Wichai School And Turkish Lessons

[Rancid]

I had my kids in Wichai for a while and thought it was pretty good. Then the whole admin changed to Turkish control and lots of Turkish teachers started arriving and replacing the westerners in all but English lessons. My kids complained they found their accented English hard to understand (might as well use Thais teaching if accented), but the final insult was that all Matayom pupils have to learn the Turkish language. As such I moved them out after Pratom as for the life of me I cannot understand why anyone in Thailand would want to waste their time learning Turkish when the time (and money for texts etc) could be better used to learn something that is actually of some use.

Not sure how other parents feel, is it just me, or is speaking Turkish important for the future of these children? I only brought this up as heard from another student there that the Thai teachers are also having to learn Turkish which I thought was pretty bizarre.

[mamborobert]

Wichai has bee under Turkish management for several years, basically since inception at current site. Land was owned by the Al Jamal Foundation. The foundations initial contract to establish a school was with Marmara Education (a Turkish education provider). I know they have had lots of Turkish staff in the past (when initially setting up for sure. Maybe as the economy is going a bit South in Europe some teachers have come here rather than Western Europe as countries become a bit closed shop.

Also, whilst the school is non denominational (and certainly most students are Thai Buddhist) perhaps they see a growing market in the Islamic studies and curriculum area in which case perhaps they are leaning towards teachers that can model certain behaviours. Having said that they advertised internationally for a Maths teacher late last month and there was no mention or religion/ethnicity being a consideration.

I know they started some Turkish language classes in mid October for some students but did not think it was that widespread and they offer it as an after hours thing (like football/music). They have alwasy had a lot of involvement in Turkish cultural events (visits by Ambassador, Turkish expos, Turkish school competitions)

Seems odd to have a mandatory language (Turkish) when English is going to be requirement for Asean trade, and time learning Turkish would take away from other learning and I would agree pointless sending a child there if that is the case. Perhaps take this up with the school/education authorities. I would imagine you would not be the only parent with concerns if your understanding is correct,

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yup, it's been Turkish from the get-go, even before they renamed it to Wichai. (Fatih High School, anyone? One for the 'I remember when' topic; that's what it was called then.)

[Mapguy]

Turkish? Really? Why?!

[OldeBellPedr]

Turkish is not quite the 'waste of time' mentioned above. Some 200 million people in a range of countries speak Turkic languages and, for example it could be useful if you wanted to get a job in the oil fields of Azerbaijan or North Eastern Siberia. When I visited Turkey, I found it a relatively easy language to pick the gist out of, especially as it uses the Roman script. Having said that, i wouldn't want it to be taught instead of English or Chinese, but as an additional language, don't write it off!

Teshekur Ederim. Sherefay! ( 'thank you very much' and 'cheers' in Turkish!!!!)

[hellodolly]

Google it - interesting stuff...

http://hizmetmovement.blogspot.com/2012/08/turkish-schools-in-thailand-visit.html

http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/every-continent-but-antarctica.html

http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh4EwqRYTpE