultimate paradox is that the Senate committee - having expressed deep concern about the declining IQ and EQ scores - says its solution is to submit these findings to the full Senate and then to the Cabinet - for solutions.

My suspicion is that the higher up we go in this country, the lower the level of IQ and EQ we find. The failure of our education standards began decades ago. And that malaise begins at the top.

-- The Nation 2012-10-18

[Thai at Heart]

The funny thing about this article, is he is insinuating that 40 years ago, things were oh, so much better.

[MaxLee]

There are three main things that make students appear more stupid than they really are:

1. Exams

2. Status

3. Face

If the money hungry stubborn Elite parenthood and education ministries would focus on changing this culture first, we would encourage students to think outside if the box more instead of keeping them in the box.

[tonytigerbkk]

As a parent with children in Thai schools, I have (strong) views on this matter.

These are my personal views and not necessarily correct.

I know many teachers on the board will say that they work hard in their jobs and that their teaching methods and dedication to their job is mainly for the sake of the children's education but I am not expressing my views on the teachers but rather the system which the teachers have to follow.

If you agree with my thoughts, thank you.

If you do not agree and my remarks make your blood boil, please re-read the second sentence in this post.

The problem as I see it is not the subjects or level of education that Thai children are supposed to learn, it is that they do not have time to be taught.

As soon as my kids are back in school they are preparing for their mid term exams.

After the mid term exams they then start preparing and revising for the end of term exams.

From what I see, all children from Prathom upwards take four exams each year (in some cases more).

I understand that a child's progress should be monitored but not at the expense of their education.

Besides which, these tests do not actually serve a purpose.

If the test results were used to show the schools/teachers the students week points so that they could be worked on (improved) then they would have served their purpose.

However, when the tests are used just to show to the Ministry of Education that the school is doing their job (even though the results are altered/tweaked in the schools favour), then the system fails.

If the schools have to close during term time due to floods, Swine Flu, riots in the area of the school, etc. then the children do not have enough time to even practice (parrot fashion) for the tests.

Let's face facts here, school trips, scouts/guides, dancing practice, cheer leading practice and many other important activities are far more urgent than an education.

If the teachers do not have time to teach the subjects then they set the lesson as homework and it is up to the parents to teach the children at home.

From my schooling years I was under the impression that homework is a tool to instil a previously taught lesson.

The problem with expecting the parents to teach the children is that if the child's parents are illiterate then the child will stand very little to no chance of getting an education.

Never mind, the promise of a computer tablet will be the answer to all of the problems.

Regards,

Tiger.

Edited October 18, 2012 by tonytigerbkk

[cloudhopper]

The funny thing about this article, is he is insinuating that 40 years ago, things were oh, so much better.

Yeah all those older adults on every corner who can speak a second language....

"today's children won't grow up to be intellectually and emotionally competent enough to compete with others on the regional, not to mention international, stage."

The people running the country today certainly haven't, if Plodprasob is the apex of intellectual achievement here.

[MaxLee]

Guess what the education ministry's answer to this problem is:

More examinations, more OBEC, more pre-pre-pre-entrance exams in order to get accepted for the pre-pre-university entrance exam called F.A.C.E or whatever, in order to get accepted for the pre-OBEC Exam in order to get accepted for the OBEC EXAM, than another entrance exam called "WHATSOEVER-SUPER-OBEC-University entrance exam, more and more and more and more and more and more EXAMS …

… which serves only one purpose to exploit more money out of the poor nations desperate families in the forms of "SO CALLED EDUCATIONAL FEES PLUS INTEREST" in order to fill the stomachs of the Thai educational ministry people who created that problem in the first place.

NO CHILD ON EARTH IS STUPID, but the educational institute is trying to instill examination in order to demonstrate intelligence!!!!!

To hell with academics!!!!

[whistleblower]

Stop letting your kids go to the internet shop after school to play stupid games.

stop the 'rote' learning system.

Stop teaching the same way you did 70 years ago.

Stop believing that Thailand is the best country in Asia.

then and only then MIGHT you have a chance to improve.

[gkinbkk]

Stop believing that Thailand is the best country in Asia.

Indeed.

[MaxLee]

Stop believing that Thailand is the best country in Asia.

Indeed.

