School students have low literacy rate in Thailand

[Stokakrishna]

amazing Thailand

stupidity at its best

lets blame foreigners for low literacy among thais

[Stokakrishna]

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How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

I agree with you 100% have been try to lean to read thai wright it to but very very hard and I give up but I still go back and try again I will get it one day have seen here with my thai stepdaughter she took 7 go's and try to pass the weighting test for her motor bike

you guys are wrong

Thai language is a different language from any 'european" languages

I:m from poland and i can read Thai.

i have learnt it just by myself with the help of a 1st grade book for kids

it is actually quite easy.

and the fact there is no punctuation or spaces doesnt; make any problem to me and of course to Thais

the problem is in thai education system which is a joke

[Emster23]

Students don't learn simply because the teachers can't teach. It is not the language. Rote learning in each and every subject. It is amazing some have learned to read in spite of the method.

[arrowsdawdle]

"OBEC will begin its plan next month, but it will not be fully implemented until next year."

What's the rush?

Wait for another decade,

Mai ben rai, they've been illiterate for many years now, nobody has done anything to remedy this.

A few more illiterate coming out, won't hurt.

I love Thailand...............

Thai education is different. Illiteracy is fundamental to keeping sufficient numbers of unskilled laborers available for feudal factory owners.

[arrowsdawdle]

Students don't learn simply because the teachers can't teach. It is not the language. Rote learning in each and every subject. It is amazing some have learned to read in spite of the method.

Are you trying to discredit the educational value of memorizing all those songs and xenophobic nationalistic mantras?

[Don Aleman]

And these are results for the THAI reading/writing with the ENGLISH results being near/at ZERO !

[TPI]

How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

actually it is quite easy reading Thai without spaces between words. Words can't end with certain letters for instance so it shows it is the start of a new word. For practice i read all of the Harry Potter books in Thai with no problem, i would agree though that commas would help. I taught my son to read English before he could read Thai which has given him some problems now that he is learning to read Thai as the logic is different but they start by learning individual words. They appear to learn by rote though without knowing the basics of why a certain word must have a certain tone which is given by its spelling ( which is why you can't learn Thai properly if you can't read it ) since the children already know the correct tone i presume this is left out for later.

Thanks for the clarity! I've never had it explained before, perhaps if Thai teachers could explain some of the features of written Thai to their foreign teachers then a lot of teaching problems might disappear?

[bheard]

How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

Absolutely!! As a student of Thai language, my bigest problem when trying to read a passage is to know at a glance where a word begins and ends.

Thai people will tell you it's no problem, Thai teachers have told me this, but they are speaking from their own current viewpoint. I know that for a student, having no spaces is a big problem.

It's also my opinion that a fluent Thai reader cannot read quite as quickly as a fluent English reader - again it's the spaces - an English reader can recognise words rapidly (often not necessary to read every word) at a glance because there is a visual space between each word. So often I have seen Thais reading a newspaper running their finger along the text and using it as a stop when interrupted. I'm in the same boat - when interrupted during reading, on resumption I'm spending time re-reading a passage to find out where I was.

Of course it won't happen - that would be diluting 'Thainess' wouldn't it.

[Cake Monster]

Experts to " brainstorm " solutions to the problem ?

Obtaining some more quango experts from Thailand is not the answer, as previous attempts to sort out the illiteracy problems in the country have shown.

Correctly educated, and trained, Teachers from reputable Universities is the answer, and not the current system of " pay as you go " degrees for teachers from that hand them out like confetti in the quest for profits.

[brianp0803]

Experts to " brainstorm " solutions to the problem ?

Obtaining some more quango experts from Thailand is not the answer, as previous attempts to sort out the illiteracy problems in the country have shown.

Correctly educated, and trained, Teachers from reputable Universities is the answer, and not the current system of " pay as you go " degrees for teachers from that hand them out like confetti in the quest for profits.

If the parents would get involved with their child's education it would be a big help.

Parent - teacher day has very few parents for grade 7-12 attend.

I tell a parent their child doesn't do their homework and always tries to play with their phone.

The parent replies - "I know my child is lazy. My child doesn't like to do homework and plays on his phone at home also. He doesn't listen to me.

What can I do?"

I am often asked for parenting advice.

