Exam Scandal Exacerbates An Ongoing Problem: Thai Editorial

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EDITORIAL
Exam scandal exacerbates an ongoing problem
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The quality of education in this country cannot improve until teachers' working conditions and teaching standards are upgraded.

While nearly every quarter of Thai society preaches the necessity of educational reform, the recent scandal at the Education Ministry over alleged fraud in the examinations for assistant teachers shows that students will continue to struggle with low-quality teaching.

The investigation into this case must be pursued to the end to prevent fraud from happening again. The quality of teaching is at stake here because the assistant teachers play an important role in the quality of the learning experience in the classroom.

The alleged fraud in the examination papers is a serious allegation indeed. First of all, the quality of teachers and assistant teachers is the most important factor in transferring knowledge to students. Second, such a breach of ethics must not be allowed at educational institutions, which are supposed to be exemplary models for our young people.

The Education Ministry recently passed the allegations of fraud involving the examination papers for assistant teachers to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) for it to pursue an investigation. The move came after it was found that several hundred candidates had passed the examination for the position of assistant teacher with unusually high scores. It was alleged that some of the candidates had paid Bt300,000 each to gain access to the examination papers before the examination. As a result, the examination results in some provinces have been declared invalid.

It is alleged that officials at both the central and regional levels, including some inside the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), were involved in the "relocation" of the examination papers. It is alleged that high-level bureaucrats at the ministry were involved and the fraud was systematically carried out.

Normally, assistant teachers have a better chance of becoming a teacher after a few years' service.

Now that the case has been revealed to the public, the investigation must be carried out without bias. The culprits must be brought to light and the malpractice must be exposed because the quality of our children's education is at stake.

The government has concentrated its attention on populist schemes to ensure continued support from its political base, and this includes the scheme to provide free computer tablets to schoolchildren. The government seems to forget that teachers are the most important factor in improving the learning experience of children.

Apart from the alleged fraud, the Education Ministry is already facing the challenge of how to ensure that the teachers' examination can help in attracting talented people to the teaching profession. The current recruitment process for teachers in public schools is quite rigid, and the hierarchy in schools does not encourage outside professionals or volunteers to take the opportunity to interact with students.

But this has to change if we are to adequately prepare our children to become the citizens of the future.

Effective educational reform will not happen if the authorities fail to make a determined and sincere effort to tackle the fundamental issues of the general poor quality of teachers and a substandard curriculum that does not encourage independent study and analytical thinking.

The Education Ministry's budget has been doubled in the past decade and the salary of public-school teachers with a bachelor's degree has risen from Bt15,000 in 2001 to Bt24,000-Bt25,000 in 2010, yet students' test results are not improving. This is partly because of a recruitment process, and working conditions, that discourages the best people from taking up teaching.

The rise in salary for teachers has made some ill-intentioned officials and candidates hope to profit by cheating on the examination papers.


-- The Nation 2013-03-22

[lemoncake]

i am sorry, but teachers here while not the highest paid are one of the most respected with a number of perks, including teaching assistants.

however being a teacher one also has to know little about the subject and also have the love for teaching.

I do not think higher salary will change a number of Thai English teachers who can not speak English.

Not do i believe paying more will change computers teacher to know how to install an anti-virus

[Markaew]

"BANGKOK: -- The quality of education in this country cannot improve until teachers' working conditions and teaching standards are upgraded."

Dream on. Thais like it the way it is. If the government isn't careful they will get voted out for disturbing the status quo.

[BrianCR]

i am sorry, but teachers here while not the highest paid are one of the most respected with a number of perks, including teaching assistants.

however being a teacher one also has to know little about the subject and also have the love for teaching.

I do not think higher salary will change a number of Thai English teachers who can not speak English.

Not do i believe paying more will change computers teacher to know how to install an anti-virus

Or, Western teachers fraudulent use of documents and lack of teaching qualifications?

[Langsuan Man]

Nothing can be done in the country so long as the rule of law has been replaced by rule of the baht

[lemoncake]

i am sorry, but teachers here while not the highest paid are one of the most respected with a number of perks, including teaching assistants.

however being a teacher one also has to know little about the subject and also have the love for teaching.

