would you send your child to thai schools

[romeijoe]

I have just finished scaning through a few comments on the subject, Interesting really. some say they are hopeless some are all for it.

In my personal experience its half and half really.

Im a ferang married to a thai lady, and we have a little 6 yr old girl ful thai, when we first started with her education we decided that she would go to a thai catholic private pre school, this lasted one yr and we put a stop to that real fast.

The reasons where not that she was being indoctranated with religion, or that she was unhappy or that it was costing too much money , it was only 20.000 a term.not a small amount but still not a huge amount for an education.

The main reason and the reason for the start of our conserns was the fact that the teacher was to say the least a very bad tempered lady, she was always disiplining the children beyong what the average thia child is used to.this in the end i witnessed for myself without her knowledge.

perhaps it had something to do with the fact she was in the end very pregnant.

Secondly there was a distinct lack off knowledge passed on to our child, (how much does a six year old need to learn ) to the point where we invested in after school education. in my opinion a waste of money for such a young age, and something best left for a few years, perhaps when the child is in need of it or if the child has a hunger for learning.

At six yrs of ages we try to install a little knowledge of english and a great knowledge of the written thai numbers letters and the other normal skills required of a small child, without her missing out on being a child. which she was when the private schooling was happening every day, kids need to play and be kids.

We changed to a public state school after the private school, since then the child has blossomed in many ways, she now goes to school with her friends from the local area, has a very nice woman teaching her a small class, and some how seems to be just that much happier than before.

The after school lectures has ceased,due to her being number 3 in her class, they will again start i would think when she attends high school.

I dont think private schools are for every kid when they are so young, but would very much like to see it at a later age when the learning is a must in order to advance beyong being a check out personn nothing wrong with being at such a job but we all hope for a better future for our kids dont we.

perhaps there is no cut and dry on the subject of public schools but a good one is just that and a bad one needs to be avoided at all cost.we will stay where we are until the child goes to high school, if things chnge so will we.

Edited December 3, 2013 by romeijoe

[kingstonkid]

romeijoe

Congratualions. Unfortunately i think you started with a school that had a couple of teachers with personal challenges.

There are some great teachers int eh government schools and i wil tell you that there are also some teachers that re just like the one you had. The challenge in the future for you if I may presume to give advice is to ensure that your daughter stays at the top of her classes. This makes sure that she stays in classes that have fellow students that want to learn. At her present level that is ot an issue but as she gets older they will start to separate those that have trouble learning and those that do not. The problem with that are that teachers teach differently to the students in each category.

All the best for you and her.

[Showbags]

If I was Thai and poor...yes I would.

[romeijoe]

well im neither thai nor poor. but happy for my child to be a child for a little longer the real work will begin soon enough im sure but for now as long as the grades are good she will remain here at home, and in the furure attend a private school in bangkok as her mother did. thanks for your coment

[BudRight]

Only if I hated them.

[ozyjon]

would you send your child to thai schools

'' NO"

[tingtongteesood]

No never. Thai schools are useless and produce classes full of idiots. I would rather home school. Drawback with that is the kid doesn't have friends and social skills, but at least they would have a proper education...Which is more important ?

[drx13]

My Sentiments......twice !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx8jpyM5Vsw

Edited December 4, 2013 by drx13

[harrry]

I am impressed with the care a Thai High school has shown to my neice who is finishing M6 this year. They have turned out a fairly good product who can live in the community well and has the groundings to start her further education. I have always been surprised at the range of activities the school has provided her including violin lessons (earplugs needed) trips to the seaside at minimal cost and a range of sporting activities.

Yes the class sizes are too large. The form of teaching is largely rote but this is changing.

All in all I am more pleased with this Thai public school than I was with my Daughter's Australian one.

Edited December 4, 2013 by harrry

[gohmer]

This is a bit of a broader answer than you might be looking for, but here is how I view the subject. First, my experience, I've been married to a Thai women for 6 years and I have two step-kids with her, 11yo and 13 yo, both go to gov't schools. We moved to the US recently and the kids will start school here next year. So, there's experience with kids in school in Thailand and, with my own kids here in America. Secondly, I worked in IT in Thailand as a Director in several software product development companies managing about 100 different Thai software engineers with educations ranging from BA to Ph.D. - almost all obtained from Thai universities. Thirdly, I've also managed software engineers from India, Vietnam, China, Philippines, Egypt, Lithuania, Mexico, Serbia, America, and England.