My thoughts: take away their phone if they aren't doing their homework.

Ask their child to see their homework (especially if getting low grades)

Ask the teacher for their email and ask for status occasionally.

When students know I talk with their parents then I have a lot more power to encourage the student. The student know their parent will know the truth about their behavior quickly.

[rickirs]

Thailand has some challenges to lead ASEAN into the future.

Wikipidea:

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. It was first performed in 2000 and then repeated every three years. It is done with a view to improving education policies and outcomes.

PISA 2012 was presented on 3 December 2013, with results for around 510,000 participating students in all 34 OECD member countries and 31 partner countries.

Math: #1 Shanghai, China Science: #1 Shanghai, China Reading: #1 Shanghai, China

#17 Vietnam #8 Vietnam #19 Vietnam (tied with Germany)

#36 USA #28 USA #24 USA

#50 Thailand #48 Thailand #47 Thailand

#52 Malaysia #53 Malaysia #59 Malaysia

#65 Peru #65 Peru #65 Peru

[whatawonderfulday]

How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

Unfortunately, it's more than just that. I am amazed when I see just how slowly very intelligent Thais read their own language. They need to standardize and probably convert the written language to Latin letters, like Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines did. I realize that there is a lot of culture in sticking with the Thai characters, but when it is slowing down your entire country, it's time to move on.

How about just banning Thai language totally and introducing English as the one and only language in Thailand ?

[jamiesilver]

No Sheet Sherlock!

[atsiii]

I've seen no mention of corruption as part of the problem. I read last year that believe it or not, Thailand spends more money per student at the top government budgetary level than anyone else in the world. Yes, that's means more than the UK, USA, etc. But we have all seen the typical poor Thai schools, so it begs the obvious question: where does all the money go? Certainly not to education.

[quandow]

I grow weary of reposting this, but here we go again - I teach English to grades 2, 3 & 4 in the largest private school system in Thailand, and it's an absolute joke. Last semester I had a student who printed his name on his final exam and called that good enough. He didn't even make an ATTEMPT at answering a single test question. I had to give him a "B" because I couldn't fail him, and all his other subject teachers gave him "A's" and "B's", so if I gave him a poor grade, I would have been a bad teacher. He is the worst of my worst, but indicative of the indemic problem Thailand faces in its educational system, and that is Thailand cannot handle truth. The CRAP I hear from the new "powers that be" about how critical thinking must be taught will never happen. That would mean students question issues they thought were wrong, and you can't have that in a subservient citizen.

If it weren't for the soapies, I woulda been outa here YEARS ago!!!

Edited October 31, 2014 by quandow

[mikiea]

i pay my rent every month to the same girl in the managers office of my apartment. it is near the same amount every month, water & elect account for the changes. on purpose i change up the bills i pay her with. 5's, 50's,100's ect.sometimes a total of 16 bill. i try not to smile but its hard to keep a straight face. first the old timey pull register totals up the bill count, then the phone calculator,then the desk calculator, then pen & paper calucations.she carefully writes down the total from each device used. all the numbers must match or she starts the whole process over again, right back to counting the bills again. all of this takes abount 20-26 minutes depending on her own corrections.she is a very nice young lady & is always kind and willing to talk, but is dumb as a box of rocks. her education,she has a degree in international studies, what ever that is. next month i will surprise her & pay the rent with just 8 bills maybe make her smile :-)

[mikiea]

your rankings are incorrect,they are state school rankings. shanghai students are the best of the best. all have private tutors as they are the richest families in china, the public school system is weaker than thailand. it is a two tier system, its kind of like saying harvard students are smart. it is a true statement but how they got there is a different story,it is not the "system" that got them there, the china system is geared to produce factory workers, not thinkers.

[Jonmarleesco]

'... a rather worrying figure for OBEC'. So it should be, given they are, so say, responsible for education in Thailand. Time, perhaps, for a serious restructuring of OBEC.