More importantly STOP CORRUPTION, STUBBORN PROPAGANDA AND LYING AT THE COST OF SAVING FACE

[Mosha]

Teacher setting tests, homework with multichoice questions where all the answers were correct. She had the power to decide the correct right answer

[geovalin]

Imagine the Stations of the Cross of a smart kid in a Thai school.

[fareastguy]

A systematic erosion at all levels for too many years has now come back to haunt the country.

Positions of power have been given to friends & those who can buy them, not awarded to those who can actually do the job.

As I have said before children learn in 3 main ways:

1) From education

2) From peers

3) From example

Unfortunately today's children are let down on all points.

The education system has been eroded to a point it is ineffective to teach the children the knowledge it needs for today's changing societies.

Peers or parents are to busy earning their Bt300 a day pittance to help their children who are now "latch door kids"

Examples from politicians or elders are that it's not what you know it's who you know that will get you ahead in life, so who needs an education !!

[arthurboy]

It's the school holidays, so, as usual this morning, when the sky train stopped at Phaya Thai, scores of young people got off to attend the multistorey cram school located nearby.

It very likely that most of these childrens' parents are already paying for them to go to a private school with some kind of bilingual programme. These are not cheap.

The reason the children attend these schools is to get superior grade scores to increase their chances of eventual entry to a so-called prestigious university.

Why do parents pay for extra tuition if they are already paying for a supposedly superior education elsewhere?

The whole state of Thai education is rotton through and through and from top to bottom.

[asiawatcher]

And herein lies a lot of the answers...

"... What's worse, politicians have exploited the limited budget allocations for the country's educational activities for their own ends. Good, qualified bureaucrats are sidelined, while those ready to serve their political bosses take charge of the most important roles in the education system."

The claim Thailand 'enjoys' over 93% literacy is also a joke. More deliberate misinformation from Ministry to Media to make the people 'think' they are smart. Sad, very sad...

[spirit47]

Since a few months, I give basic english lessons, to a small group of children. They are aged between 8 and 16, and only one can speak English a little bit. I don't know, what they doing in the school, but they not stupid. But the most have problems to concentrate, the girls are better then the boys.

That there is no money, for more teacher and there education too, is here terrible, the corruption in all areas is worse.

So, I must say, that the Administration, what colour ever, is not interested to change this. The people match perfect with the system.

And I miss curiosity by the children, but I think, it is the worldwide culture of hard core capitalism. No ideals, no culture, no lifestyle, only money, sad generation.

[AleG]

The initial conclusion is that the factor contributing to lower IQ is diet. The survey found that children fed with their mother's milk for six months had higher IQs than those breastfed for only three months. Other factors include consumption of iodine and iron.

Ah yes, the diet excuse.

Perhaps the children breast fed for 6 months have a higher IQ because their parents, or at least the mother, have more time to spend with them, thus developing a stronger "EQ" on the child.

Reminds me of a conversation a friend overheard, on the taxi the driver was on the phone talking with his wife, he was upset their child failed some exam, he didn't understand how because they had been giving the kid that chicken extract drink that promotes itself as a genius elixir.

The development of intelligence requires an intellectually stimulating environment for the children, starting from their birth. No amount of chicken soup is going to compensate for that.

[MaxLee]

By all the money that is invested in improving the Education system, the education ministries of Thailand overlook one main thing and that thing is called: social behavior and respect towards different cultures

Nowadays a lot of kids have such a poor behavior and an uninterested short attention span, it is really frustrating for the teachers.

It is exactly material possessions like iPhones, cars, and all the other shining goods that decrease the moral behavior of Thai kids and people with the intention: the richer they get the LESS effort they want to put into the good of society, isolating themselves from the outside world.

IMHO Behavior should come first instead of investing into useless policies like tablets…

[Jane Doe]

'A large number of teachers are either unqualified or heavily in debt.'

I agree to the fact that a large number of teachers has inadequate qualification. The others (that would be the qualified ones, right?) are heavily in dept. Doesn't make sense.

Question: How do you call a Thai with an IQ of 70?

Answer: Professor...

As long as teachers and professors in Thailand get very low salaries, many good students will take the chance to work abroad or get a well-paid job in the industry. Seems that the ones who can not find a good job will become teachers and provide even less knowledge to the next generation.

[sirchai]

"A large number of teachers are either unqualified or heavily in debt. The teaching profession, once held in great esteem, has eroded to the point that teachers no longer command the kind of respect previously shown by students and parents alike."

