Thailand.s problems solved by university graduates...

[rollrunna]

Having 'helped ' contribute to the education of my common law Thai wife's children over the last 4 years...i inquired as to what the eldest boy ( now 19 ) is going to do.... "well ..he leaves school in march, and then will go to university ( 2 or 3 years ) "...wow i replied, and he has the required educational levels to do this ..? "oh Yes ..very good.. the university have given a thumbs up ".. ummm so what subjects is he taking, what does he want to do when he leaves..? " Oh.. He is going to teach song and play drums... !" ..... Oh what a relief,... i thought perhaps he was going to get a proper job and earn some money, contribute to society, save money, push forward the frontiers of humanity.... but sadly i have heard many the same stories of western kids being professional students too.... I did make it clear that financial support has now dried up!

[sirineou]

It sounds to me that he wants to major in music.Plenty of people make money , in many different ways, in the field of music.

one of them is Music teacher, perhaps after attending University his interests might take a different direction.

[benalibina]

Little harsh aint it....You contribute for 4 years in his education and think that you can undo the 15 years before you entered his life.

Well...you tried, cant blame you for that.

About the financial support ....dried up....haha....you believe it yourself.....funny man !!

[recom273]

In the UK, ( back in the 80's and i guess its still the same ) we start to think about our career paths in the 3rd year of Senior school, we have career education, from there we choose subjects that will be relevant to our career or university entrance.

Most school leavers here, don't know what they are going to do apart from go through university, because its a necessity to get a decent job, those that leave school are destined to work for their families or a supermarket.

There just isnt that development here, the little guy is still running around in short trousers like the rest of his peers in their first year of Mathayom, so dont be so hard, and just accept what you are told, you should be grateful that he doesn't want to drop out of the education system at P6, and sponge of his folks. In time he may well turn into a success, but at the moment, the little guy just doesn't know.

[tubby johnson]

[sirineou]

In the UK, ( back in the 80's and i guess its still the same ) we start to think about our career paths in the 3rd year of Senior school, we have career education, from there we choose subjects that will be relevant to our career or university entrance.

Most school leavers here, don't know what they are going to do apart from go through university, because its a necessity to get a decent job, those that leave school are destined to work for their families or a supermarket.

There just isnt that development here, the little guy is still running around in short trousers like the rest of his peers in their first year of Mathayom, so dont be so hard, and just accept what you are told, you should be grateful that he doesn't want to drop out of the education system at P6, and sponge of his folks. In time he may well turn into a success, but at the moment, the little guy just doesn't know.

Very true,In Thailand (and most of the world now days) without a University education, your employment prospects are limited.

Some people develop an interest early in life and pursue it academically, others need to see what the options are.

When I went to college, I Thought I knew what I wanted to do in life, while there a whole new world was opened to me, and my life took a totally different direction.

If the OP really loves the boy, he needs to give him the opportunity to do some discovering on his own. With in reason of course.

[richard_smith237]

In the UK, ( back in the 80's and i guess its still the same ) we start to think about our career paths in the 3rd year of Senior school, we have career education, from there we choose subjects that will be relevant to our career or university entrance.

Most school leavers here, don't know what they are going to do apart from go through university, because its a necessity to get a decent job, those that leave school are destined to work for their families or a supermarket.

There just isnt that development here, the little guy is still running around in short trousers like the rest of his peers in their first year of Mathayom, so dont be so hard, and just accept what you are told, you should be grateful that he doesn't want to drop out of the education system at P6, and sponge of his folks. In time he may well turn into a success, but at the moment, the little guy just doesn't know.

We had careers advisors: but to expect a 14 or 15 year old to know what we wanted to do as a career was pretty daft.

These guys (Careers advisors) were idiots and suggested some silly ideas and shunned a few of the ideas I had... Although wanting to be a Marine Biologist because I was good at swimming and had watched James Bond, or join the Airforce because I'd watched Top Gun were pretty daft ideas...