I do not think higher salary will change a number of Thai English teachers who can not speak English.

Not do i believe paying more will change computers teacher to know how to install an anti-virus

Or, Western teachers fraudulent use of documents and lack of teaching qualifications?

What does that have to do with OP?

[scorecard]

"BANGKOK: -- The quality of education in this country cannot improve until teachers' working conditions and teaching standards are upgraded."

Dream on. Thais like it the way it is. If the government isn't careful they will get voted out for disturbing the status quo.

And still no mention of reducing classroom numbers.

[Thai at Heart]

So being corrupt as a teacher is worse than being generally corrupt.

How stupid is that for a concept

What is the difference between allowing a resort to be built in a national park, or taking a backhander for the construction for a road which falls apart after 6 months, diddling on your government granted meds, or any other of the daily crap we read about in the paper.

its all corruption, so supposedly holding teachers to be some kind of super human beings who can resist this temptation is a lovely buddhist delusion. Until they start locking up some people for this stuff, it is going to keep on going and going and going. I await a couple of inactive posts for a few people and that is it.

Edited March 22, 2013 by Thai at Heart

[Mampara]

At the present moment there is only one man serving in the government that has the profile, the dream, and the ability to rectify this situation and stamp out the corruption in the educational system. unfortunately this man has the huge task of trying to keep the country's head above water at the moment. but he is the right man for this task.

[Chang_paarp]

So there were some people who got a hold of the exam this year, what about the last few years, and so on.....?

Why would they notice a group of people getting unusually high scores this year?

[Pimay1]

So there were some people who got a hold of the exam this year, what about the last few years, and so on.....?

Why would they notice a group of people getting unusually high scores this year?

My guess is the right people were not paid off to ignore the results.

[Thai at Heart]

The fact that there is a nationwide examination to be sat, shows that the whole thing is actually set up to facilitate corruption.

But why do they need the test anyway? Because people buy their qualifications in the first place, so it is just another layer of corruption on top of corruption. Why isn't it enough to mandate that people must have achieved a level of grades in their academic qualifications to be eligibile for the job? If it is so massively oversubscribed, why don't they just raise the entry requirments to take only the very best? Surely it would be best to interview sort through the CV's of all the applicants first, and then hold the examination if required in a facility somewhere in the country.

By having an enormous nationwide test, it is just opening the whole thing up to monstrous corruption on a local level.

[mancub]

If it's acceptable to bribe your way into and up the ranks of the nation's police force, why not teaching ?

Would be more disconcerting if it was about medical students !

[belg]

it is all about econimics, right ...

so little somchai, what do you want to do/be when ur adult ?

for 300.000 , i'll buy a teacher assistent job

or i might go for 1.000.000 to be a policeman

[quandow]

I know someone who just got picked up as a teacher. Part of the training was how to "fix" final exam papers so that a student will receive a passing grade no matter how badly they test. Basically, erase wrong answers and put in right answers.

[opouri]

It would be good to if teacher were employed on academic ability not how much they are prepared to pay

[backtonormal]

Its not as if any Thai people read this forum for suggestions. They know how the system works and have no interest in changing it. I can see PTP wanting to split up this little quorum of the teaching fraternity as plenty of them, working and retired, believe they have to protect the flag and the monarchy so turn out at anti Thaksin rallys.

I remember , just before the coup, Thaksin wanting to grade teachers individually and link to payment. Divide and conquer. There as been many education stories just recently...maybe a sign of the PTP direction

[Thai at Heart]

Its not as if any Thai people read this forum for suggestions. They know how the system works and have no interest in changing it. I can see PTP wanting to split up this little quorum of the teaching fraternity as plenty of them, working and retired, believe they have to protect the flag and the monarchy so turn out at anti Thaksin rallys.

I remember , just before the coup, Thaksin wanting to grade teachers individually and link to payment. Divide and conquer. There as been many education stories just recently...maybe a sign of the PTP direction

You think that the Thai people think it works? Do you have kids of schooling age?