"But the real challenge lies in revamping the country's education system so that the IQ and EQ ratings of our next generation of citizens become much more competitive than is the case now."

"The past 10 years have seen great improvement in our dietary provisions. If, therefore, studies find that Thai kids' IQ and EQ scores have failed to rise with the passage of time, diet certainly isn't the main issue anymore. Education is the weakest link here."

Amen.......

[tangcoral]

Maybe someone could chime in on my thoughts.

I believe the blame may also lie culturally.

In the US we have a fairly decent public school (compared to thai) yet we have Hispanic kids that are literally should be dropped a grade or two below.

While we have the asian kids that should be placed a grade or two above their current grade level. Obviously there is more emphasis on the asian community than hispanic to excel academically.

Do we have they same thing going on here albeit the poor education. Would ramping up the education really make a big dent in term of personal intellect or society needs to be informed the importance of education?

Obviously there is some generalization to this but most would get my point.

Edited October 18, 2012 by tangcoral

[MaxLee]

The problem is that in Thailand a testscore is propaganda-telling kids and parents "how intelligent or how stupid they are", so in other words, a child's or students' intelligence is based on a pure "testscore";

If the testscore is good, you are considered intelligent, and if the testscore is bad you are regarded as "stupid"

The bottomline of this Thai educational fiasco is that the questions that are mainly multiple choice have the most insolent questions that don't have any relevance on a child's emotional intelligence and relevance on what the job market is looking for.

[canuckamuck]

The system is fine tuned to near perfection. Very few middle class families will have a shot at real power and riches. And that is good news to the elite, whose children get international educations.

And the middle and lower classes remain excellent little robots to feed the machine.

The last thing they need is someone to encourage independent and critical thinking. There would be rebellion within the decade.

[Thai at Heart]

The initial conclusion is that the factor contributing to lower IQ is diet. The survey found that children fed with their mother's milk for six months had higher IQs than those breastfed for only three months. Other factors include consumption of iodine and iron.

Ah yes, the diet excuse.

Perhaps the children breast fed for 6 months have a higher IQ because their parents, or at least the mother, have more time to spend with them, thus developing a stronger "EQ" on the child.

Reminds me of a conversation a friend overheard, on the taxi the driver was on the phone talking with his wife, he was upset their child failed some exam, he didn't understand how because they had been giving the kid that chicken extract drink that promotes itself as a genius elixir.

The development of intelligence requires an intellectually stimulating environment for the children, starting from their birth. No amount of chicken soup is going to compensate for that.

Indeed, chicken extract. About as useful as the bomb detectors.

To be perfectly frank, if the adults believe genuinely that the kids of today are "stupider" then they are, the adults need their heads read. We just saw that there is only one Thai university rated in the top 400 in the world, but can you imagine how much more knowledge a fresh university graduate in Thailand has than his boss who graduated 30 years ago? How good were Thai schools and unis 30 years ago?

As for doing basic testing of IQ, it is a very narrow test, and largely means nothing. I think I did one when I was 12 and can't even remember the score.

[MaxLee]

It's not like that kids are stupid, it's because education makes them think they are stupid just because of some irrevelant "letters called A,B,C,D and F" which are disguised as "testscores"

[lizardtongue]

How many 'elite' Thai's are educated in Thailand? Certainly most if not all of the past 10 PM's have been educated outside Thailand, Thai's with money will almost definitely have their privileged children educated outside Thailand.

That in it's self say's it all!

The first thing they have to consider doing is (forget about the losing face thing) recruit qualified teaching staff from abroad, even if it means having a dedicated translator to give lessons.

Basic mental math is nonexistent as is basic geography, if there are concerns over dietary issues simply Google Jamie Oliver who has in some London boroughs revolutionized school meals.

[backtonormal]

The system is fine tuned to near perfection. Very few middle class families will have a shot at real power and riches. And that is good news to the elite, whose children get international educations.

And the middle and lower classes remain excellent little robots to feed the machine.

The last thing they need is someone to encourage independent and critical thinking. There would be rebellion within the decade.

A system which perpetrates the fabricated myth of 'Thainess''. A myth promoted to keep the great unwashed at a level acceptable to the elite. Thainess is the culture. Thainess is a word used 3 times in the opening paragraph of the Education Ministrys curriculum manual to express its importance. Its being going on for decades.