Now my opinion: Despite what you hear about how high Asian kids test and outrank their American and even European peers, the reality in what that means is far from what the testing indicates. There is a reason why very few things are invented in Asia and virtually nothing of significance has been invented in China for 900 years. I'm not being cynical, it is just a fact and, I'd be happy to have someone disprove this. There is a reason why this is true and it starts with the education systems in Asia and, Thailand is an exceptional example of this problem. There is little to no "critical thinking" taught. The reason Asian kids test so high is due to the regimented practicing and the repeat, repeat, memorize, memorize process they get indoctrinated to from their parents, school, and general society. NONE of the Asian software programmers from any of the countries I've worked with, nor the almost 100 Thai software programmers, have any education or training on how to figure out problems or deal with abstract concepts. This is what is needed to invent anything.

I have had to teach, train, mentor, re-socialize every Asian software programmer I've worked with, EXCEPT, those who were fortunate to be educated in America (I haven't worked with any educated in Europe so I can't claim anything on that point). I've had to start with the most basic of concepts required for invention, "ask questions", "challenge what you're told", etc. Concepts that are so foreign in Asian culture that it has been extremely difficult.

However, what they are great at is repeat, repeat, repeat. If you want software programmers to work just like assembly line factory workers, and, you give them perfect blueprints, instructions, or requirements documents, they are fantastic. Just hope they don't have to make a left or right choice in their code or design as they will be completely and utterly useless.

So, if you want you kid to be an assembly line worker, than I highly recommend any school, public or private, in any Asian country, but especially Thailand.

The main reason I moved back to the US was to get my step-kids out of Thai schools. What doesn't show up in the testing scores of American schools and students is the fact that America has a gigantic population (10s of millions) of students who do not speak English as a 1st language. This brings our scores way down and would insinuate that our schools are of poorer quality. The reality is that when you take that into account, American schools are extremely good at getting non-English speakers up and running as fast and test as well as they do. If you took out the test scores of the millions of these kids, our test scores would sky rocket and not appear to be inferior to Asian tests. On top of that, add the critical thinking processes in our schools, the degree of socializing our kids do, and that explains why so many things are invented here. I'm not trying to tout America, I just believe these are facts and there's been plenty of research on the subject.

Edited December 4, 2013 by Scott

[drx13]

I send a 4 yo, not mine to a Thai School, Pluses...not expensive, cheerful teachers, some trips.

Minuses..industrial hours, few holidays, bellowing noise from speakers.

[jimkim]

I took my girl she is 8 ,to school late just 10 mins my fault .she said dad they will punish me now . I spoke to a teacher said its my fault , you must not punish her and I went to my car looked back they were putting her in line for punishment . I shouted to my girl come get in drove off they looked at me like I was f........ Stuped. She told me that the teacher said farang not understand .they still do to children but not mine .pr . School

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Nobbie49]

No, absolutely not. I took my son out of his Thai school in the middle of year 2 after I noticed that the exit doors during class hours were padlocked apparently to stop kids from running away. Had there been a fire all would have been toast. May I take this opportunity and go a step further by saying that even schools like Shrewsbury, Harrow, St Andrews and many more who call themselves international schools are not really up to specs as they have a too high quota for Thais resulting in poor English language skills for them. Only Bangkok Patana has the proper quota. I believe 60 non-Thai/40 Thai. At inter-school completions I personally noticed that the Thai kids of these so called international schools spoke Thai amongst themselves whereas Thai children from Patana always conversed in English. Some of the Shrewsbury kids my son befriended also bitterly complained that the Thai kids were clicky and rarely mixed with the non-Thais. A result of their being in the majority I suppose. Sad really.

