Thai at Heart Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 But still not a whisper about every student passing every year. It was not always like that -- the policy was put in place for private schools, who were losing students when students were accountable for their own progress. This corruption is insanely expensive, and why Thailand simultaneously has the largest education budget in SEA and the lowest result. They use public taxes to subsidize private schools, and such schools get paid per student. Very little goes to classrooms and books and upkeep -- it is lining pockets. No words from the junta on this issue -- never was before and never will be. Ten years of this educational "subsidy" has siphoned off more money than the rice scheme lost, by a large margin.... Give the junta a chance. As you say ten years of almost constant Shin rule has bled the system to the point where drastic measures need to be taken. Thailand won't be rebuilt in a day. Oh I see. Those great minds and thinkers of the BT (before Thaksin) period were stifled by his changes to the education system. Face it. The Thai education system always has been useless. There are some smart people who survive wherever they are educated But most Thais are basically as worldly and academically intelligent as an average 11 year old in the developed world. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taony Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 More positive and most welcome news thanks to a real positive and hard working well intentioned military Government. Brilliant stuff with so much good news coming each week Why couldn't the past elected Governments have done this as well and effectively ? We all know why greed and corruption with the previous uncontrolled sham political parties and exactly why the coup was in the end essential for Thailand. We hope all this corruption within the main political parties will be eradicated and put right before Thailand has the next proper true democratic elections later next year. I actually think this junta Government will achieve this too and within the quoted proposed time frame They certainly instil confidence to me and it seems most of the Thai people too. 555, nice one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orpheus454 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 No sense in educating them to a high international standards who will be left to do all the manual work in Thailand all they will want to do then is go to university and become a MP or a military general or major in the army, honesty morality religious tolerance of others should be taught at home not in class. Yep, fair enough, but punctuation should be taught in class. Be there at 9 tomorrow morning, Jim...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenCrew Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 The best thing that OBEC can do is to retire all the teachers over 50 thus freeing up promotion for younger and more modern teachers, set in place a new high quality teacher training university and then resign en masse as most of them are as much use to educating Thai children as a bicycle is to a fish (to put it politely). Yes, and leave it to the blind leading the blind...or the backpacker leading the backpacker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catweazle Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 You know when there is something wrong in the education system when the girl at the counter needs a calculator to figure the change for an 85 baht pack of smokes and you hand her a hundred baht note. By now the world has reached the point where similar "calculator incidents" also happen in Europe, even in "made in Germany" land... It's frightening to say the least! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaiguzzi Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Bit like North Korea then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thongsuknork Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 at last good news welcome the change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddyjenkins Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Maybe OPEC should mind their own business, which is oil. The Thai education system is none of their business. Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattk1 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 You know when there is something wrong in the education system when the girl at the counter needs a calculator to figure the change for an 85 baht pack of smokes and you hand her a hundred baht note. Did you get your 20 baht change? :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelnigel Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 using the schools for social engineering and religious brainwash is very wrong. The should focus on Mathematic, Reading, Writing, Physics Languages etc etc Agreed! and this is extremely dangerous for foreign teachers (I am American) where we are taught to question the validity of things by the scientific method which is sorely lacking here. Blind adherence to anything especially in education is not beneficial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DekDaeng Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 You know when there is something wrong in the education system when the girl at the counter needs a calculator to figure the change for an 85 baht pack of smokes and you hand her a hundred baht note. People still smoke? There goes another education system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericthai Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 You know when there is something wrong in the education system when the girl at the counter needs a calculator to figure the change for an 85 baht pack of smokes and you hand her a hundred baht note. Are you kidding? It's the same in the US. They dont know how to count either, they only give you what the cash register shows them. I gave a girl in the US a $10 bill, she made a mistake and rang it up as a $100 bill and she was giving me change for $100. I tried to tell her and she still wasn't getting it. I dont know much about the Thai school system but the US has problems too, maybe not as bad as here. I am happy to see the Junta is moving forward with long over due changes. I do hope this