''Farngs are so clever'' you hear the locals but they dont realise we came out of the same box and they would excel given the opportunity to be educated in our system. In the Thai curriculum kindergarden kids are only allowed to learn up to the number 5 in their first year when some Thai children of that age can count to 999 with relative ease. The people working in the system believe that what they are doing is correct because they have been in the system since 4 years old themselves. Worse than being in the system for a lifetime is the culture that stops you questioning your superiors... for those not sure that is called 'their culture'' or 'thianess''.

At an age of 4-5 a western student will have a timetable that will undoubtedly include literacy, numeracy and science taking up 75% of their school time. Have you ever wondered why Thai people are great designers, can copy anything, every other boy has a guitar. I believe that while western kids will receive study that requires creative thinking most of their time is dedicated to academic studies. On the other hand young children here are developing the creative side of their brain at the expense of the logical side of their brain. It is not a coincedence it is designed that way so kids dont develop critical thinking. If the education doesn't get you the culture will. Its Dickensian and thats kind.

A system designed for the middle classes who can afford to send their children thru Uni to receive a worthless peice of paper that ensures an assistant managers job at a 7/11. The real money send theír offspring abroad and the poor cant afford it so 'get your arse back in that field' A perfect example of 'thainess'', everything stays the same and will do until schools put the emphasis on development and not culture. There is obviously poor kids who are very talented so lets employ aptitude tests to the workplace as a slipnet for the talented poor. God forbid aptitude tests would destroy the whole fabric of the country and show how worthless your university degree is. No more will the mention of your hi so school, on your cv, be a door opener, to a job.

Everybody has an opinion this is just mine

[Sing_Sling]

It's not like that kids are stupid, it's because education makes them think they are stupid just because of some irrevelant "letters called A,B,C,D and F" which are disguised as "testscores"

You would suggest . . . what . . . to determine whether a child has gained knowledge?

My youngest one is in her last year of Montessori before going to Int'l school and her report card has gradings of understanding and achievement - what is wrong with that?

My eldest is in an Int'l school and has two years to go before entering Uni and is graded - this is an indicator of what she qualifies to study for in the tertiary world.

My MBA was pass or fail

My wife's PhD is pass or fail

At work we are graded according to our performance

I can't really see an alternative - do you know of one?

Edited October 18, 2012 by Sing_Sling

[backtonormal]

How many 'elite' Thai's are educated in Thailand? Certainly most if not all of the past 10 PM's have been educated outside Thailand, Thai's with money will almost definitely have their privileged children educated outside Thailand.

That in it's self say's it all!

The first thing they have to consider doing is (forget about the losing face thing) recruit qualified teaching staff from abroad, even if it means having a dedicated translator to give lessons.

Basic mental math is nonexistent as is basic geography, if there are concerns over dietary issues simply Google Jamie Oliver who has in some London boroughs revolutionized school meals.

The system is designed that way. An ability with numbers is essential for everyday life and we dont teach geography because other countries dont exist. A designed inward looking nation. You forgot history. Ask kids about Thailands inglorious World War 2 history. When the amart allowed The Japs to walk thru Thailand rape and pillaging the poor, to build a railway, as long as they did not touch the wealth of the rich. Not one inch of our soil will we surrender to the foreigner (rough translation) .... but they did 70 years ago. The same amart, more a less that runs the country today

Edited October 18, 2012 by backtonormal

[oldsalt]

UNICEF does a global survey every five years on child intelligence and Thai kids have been falling in IQ levels for the past three of those surveys. Thaksin announced after the 2005 survey results that he was going to increase the IQ of Thai kids by "10 per cent." Yeah. Thai figures from various surveys show that 25 per cent of kids actually come in below the WHO standard of 90 to 110. Iodine deficiency is seen as a key contributor and there is no debate on the poor quality of education - was it last year's survey, (or perhaps the year before) where the majority of Thai science and maths teachers failed an exam in their own subjects! I have a teacher friend who has taught in many south east Asian countries and taught at ABAC in Bangkok for many years. He seemed well positioned to sum it up after teaching students from neighbouring countries. "Thais kids just aren't as interested." In other words - education and learning is "mai sanook."

[marstons]

Stop believing that Thailand is the best country in Asia.

Indeed.

I was under the impressioin they thought Thailand was best in the world, far superior to stupid farangs certainly.