[Jonmarleesco]

I grow weary of reposting this, but here we go again - I teach English to grades 2, 3 & 4 in the largest private school system in Thailand, and it's an absolute joke. Last semester I had a student who printed his name on his final exam and called that good enough. He didn't even make an ATTEMPT at answering a single test question. I had to give him a "B" because I couldn't fail him, and all his other subject teachers gave him "A's" and "B's", so if I gave him a poor grade, I would have been a bad teacher. He is the worst of my worst, but indicative of the indemic problem Thailand faces in its educational system, and that is Thailand cannot handle truth. The CRAP I hear from the new "powers that be" about how critical thinking must be taught will never happen. That would mean students question issues they thought were wrong, and you can't have that in a subservient citizen.

If it weren't for the soapies, I woulda been outa here YEARS ago!!!

Giving a B to a bone idle, and no doubt dumb, individual who is worth, what, an E - do they go lower? - strikes me as subservient. Give him the mark he deserves, and walk out.

[brianp0803]

I grow weary of reposting this, but here we go again - I teach English to grades 2, 3 & 4 in the largest private school system in Thailand, and it's an absolute joke. Last semester I had a student who printed his name on his final exam and called that good enough. He didn't even make an ATTEMPT at answering a single test question. I had to give him a "B" because I couldn't fail him, and all his other subject teachers gave him "A's" and "B's", so if I gave him a poor grade, I would have been a bad teacher. He is the worst of my worst, but indicative of the indemic problem Thailand faces in its educational system, and that is Thailand cannot handle truth. The CRAP I hear from the new "powers that be" about how critical thinking must be taught will never happen. That would mean students question issues they thought were wrong, and you can't have that in a subservient citizen.

If it weren't for the soapies, I woulda been outa here YEARS ago!!!

I taught before at very large all boys school.

Kids in grade 1-6 earned points for stapling papers for the teacher and erasing the board or sweeping the room or clicking on long videos on ducational sites.

I based my grades on classwork and performance on tests.

Many students grades dropped and therefore I was a bad teacher.

I asked the previous teacher about the the students failing my test but received grade 3 in his grade 6 progress report. The teacher told me the student was dumb as a turnip but the minimum grade is 2.5 and the student always helps to erase the board.

Some (many) schools think if all students get grade 4 and no students complain then he is a fantastic teacher.

If a teacher gave 50% of the class above average marks (3,4) and 35% grade 2 and 10% grade 1 and failed only the extremely lazy then he will suspected of being a bad teacher.

I've heard rich kids threaten to get a teacher fired(and they could ) if the teacher didn't raise his grade.

Many teachers I have seen give grade 3 to students that do the minimal required work. Grade 4 is reserved for students that perform the expected grade level work. Grade 2 is writing something in every space. Grade 1 are discipline problem kids.

[culicine]

How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

Unfortunately, it's more than just that. I am amazed when I see just how slowly very intelligent Thais read their own language. They need to standardize and probably convert the written language to Latin letters, like Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines did. I realize that there is a lot of culture in sticking with the Thai characters, but when it is slowing down your entire country, it's time to move on.

Just make english an official language (yes I know not likely to happen)- the language of business and technology. 95% of my EP students prefer learning the English language to the Thai language. That's partly to do with the structure of the language, but also teaching methods.

And halve class sizes too. No wonder some kids are lost in a class that size.

Recognsise students don't learn at the same rate and provide remedial classes for those weak students. This is happens rarely in most schools, or done in an ad hoc fashion.

[Zooheekock]

Just make english an official language (yes I know not likely to happen)- the language of business and technology

How is that going to help? 1/3 of the population don't have high levels of literacy in their mother tongue so let's add a language which virtually nobody knows beyond the most basic level. Great idea.

[KarenBravo]

You think that the average IQ of Thais is only 90 has something to do with it?

[Zumteufel]

How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

Unfortunately, it's more than just that. I am amazed when I see just how slowly very intelligent Thais read their own language. They need to standardize and probably convert the written language to Latin letters, like Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines did. I realize that there is a lot of culture in sticking with the Thai characters, but when it is slowing down your entire country, it's time to move on.

My Lord, you guys are joking, right??

You actually think the script makes a difference?

Incidentally, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean don't separate words either (they use commas, but Thai uses the space like a comma). You can look at the example links from wikipedia below.

If you're joking, then they are cute comments. If you're not joking, then I'll guess that you've had trouble reading Thai, and decided to blame the language for being difficult. "I can't read Thai very well, so there must be something inferior about the language."

