Finding a High School - Tricky

[MrBrad]

2) Quite simply the High Schools here in Australia are a year or two behind Thailand academically.

??????????????????????????? What school did you send her to in Australia?????

This is far from true according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 which ranks Australian high schools 23rd best out of 148 countries. Thailand ranks #78. For comparison, Switzerland is #1, Finland #2, and Singapore is #3. Germany is #14, USA is #25, and UK is #26.

As for the ASEAN region:

• Singapore - 3rd
• Malaysia - 19th
• Brunei - 32nd
• Indonesia - 36th
• Philippines - 40th
• Laos - 57th
• Cambodia - 76th
• Thailand - 78th
• Vietnam - 95th
• Burma - 125th

The link is http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-competitiveness-report-2013-2014 Click onto Download Full Report, and then go to page 462.

[trogers]

2) Quite simply the High Schools here in Australia are a year or two behind Thailand academically.

??????????????????????????? What school did you send her to in Australia?????

This is far from true according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 which ranks Australian high schools 23rd best out of 148 countries. Thailand ranks #78. For comparison, Switzerland is #1, Finland #2, and Singapore is #3. Germany is #14, USA is #25, and UK is #26.

As for the ASEAN region:

• Singapore - 3rd
• Malaysia - 19th
• Brunei - 32nd
• Indonesia - 36th
• Philippines - 40th
• Laos - 57th
• Cambodia - 76th
• Thailand - 78th
• Vietnam - 95th
• Burma - 125th

The link is http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-competitiveness-report-2013-2014 Click onto Download Full Report, and then go to page 462.

You probably need to compare a particular high school to another, and not overall ranking between one country and another.

A high performing high school in Bangkok may well be teaching at a higher standard compared to a low performing one in Australia.

[RoboLB]

2) Quite simply the High Schools here in Australia are a year or two behind Thailand academically.

??????????????????????????? What school did you send her to in Australia?????

Everything that i ever heard. Said things were the other way around. Please, explain this?

Sorry for the delay in replying. I haven't been on here for a while.

My comments are based on this............

She went to the local Government High School. As an overseas student we had the privilege of paying $10,000 a year for that.

We looked at private Schools, but basically for an overseas student they charged double the local student rate. We couldn't afford that.

After a while we had to see her Year Advisor. She was finding it hard to study because basically the local kids could not give a toss about learning and the classes were too disruptive. Teachers could do nothing about that. She also asked if she could get more homework, as it was pitiful compared to Thailand. No go.

Keeping in touch with kids 'back home' in Bangkok, she found they were at least one year ahead in what they were studying.

We gave per extra private tuition at the weekends, and the tutor, a High School teacher at another Government School, confirmed what we were finding. That all his Thai students coming for tuition were way ahead of the local kids. He deduced that the Thai school system was probably at least a year ahead of Australia. (We are talking Government schools)

But obviously I can only speak from our personal experiences..........

Our niece is now in Bangkok and we are 'doing the rounds' of entrance exams.

Basically she is way behind the local Thai kids and is struggling to find a place.

Was bringing her to Australia a good idea? Academically No.

But she has gone back quite fluent in conversational English and has a very high degree of personal confidence now that she may not have developed in a Thai School.

At the end of the day, there are good schools and bad schools everywhere I guess. Maybe we were just unlucky.........

[SlyAnimal]

Your niece will be fine, I think that you've definitely done the right thing for her.

As English is more important than most of the other subjects, also she'll be much more self confident, have had an experience which she'll never forget and hopefully become a little more creative and freethinking than what she was previously.

She will find it difficult to get into a good school here, as unfortunately most of the English/International/Bilingual/Gifted programs will be full, or may require higher test scores than what she's able to do.

Although if you can get a relationship with one of the schools, her conversation English might assist with her getting into one of the programs. Many schools would love to have someone with as much conversational English practice as what she has, she could likely breeze through impromptu speech competitions etc and have the school get the credit for it lol.