continues. It's nice to see how much that can get done when politics are not involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 (edited) instilling patriotism Once again, I am overjoyed to have got my children out of the Thai system. What is it with making nationalism or patriotism a priority in education. nationalism or patriotism means that you feel superior......Odd concept in a school Maybe they are following the American model....The pledge of allegiance recited, salute the flag or hand on heart etc.......and the American model includes religion too; "One nation under God....". Wrong. That was removed from schools years ago. "One nation under God, Indivisible..." Was long ago replaced with "One nation, indivisible..." Edited July 2, 2014 by NeverSure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attento Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 (edited) Just came from a teachers meeting on the next educational school trip. The Thai teachers 90% female voted to go to a city with the most shopping areas !!!!! Good choice. Maths - help with adding the cost of purchases. Literacy - checking the price tags. Geography - reading the floor plan and finding way around the mall. Morals - dropping a coin in the beggar's hand. Chemistry - following the scent trail to the noodle stall. Social skills - "interaction" with sales staff about a more appropriate pricing policy. A great learning opportunity, not to be missed ! Edited July 2, 2014 by attento 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsailor35 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 After having homeschooled my daughter to age 7, and then watched as her learning regressed from P2-P5, and then improve dramatically to USA standards with my homeschooling during P6 to now M1, my solution for my 4 year old is simple: Homeschool, online USA school, and paid friends for socialization. No way in hell will I put my youngest through the farce they call "school" here in Thailand! To USA standards ! What, no Geography or English Grammar ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FangFerang Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 You know when there is something wrong in the education system when the girl at the counter needs a calculator to figure the change for an 85 baht pack of smokes and you hand her a hundred baht note. Are you kidding? It's the same in the US. They dont know how to count either, they only give you what the cash register shows them. I gave a girl in the US a $10 bill, she made a mistake and rang it up as a $100 bill and she was giving me change for $100. I tried to tell her and she still wasn't getting it. I dont know much about the Thai school system but the US has problems too, maybe not as bad as here. I am happy to see the Junta is moving forward with long over due changes. I do hope this continues. It's nice to see how much that can get done when politics are not involved. What planet are you from? Such a girl would be employed for not more than ten minutes. Ug, not able to count money and give change......you are a liar. You tried to tell her...NO ONE believes that story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil B Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 May be time to look at the standards of the teacher employed to teach first... http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/738892-school-beating/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepcell Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Well... introduce a new "educational measurement tests" is quite easy, any country in the world can do this. But what is really difficult is to give a good, quality educational environment. That's is the point! Teach first, then apply for educational measurement tests! I think someone misunderstood the right order of things. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesetat2013 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 When there is no accountability. When parents blame schools for their childs laziness and the schools pass the students so they dont lose a student. When their is no creativeness. When cheating and copying is the norm. When teachers withhold methods in class so they can use them for their after school tutoring. When classrooms are used for lecturing and memorizing instead o learning. Until all this is changed nothing the junta or OBEC does will make a difference. Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noitom Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 The Thais are going to "whip up" their education system. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payboy Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 The Thais are going to "whip up" their education system. I heard the focus is going to be on S&M - science & mathematics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soalbundy Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 You know when there is something wrong in the education system when the girl at the counter needs a calculator to figure the change for an 85 baht pack of smokes and you hand her a hundred baht note. People still smoke? There goes another education system. You wimp,i get through two lighters a day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggy Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 You know when there is something wrong in the education system when the girl at the counter needs a calculator to figure the change for an 85 baht pack of smokes and you hand her a hundred baht note. Absolutely correct. That happened to me the other day.......in a bank! The cashier had to use a calculator to work out the change from 2,045 baht (I gave her 2,100). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan michaud Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Why does patriotism need to be included? Not important and not helpful IMO. How about re educating your teachers as to how to teach? I don't see this making much difference if the teachers are as useless as they seem to be at present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cake Monster Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Hey ! an educated and modern society are a lot harder to control than poorly educated, and down trodden people. If you dont give a fairly decent education to children, they grow up not knowing the answers ( or even the questions ) to what is wrong with their lives, and the lives of those around them. These people are the ones providing the cheap labour in the factories, fields Etc for the fat cats of Thai Society, and that will never change. Therefore the education system cannot change, because there is too much at stake for the rich and powerful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culicine Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Maths is far from Ok. I've lost count of the number of times a Thai has used a calculator to add something as simple as 100 Baht plus 110 Baht. (...and it wasn't a case of getting a display of the price up for a Farang ... that's a topic for another thread!) I've lost count of the number of times ..... Maybe I need a calculator too. ...which is astounding as Thai government schools ban the use of calculators in their maths exams!! (unless it's an EP/bilingual school) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soalbundy Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Hey ! an educated and modern society are a lot harder to control than poorly educated, and down trodden people. If you dont give a fairly decent education to children, they grow up not knowing the answers ( or even the questions ) to what is wrong with their lives, and the lives of those around them. These people are the ones providing the cheap labour in the factories, fields Etc for the fat cats of Thai Society, and that will never change. Therefore the education system cannot change, because there is too much at stake for the rich and powerful. As Harold Macmillan once said, 'Events dear boy,events'. The Russians had a huge ignorant peasant population,many still in slavery,they had an event in 1917 the start of communism. You can't keep an aspiring population down no matter how uneducated they are. The world is closely connected now,the Thais know what is going on in the world and sooner or later they will demand a piece of the cake.One can only hope that the powers that be provide that piece before the whole cake is taken from them by violence. The demonstrations in the past months were perhaps a harbinger of an awakening. Having said that,Thailand is doing a lot better than some of its surrounding countries,but this is due to foreign investment and not much to a socially minded,far sighted,caring government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taony Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Today the poor kids at the school out the window here all dressed in yellow and lined up like they are in the army. Different colors every day, very important stuff. Moving around to songs in unison. When its over, they march out line by line. So sad to see all the time they waste out there every day and all the energy and attention wasted on making sure they all look alike in a different color each day. They you have the hours of bad music being practiced or the screaming at "sports day" (which is all the time). Not much learning going on down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soalbundy Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Why does patriotism need to be included? Not important and not helpful IMO. How about re educating your teachers as to how to teach? I don't see this making much difference if the teachers are as useless as they seem to be at present. Patriotism is a dangerous and useful tool for those with power. It makes men ''go over the top'' to be mown down like grass even though their senses are screaming,''don't do it'' some call it bravery or patriotism,a cynic would call it brain washing, it is the misuse of the community spirit which exists in all mankind,it only has to be tweaked a little and you get patriotism. Remember the Falklands war ? a supposedly enlightened public stood in the harbour of Portsmouth singing ''don't cry for me Argentinia'"as the fleet sailed out, the result was 255 dead and 777 wounded British servicemen, whether you agree that the war was necessary or not is irrelevant,it was jingoism at its finest. Thailand,especially the military, feels it has a special need of such tweaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soalbundy Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 (edited) Today the poor kids at the school out the window here all dressed in yellow and lined up like they are in the army. Different colors every day, very important stuff. Moving around to songs in unison. When its over, they march out line by line. So sad to see all the time they waste out there every day and all the energy and attention wasted on making sure they all look alike in a different color each day. They you have the hours of bad music being practiced or the screaming at "sports day" (which is all the time). Not much learning going on down there. Yes i have noticed this at my sons school. I think this has more to do with discipline ( a badly needed commodity here) than anything else. Learning to play music is a good thing even though the results can offend the ear, and playing in a band and competing in sports can result in a community spirit. I can remember long,long ago at the sports day at my school in England it wasn't exactly quiet. I had to teach both my step daughters at the ages of 10 and 14 respectively to read Thai,their mother hadn't the patience. When i remonstrated with the head teacher how it was possible that they could barely read at that age i was told that due to the class size they had no time for the slower learners,that it was nothing to do with me as i wasn't their father and i wasn't even Thai?????? when he learnt from one of the other teachers that i could read and write Thai and was teaching the children myself he came round to my house one evening and apologized. Not withstanding this i have been pleasantly surprised by the standard of education at the village school,my oldest now 19 years old has won a scholarship and is now attending the technical university in Surin.They are taught the use of computers at primary school and both of them use 'Word' to do their homework on my computer. All is not dark in the land of smiles. Edited July 3, 2014 by soalbundy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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