[brit1984]

every school is different, and there are even differences by class/ teacher, and what is best for one kid, may not be the best for another, and may even not be the best for that kid forever

our 3 year old daughter is at a private thai school in bangkok with a reputation for being very strict - for her, right now it makes sense, for other kids it might not work and she will almost certainly change schools later

i recommend to research the available schools and choose the one that best fits your kid (and their current learning needs)

[recycler]

We send our kids to an English program, bi-lingual Thai-English, school.

The main reason is that we want them to be able to opt for either Thai or European/Western following eduction and that we want them to be 100% in both Thai and English, my native language is not available so we do that at home.

The school offers both GCSE and IB that will give them connection to international further education.

If you opt for Thai schools there is almost no possibility to get them on universities abroad. Even if you want them on one of the better Thai universities you need to pick your school careful as only few schools manage to get them entering for example Chulalongkorn, Thammasat or some of the other few reasonable universities.

At this moment in time even the top Thai universities are not reaching the level of an average university in the western world, but you never know how this develops in the next decade or so with the austerity measures affecting education in many western countries. The average Thai university is high-school level at the most and by now they call even the car mechanic school a university here.

It's not cheap, about 100K per year and it also doesn't free you from problems. We had a hitting teacher also half a year ago, luckily our son could move to another group with a better teaching team. It was handled well by the foreign head of the department, the Thai management is not available when there is a problem as usual.

Edited December 4, 2013 by recycler

[yourauntbob]

Two words "Home School"

nuf said....

[MickeyKnox82]

romeijoe

Congratualions. Unfortunately i think you started with a school that had a couple of teachers with personal challenges.

There are some great teachers int eh government schools and i wil tell you that there are also some teachers that re just like the one you had. The challenge in the future for you if I may presume to give advice is to ensure that your daughter stays at the top of her classes. This makes sure that she stays in classes that have fellow students that want to learn. At her present level that is ot an issue but as she gets older they will start to separate those that have trouble learning and those that do not. The problem with that are that teachers teach differently to the students in each category.

All the best for you and her.

I agree with this comment.

I'm a teacher in a government school. And its what kingstonkid said, you need to watch in which class your daughter goes.

We have a Kings Class in each level from M3 till M6. Before they are all mixed up. After M3 the school decides in which class your daughter will go.

If it's the kings class, its the best what can happen. Usually only 30 students max. Usual class sizes in my school are 50 - 55.

But, I've worked in primary schools where you really F*** up your kids if you send them there!!!

I have a 3 years oldboy and he goes also to a pricy Private school. I see no other choice for me.

I still blame the education system. What do you really expect from teens, if they know they can't fail and the most parents only ask: Did you have FUN in school today????

Nothing will change in thai education system as long you can't fail. It's about losing face some teachers told me. So better keep them stupid all their life long, and get votes for the red party in future by paying some baht.

Asean is coming, and it will hit Thailand BADLY!

BTW, NO, I'm not an English teacher.

Edited December 4, 2013 by MickeyKnox82

[rfukata]

I had 2 of my own children attend private school (kindergarden) level in Thailand and I really didn't like it.

I was paying 26,000 baht per semester (english program) or 52,000 baht per kid; 104,000 annually for the two.

as you mentioned, too much time wasted on religion indoctrination and other Thainess type brainwash

teaching and not much of productive teaching in my opinion.

Also to add is this school was very inconsistent with their objectives and very poorly managed.

If you have the opportunity, send your kid abroad to study.

[Ghostnigel]

That's 4 words...haha

[falangadang]

Definitely Not.

We sent our kids to a Thai run nursery pre-school and that was awesome. Great teachers and staff. More like a family than a school and we are still friends with them now 2 years after leaving.

But regular Thai schools I would not because they are inept and the teachers inadequately trained and lacking emotional balance.

That said, we then sent them to a Thai run school with an English program that at first seemed great (and not cheap at all) but then we had some issues with our kids being mistreated and heard from other parents we knew that they had had similar issues,.. all concerning the Thai staff and teachers (not the farang ones).

We soon realized that this was nothing more than a "Thai school" with an English program but they retained many of the problematic issues and attitudes found in Thai schools. We spoke to the school directors about the issues and they basically exonerated themselves, their teachers and the school to save face and tried to placate us and infer that we were the problem (basically they lied their asses off to cover themselves).