More often than not these careers advisors were only in this position because they had failed at everything else and weren't smart enough to do a B.Ed* or PGCE* themselves (*Degrees required in the UK to become a teacher)

That said, it did install some minor idea at the time that there was an end game to all this education malarkey...

When choosing A Levels I had no idea what I wanted to do, even when choosing a degree I chose a subject that I was strong at, I had no idea of the career opportunities it presented. Fortunately the career opportunity was a good one but I had no idea at the time.

To expect a kid (17 years old) to know what they want to be is a 'big ask'... The Op can bring some of his knowledge to the table, but perhaps he needs to relax a little, help and guide rather than force...

[hellodolly]

I am with the OP. You don't foot the bill for some one who has no idea of what he wants to do. I paid for two years of college for my wife's son to be an electronics engineer. He was 29 when he decided that. Also a year for her daughter to become a nurses aid she was 31 when she made that decision.

At 17 you don't lay out that kind of money in the hope they will figure some thing out. University in Thailand is not that kind of education. You just go in pay some money and get a degree and then figure out what you want to do. A friend of mine is taking Business I asked him why he is not in school all the time. His reply was why should I the other kids don't attend much either and besides I already know all that stuff. He has two years of college in the states.

[CharlieH]

Met a student who was in "university" studying English, couldnt string a sentence together after two years. It seems most of them are "bird" courses, you pay the money and just fly through and get a "degree" for attendance not ability, not worth the paper its written on academically but stops you being a shelf filler in Tesco.

[aussiebebe]

'I did make it clear that financial support has now dried up!' - funniest thing I've read all day. There's more chance of your stepson getting a job than of you being able to not pay his university fees.

[stickylies]

i've been saying this for ages. level of education is a joke here. but then everything MUST be a joke (here) or it's mai sanouk...

[Stan7444]

I chaired a panel at a university in one of the Thailand provinces for IT Dept., which was graduating 200 students per year to go off and work (supposedly) for a reputable s/w company.

Discovered that 1) Only 2 or so of these graduates each year could speak a word of English, although English is the language of IT. 2) If they were lucky enough to get a job offer with an IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, etc. these companies would then put them through a supplemental training program for 6 months or so to educate them on what they needed to know, but did not learn in university. 3) The IT course curriculum was about 2-3 years behind the technology at the time, so these students did not have the skill sets required for a technology company, Curriculum updating is up to the Ministry of Education in Bangkok, requiring a 3-4 year review process, 4) Some of the IT courses taught in English were attended the 1st day by up to 60 students and the 2nd day all but 3-4 students showed up in the class. I was eventually informed that "English is considered a 'rich kids' language, and therefore the majority of Thai students did not wish to learn it, at least in the provinces. 5) The head of this particular IT dept. whom I met needed a translator in order to communicate with me, hence one of the problems. 6) When I asked different professors of IT how their students would find jobs upon graduating, I was informed 99% found jobs immediately. Surprised, I then enquired as to what jobs they were being hired to do. Then the wall fell down when they told me, "Oh, they are mostly getting jobs to work at hotels to manage internet systems". I thought, what a waste of 4 years of IT education for a job that a high school dropout could perform.

I ran into another student from the same university, who spoke perfect English. I enquired where he learned such good English. He was in the Hospitality Dept. and it is mandatory that all students speak fluent English in order to graduate. Maybe the IT students should have joined the Hospitality Dept. since that is where they wound up anyway. Bottom line, in 2 years we go nowhere with this round table.

I have run into so many people in Thailand with university degrees, one selling lotto tickets on the street, another working in a restaurant, etc. etc. No wonder there is a lack of innovation in the country since the training and talent is so much put to waste.

Edited February 21, 2014 by Tywais
Changed to standard font

[Aussieroaming]

OP.....I have two children, both of whom have their own personality, character and sense of what they want to do. I could pour thousands into their education but that doesn't change their personality and interests.

You gave this young bloke money for and education and you should be commended for offering financial support.