If there's a problem with literacy, it's not got anything to do with how the language is written.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%8E%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%82%BA%E3%83%A0

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%91%E6%97%8F%E5%84%AA%E8%B6%8A%E6%84%9F

http://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9E%90%EB%AC%B8%ED%99%94%EC%A4%91%EC%8B%AC%EC%A3%BC%EC%9D%98

I'm deadly serious. And yes, I think written Thai is overly compact and overly complicated. I'm not claiming the language is inferior (don't know where you' getting that from), just overly complicated compared to what it could be. I believe you when you say that experienced readers has no problem reading at all, but the problem here is obviously getting from novice to being experienced.

If written Thai was purely left to right, I believe the lack of spaces between words would mean much less. But that's isn't the case, the letters ae, eh, ai, or being the culprits.

Let's try applying a similar rule to english:

The letters/combinations "A", "E", "AI" goes in front of a consonant.

I just hate when it rains, because I get wet

becomes

I just ahte wehn it airns , ebacuse I egt ewt

That's still fairly readable. But when we remove the spaces and the punctuation:

IjustahtewehnitairnsebacuseIegtewt

...the real trouble starts. Where does a word end, where does it start? Of course, a trained eye will be able to see the patterns just as easily as we would in a normal english sentence with no spaces, but the combination of sometimes right-to-left token combinations and no spacing makes it unnecessarily hard to read for a novice.

It's a syntax problem. It can be improved.

[Zooheekock]

If I change the letter order of Thai words or start writing words vertically or in anti-clockwise circles or whatever else, they become hard to read. This shows that you learn to read a language in a certain way, not that any one way of writing is preferable to another.

the combination of sometimes right-to-left token combinations and no spacing makes it unnecessarily hard to read for a novice.

It might do, it might not. It's something which you would have to do detailed research on, and it's certainly not something which is self-evidently true.

the problem here is obviously getting from novice to being experienced.

Well, a slightly more sensible way of dealing with that is to change the way literacy skills are developed, rather than engaging in fanciful plans to change the language's orthography (which, as reader of Thai, I don't have any great problems with). Besides, it's not really clear from the OP exactly what the problems are. Do children just not want to read or is it that they are incapable of reading? Is this a realistic test or were the kids presented with some deadly dull text which nobody would want to read? Was it even a test which could realistically be said to assess reading? Likewise with the writing. Is it just that kids used forum slang instead of formal language? Testing is difficult at the best of times but in Thailand, it's just atrociously awful so I wouldn't put too much weight on this without knowing a little more about it.

Edited November 1, 2014 by Zooheekock

[timmyp]

How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

Unfortunately, it's more than just that. I am amazed when I see just how slowly very intelligent Thais read their own language. They need to standardize and probably convert the written language to Latin letters, like Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines did. I realize that there is a lot of culture in sticking with the Thai characters, but when it is slowing down your entire country, it's time to move on.

My Lord, you guys are joking, right??

You actually think the script makes a difference?

Incidentally, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean don't separate words either (they use commas, but Thai uses the space like a comma). You can look at the example links from wikipedia below.

If you're joking, then they are cute comments. If you're not joking, then I'll guess that you've had trouble reading Thai, and decided to blame the language for being difficult. "I can't read Thai very well, so there must be something inferior about the language."

If there's a problem with literacy, it's not got anything to do with how the language is written.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%8E%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%82%BA%E3%83%A0

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%91%E6%97%8F%E5%84%AA%E8%B6%8A%E6%84%9F

http://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9E%90%EB%AC%B8%ED%99%94%EC%A4%91%EC%8B%AC%EC%A3%BC%EC%9D%98

I'm deadly serious. And yes, I think written Thai is overly compact and overly complicated. I'm not claiming the language is inferior (don't know where you' getting that from), just overly complicated compared to what it could be. I believe you when you say that experienced readers has no problem reading at all, but the problem here is obviously getting from novice to being experienced.

If written Thai was purely left to right, I believe the lack of spaces between words would mean much less. But that's isn't the case, the letters ae, eh, ai, or being the culprits.

Let's try applying a similar rule to english:

The letters/combinations "A", "E", "AI" goes in front of a consonant.