Result,.. we pulled our kids out of that school and now we are running a home schooling program that is going GREAT. Yes it requires more hands on work and we are fortunate that neither of us need to work externally and are at home all the time.

Once we started to investigate Home Schooling and Unschooling (google that one) it really opened our eyes and became clear that schools are nothing but government indoctrination centers and places where job slaves (parents) send their kids to be housed whilst they have to work the 9-5 treadmill.

We take approx 2 hours a day to supervise our kids studies,... thats ALL you need. I teach them English and the Wife teaches Thai and they are all fluent in both languages. That,..and making every single daily event into a learning opportunity. With the aid of the Internet and so many excellent home study programs you can now do it all at home provided you dont have to do the 9-5 thing and need to send them to be accommodated and supervised during the day.

Western schools are bad enough (from the "institutionalization" perspective) but Thai schools are woeful and it easy to see why with all the reports of teachers hitting kids (happens at EVERY school), locking them inside classrooms, buzz cutting hair, shouting at them, calling them "stupid" and just all the general dysfunctionality and emphasis on conditioning Thai kids into becoming automated little "yes" people with a fear of authority and zero critical thinking skills!

[Malthus101]

Hell no!

[spermwhale]

No never. Thai schools are useless and produce classes full of idiots. I would rather home school. Drawback with that is the kid doesn't have friends and social skills, but at least they would have a proper education...Which is more important ?

Homeschool? Only if you have the skills and time to do that. Most people that homeschool have no business teaching their kids anything.

To the original POSTER: If I were you I'd bite the bullet and start forking out the 200,000 + a year (more like 300,000 these days) for a decent international school education. That's the stark reality if you want to live here and want your kid to grow up smart.

[drx13]

Two words "Home School"

nuf said....

Most home schoolers seem to be religious nutjobs

an exception, very exceptional Freeman Dyson

[falangadang]

No never. Thai schools are useless and produce classes full of idiots. I would rather home school. Drawback with that is the kid doesn't have friends and social skills, but at least they would have a proper education...Which is more important ?

Homeschool? Only if you have the skills and time to do that. Most people that homeschool have no business teaching their kids anything.

To the original POSTER: If I were you I'd bite the bullet and start forking out the 200,000 + a year (more like 300,000 these days) for a decent international school education. That's the stark reality if you want to live here and want your kid to grow up smart.

Most teachers and institutions have no business teaching kids anything either!

200,000bht PA won't buy you squat Jack,.. and even if you paid triple that you still wouldn't be assured of anything like an objective and non institutionalized "education" for your kids.

Parents are naturally gifted and the best candidates to raise, lead and educate their kids. Yes there are good and bad parents but we don't by default neuter such "bad" parents or take their kids away from them.

The problem is that people have become so accustomed and indoctrinated with the belief for the past 160 years that schooling is essential. Prior to that (the industrial revolution period) parents educated their children privately and within their own family networks until the industrialists turned parents en masse into automated work forces and set up "schools" to accommodate and prepare their children to become the next generation of mindless job slaves!

Its no wonder that parents have such major issues with their kids in teenage years as they have become strangers to them by spending less than a few hours each week in anything like real commicative relationship. Kids resent being palmed off at age 6 to 16 (or 18) and you can't blame them for feeling that way.

If the truth be told,.. people send their kids to school because they have no choice as they have to work 5 or 6 days a week. The teaching skills that you speak of which people lack are NOT really teaching skills at all. All parents need to do is to learn how to supervise their kids learning as kids are natural information and learning magnets. It's not hard,.... just a matter of focus, personal choice in taking the responsibility and then working a simple plan and system.

The real problem is that the majority of parents have more loyalty to their jobs, employers and government than they do to their own kids!

[falangadang]

Two words "Home School"

nuf said....

Most home schoolers seem to be religious nutjobs

an exception, very exceptional Freeman Dyson

Yes,.. there is a lot of that but that is changing rapidly especially as the Internet has become a push button resource for virtually any subject or field of study you could need.