I learnt with my children that I can advise them, offer financial assistance and schooling etc but they will still pursue what

interests and motivates them even if I don't always agree with them. I can only support their choices and hope that they learn from the experience.

That's what parents do

[wym]

I don't buy into parents being obligated in all cases to pay for tertiary education.

If a kid is really into a particular topic area, well motivated to strive to achieve specific goals fine, even if they're not immediately applicable to a mainstream career I"ll help chip in for some or maybe even all of the tuition if I can afford it.

But just muddling along partying having fun using the socially accepted context of being a student to delay having to take on adult responsibilities, no way that's not doing anyone any good, in fact I'd say enabling them to take a bad path.

All my kids have known unless you prove you deserve it, I'm done at 18, high school graduation after that you're on your own.

And so far they've done just fine.

And note this isn't his kid, Thai culture doesn't have the same expectations as we do in the west about step-kids.

But whether the OP's SO will accept it or not, that's a great test of the relationship, he may very well soon be free to start looking for a new one, and perhaps for the best as well.

[sustento]

What's wrong with wanting to be a musician or a music teacher? I notice you had this conversation through your wife. Why don't you ask the boy himself?

[Thaiready]

Hell I'm 54.....still don't know what I wanna be when I grow up.

[impulse]

Pay for the kid's uni, don't pay for the kid's uni. It's just as much about your relationship with the kid as it is about his earning capacity afterward. Let him continue his education and he may find his place in the world looks nothing like he expected. Toss him out into the workforce without the education and what are his prospects here in LOS?

Graduating from a university mostly shows that one has the ability (and at least a minimal amount of discipline) required to learn higher level stuff.

I've got a degree in engineering and most of what I do on a day to day basis, I learned while tearing down my own toys, then bicycles and then cars over the years. Still, much better mechanics than me are barely scraping by.

The rest of what I do has been learned on the job since university. I only use a tiny percentage of what I actually learned (and have since retained) in university.

Having the degree proved that I was capable of being taught and doing the work. Within the first year of "real life", my mentors in the company showed me why much the stuff I learned in the university doesn't work in real life.

Edited February 21, 2014 by impulse

[hellodolly]

Pay for the kid's uni, don't pay for the kid's uni. It's just as much about your relationship with the kid as it is about his earning capacity afterward. Let him continue his education and he may find his place in the world looks nothing like he expected. Toss him out into the workforce without the education and what are his prospects here in LOS?

Graduating from a university mostly shows that one has the ability (and at least a minimal amount of discipline) required to learn higher level stuff.

I've got a degree in engineering and most of what I do on a day to day basis, I learned while tearing down my own toys, then bicycles and then cars over the years. Still, much better mechanics than me are barely scraping by.

The rest of what I do has been learned on the job since university. I only use a tiny percentage of what I actually learned (and have since retained) in university.

Having the degree proved that I was capable of being taught and doing the work. Within the first year of "real life", my mentors in the company showed me why much the stuff I learned in the university doesn't work in real life.

Some of the dumbest people I know are collage graduates. I mentioned that one day to a friend who is a consular and he told me that you don't go to collage to learn. You go to collage to learn how to learn. Made a lot of sense to me. Took a couple of classes in my 40's. Noticed how as soon as the tests were over the kids for the most part forgot the answers.

I loved the classes as being with all the youthful energy was invigorating. I did learn how to learn. Part of it is knowing when you are wrong and changing it.

[sdanielmcev]

Grow up AND be a musician? How do you do that?

Seriously, musicians can make some serious cake. And don't forget the girls. Even ugly guys like me raked them in. Not all people can or want to be desk jockeys. If the kids, got talent, encourage him.

Unless he plays jazz, then he,s just an idiot.

[Issangeorge]

Hell I'm 54.....still don't know what I wanna be when I grow up.

I'm 63 ask me when I'm 65, but if I could play an instrument or sing, I would want to be a musician.

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