She could get into a government school, but if her grades are low (Or the classes full), they'd put her into one of the lower streams, where the students are extremely disruptive etc, that'd be terrible as it sounds like she's quite focused on learning.

As she is quite focused though, you could maybe look into giving her some tuition from a Thai tutor for her maths/science, to assist with entrance examinations. I teach a bit of maths, only M1-M3, but most of their curriculum is pretty easy, the only reason it takes a year to go through, is because you're trying to get 80%+ students in a class of 35+ to all understand the content, the good students usually understand each topic within about 5-10 minutes of explaining it. I remember I was the same at high school, I'd then just need to do a bit of practice/homework to transfer it into my long term memory instead. A dedicated student could likely master the entire year's maths curriculum within a couple of weeks. I'd imagine that it'd be a similar deal for science/maths, I remember at university that they pretty much covered the 3 years of accounting I'd done at school, within a month lol. Made me realise why school had often seemed so easy lol, as they really were going slowly lol.

[Donnie Brasco]

Whilst I love Thailand, it can certainly be an 'Amazing' place at times........

The Back Story - Short Version

My wife (Thai) and I live mainly in Australia. Been married 10+ years. We thought we would 'help out' the family by bring our niece (also Thai) here to Australia for 3 years to attend a local High School. That's a story in itself. Very expensive, even at a Government School as she was an 'overseas' student. Was here on a student visa.

Anyway....our Niece has now just gone back to Thailand to complete her final 2 years of High School. Great experience for her and now a very confident/capable English speaker. Why going back? Because she wants to go to Uni in Thailand, not Australia. And we are advised that it is easier to get into Uni by following the final years of High School in the Thai 'system'. Makes sense. i.e. The right topics, taught in the right way, to pass entrance exams.

The Problem

It seems getting into a local Thai High School is not so easy. My wife is in Bangkok now trying to find one. They all want high grades on entrance tests, even the Government Schools. And of course whilst her English is great, the other subjects are not so strong. 1) she has been learning in a foreign language for three years and 2) Quite simply the High Schools here in Australia are a year or two behind Thailand academically.

So we are trying, some 'cheaper' private schools, but still she has to pass entrance tests. And also looking at some Government schools that have a strong focus on English (to maintain that skill). But things are not looking good, because of her grades.

I mentioned to my wife that if all else fails, at least she can just go to the local Government High School. On No she says, not that simple! Even the local High Schools can pick and choose students. So that if her grades are considered too low, she will end up at the bottom of the pile in a local High School where all the 'dregs' end up. Hardly seems fair.

I know I shouldn't compare. But here in Sydney the local High School is obliged to take kids from their 'catchment area'. And in fact the reverse applies. You need approval to go to a Government school in another 'catchment area'.

For those who have experienced this...............does this all sound correct ?

Robo

If you ask ANY of your entrepreneurial or even your corporate executive friends and acquaintances here in Thailand what kind of qualifications they are looking for they will share this basic truth with you: "Khun Robo, Dude, beyond training in basic academic methodology and a certain capacity to reason and interact, we are pretty flexible. We, that is to say, our Corporation, our outfit our start-up can train your kid to do what is required and more."

What we are looking for more than ANYTHING is fluency in English communication. It's more than likely that in escaping the inanity of Thai Secondary Ed, she has escaped a mindset that can only keep her back.

We can train her to do the job but above a certain level, we need to communicate with our people at a professional level.

When can we see her ?"

The teachers in the Thai schools you're talking to are likely PETRIFIED of your niece's English fluency.

Her fluency will disrupt what passes for harmony between "teachers" who can't speak or reason properly and obedient infantilized children they are trained to emulate far into their late twenties.

Just keep poking away at the entrances to these places.

Although they are in a minority excellent Thai teachers DO exist.

You can often track 'em down in the Rajaphats where they too have been sidelined by a sclerotic and atrophied system.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit."

[lopburi3]

Do not believe any exception to exam requirement can be made unless you have been living in the school area for previous two years so do not believe even a donation would be allowed in this case. If exam is not passed there will be a lottery drawing so may get into chosen school even without meeting normal test requirements.