I just hate when it rains, because I get wet

becomes

I just ahte wehn it airns , ebacuse I egt ewt

That's still fairly readable. But when we remove the spaces and the punctuation:

IjustahtewehnitairnsebacuseIegtewt

...the real trouble starts. Where does a word end, where does it start? Of course, a trained eye will be able to see the patterns just as easily as we would in a normal english sentence with no spaces, but the combination of sometimes right-to-left token combinations and no spacing makes it unnecessarily hard to read for a novice.

It's a syntax problem. It can be improved.

Learn to actually speak another language, and you will feel stupid for everything you have said.

Try saying what you are saying in a basic linguistics course (you obviously never took one, and a 6-week TESL/TEFL class doesn't count). You will be scoffed at.

By the way, did you notice what the links were that I posted for Chinese, Korean, and Japanese examples? They are links to the wikipedia entry for "ethnocentrism".

I empathize with your struggle reading Thai. Anyone who tries to learn Thai will suffer through that. But once you get over the basics, lack of space is not a hindrance, AT ALL. To look back at your mother language and think it makes more sense is totally delusional. Nobody who speaks fluently Thai is going to agree with you (other than your students or girlfriend who want to take your side on this debate for the sake of showing a close bond). Nobody who has an actual degree in linguistics (not in English literature or in a specific language, but in linguistics) will agree with you. Really, your comments are those from one who is speaking from a perspective of total ignorance.

Really, learn another language beside English, and you will feel silly for what you said.

Edited November 1, 2014 by timmyp

[benj005]

Here is an idea:

1. Smaller classrooms.

2. Better teacher pay.

3. Implement intensive reading and writing programs in grades 3-8

4. Implement special ed programs to target at risk children.

5. Implement city wide activities that encourage reading and writing. 6. Better train educators.

Number 4 is very important because there are many children who could be classified as ADHD. They aren't getting the help needed to succeed in the classroom.

Edited November 4, 2014 by benj005

[brianp0803]

Here is an idea:

1. Smaller classrooms.

2. Better teacher pay.

3. Implement intensive reading and writing programs in grades 3-8

4. Implement special ed programs to target at risk children.

5. Implement city wide activities that encourage reading and writing. 6. Better train educators.

Number 4 is very important because there are many children who could be classified as ADHD. They aren't getting the help needed to succeed in the classroom.

I love your dream list.

Unfortunately costs to parents might be significant.

I worked at a school where tuition was over 100,000 baht per tern and additional donation expected but still nothing done for students with learning disabilities.

All the students got passing grades so no problem exist. LOL.

of a special needs teacher was hired they would need to be qualified to handle learning disabled kids with appropriate salary.

I love your ideas but does this even happen in western countries?

[benj005]

Here is an idea:

1. Smaller classrooms.

2. Better teacher pay.

3. Implement intensive reading and writing programs in grades 3-8

4. Implement special ed programs to target at risk children.

5. Implement city wide activities that encourage reading and writing. 6. Better train educators.

Number 4 is very important because there are many children who could be classified as ADHD. They aren't getting the help needed to succeed in the classroom.

I love your dream list.

Unfortunately costs to parents might be significant.

I worked at a school where tuition was over 100,000 baht per tern and additional donation expected but still nothing done for students with learning disabilities.

All the students got passing grades so no problem exist. LOL.

of a special needs teacher was hired they would need to be qualified to handle learning disabled kids with appropriate salary.

I love your ideas but does this even happen in western countries?

In America we have laws that protect special need students. The biggest gripe that people have is it can be costly. It's still a lot better than ignoring their needs. In Asia, students who have disabilities are shunned. This is why countries like Korea, Japan and China do so well on testing. The smartest students are only counted.

We also do pullout which is very effective. Students who need help are pulled out of class and given intensive help in reading. They learn much needed strategies to become better readers and writers.

[attrayant]

Last semester I had a student who printed his name on his final exam and called that good enough. He didn't even make an ATTEMPT at answering a single test question. I had to give him a "B" because I couldn't fail him, and all his other subject teachers gave him "A's" and "B's", so if I gave him a poor grade, I would have been a bad teacher.

It's getting to the point where I almost don't want to bother spending the time and effort writing and grading exams any more. Why waste my time when I can just open the grading system, put one finger on the "A" key and another on the 'page down' key and repeat 50 times.