The mainstream schooling and government systems have been playing the "religious nutjob" homeschooling card for ages now as they have serious issues about their instituionalized methods being exposed for the inadequacies that they are.

There's an even more rapidly growing focus on "unschooling" which you can look up and its quite enlightening. While you're at it take a look at an amazing Youtube (TED talk) presentation by 13 yr old Unschooling whizz kid Logan LaPlante (who isnt a religious parent nutjob kid) and that will give more perspective.

Home Schooling and/or Unschooling does take some focus and responsibility and I acknowledge that not everyone has the job freedom to do this but it is amazing what you can do when you revisit your priorities in life and realize what the usual default traditional options are and what they lead to.

[lostinsurin]

I think it is a question of age, with young children you don't need to spend lots on education as long as they have a teacher that cares.

I have worked in both primary and secondary government schools and the EP program in the primary produced some very intelligent children.

The SME classes in the secondary school was also fine, with not so large classes.

Edited December 4, 2013 by lostinsurin

[cooked]

No never. Thai schools are useless and produce classes full of idiots. I would rather home school. Drawback with that is the kid doesn't have friends and social skills, but at least they would have a proper education...Which is more important ?

We always get this kind of comment when Home Schooling is discussed (Quite often from school teachers). I went through a state education system and came out completely antisocialand more or less friendless. Home schooled kids only need about two hours schooling a day plus maybe an hour of self study. They then have time to go out and visit and socialise with people that aren't at school, tradesmen, extended family etc, as well as being taken to the market or wherever by their parents. Google 'home schooling + antisocial, you will see that many studies have been made.

My family refused to let me home school the little girl in our midst, now they are complaining about the ฿20 000.- a year for private school fees (crap school in my opinion) and I am complaining about the 2½ hours a day plus ฿4000.- for petrol every month.

When the family gets together for Christmas I will be putting my foot down about this.

[orpheus454]

Yes.

I would and I do, and I'm most impressed.

Like you, if things change I will reassess.

[khunPer]

The public school standard may depend on where in Thailand you live/stay. I’ve seen village schools that would definitely not be an option (if I stayed in an Isaan village) and I’ve seen public schools that might be a possibility (where I stay).

My daughter (half Thai, but only Thai national) went about one year to a Thai kindergarten, more like kind of nursery, I think we paid 4k a month. Very kind “teachers” and lots of funny activities plus some little bit learning of numbers, Thai and Roman characters as preparation for school. We never opted for a Thai public school, as long as we can afford to choose a better private – however International based on mainly British standard were neither an option, as we plan our future in Thailand – so we found a good local Thai school with English programme. About Half the teachers is native English speaking. Three levels of preschool (kindergarten classes) and now in primary 2. We have been very satisfied with the school and only hear the same from other foreign or mixed-couple parents – I think there is a Thai-Thai majority about 2:1. The cost is 60k/term (120k/year) plus little extra for uniforms, some books and this-and-that, perhaps some 10k/year (school-bus is an option we don’t need to use, that will be extra cost as well). Compared with other kids attending the local public schools, I feel we got good value for the money.

I think that the first years in school, including preschool, were the kids easily adapt and learn, are very important. I do not know what our possibilities will be for middle and high, depends of there is a local or fairly close private school available, the quality and the price, but it seems like were we live the public schools for that levels are fairly okay, so that might be an option – may also depends of how our kid develops and if we can get any real impression of her own future interests. Time may change my view, also about International school.

So my answer to OP will be: With a six-year-old beginning in primary, I would definitely choose among the best available schools, even it may cost around 100k (or more) a year, as the first years learning may well be the most important.

[Showbags]

every school is different, and there are even differences by class/ teacher, and what is best for one kid, may not be the best for another, and may even not be the best for that kid forever

our 3 year old daughter is at a private thai school in bangkok with a reputation for being very strict - for her, right now it makes sense, for other kids it might not work and she will almost certainly change schools later

i recommend to research the available schools and choose the one that best fits your kid (and their current learning needs)

Very strict...with a grand reputation gained for such.....and 3yo, you must be proud.

I have some handcuffs, whips and chains for sale cheap if you would like them...