HELP Can classes at a university in Thailand be audited?

[watcharacters]

What I mean by auditing classes is to attend them without being an enrolled student. A person receives no official credit for attending an audited class. Such a person would only receive the knowledge gained from attendance.

The Missus is finishing up a two year program at a technical college and honestly I'm pretty frustrated with what I see as a program lacking in a rigorous educational approach. The program is designed for those who work or are unable to attend full time. It consists of a full day of attendance each Saturday. In theory that would not be altogether bad, if, for example, she's there for 8 hours which that could be considered 8 units in a Western university, so she'd be a half time student. No problem.

The problem, however, is this college requires almost zero homework or after class study. She has no books to take home and study. She does do a good job as far as the school requirements are concerned with tests and etc. but they appear so low, I fear it's nearly a waste of time to even bother.

When I say there's almost zero homework, that's not exactly true, but what there is to do is practically silly. I've seen her do a simple copy and paste job which is all she is supposed to do for an assignment. I don't see that as very stimulating for a young mind in a "computer" course.

And as limited as the hours are for actual class time, I just don't see how the school can justify taking three Saturdays in a row for a sports day where they played other schools in soccer. In fact, one of those three days was a cultural day where there was entertainment given at the school by and for the student body. No classes were offered those three Saturdays. Another mandatory activity was to spend a weekend at a wat for cultural learning which had nothing to do with the program she signed up for. And then there was a weekend trip for the entire school to go to Laos. Again cultural education. Right there are five days spent away from providing the teaching of the classes for which she enrolled. And then, of course there's always the holidays the school designates.

I sometimes get the feeling it's two steps forward and one step back.

She's about to embark on a continuing program at what she's calling a university but having visited the school together, I fear it'll be more of the same.

Her parents told her at the age of 15 they simply could no longer support her education so she's unable to enroll officially at a university she was told. We tried that route.

I'd far rather she attend an actual university on an audit basis and possibly learn something rather than just spin her wheels at a school that will simply issue a certificate at the end of its program.

I'm willing to support her at any school to which she can gain admission but it appears her options in Thailand are not extensive. I'm looking for the best solution for her to face the future.

So, anyone know if she can attend university classes without being an actual enrolled student at the university?

TIA

[kannot]

it aint education its brainwashing..............u probably realised that already

[watcharacters]

it aint education its brainwashing..............u probably realised that already

I appreciate your feelings, but I'm hoping someone has a fix on the specific question I asked as well. My thought is it's a government supported institution paid for by taxes.

I know at the time I attended one of the University of Californian campuses, a public university, the cost to do so was minimal. Today it's quite expensive but anyone is still free to sit in on lectures to his heart's content.

Is that opportunity available at Thailand universities?

[Rooo]

Moved to Education Forum

[richard10365]

There are online courses she can take for free if she understands English. EdX.org has some. There are others but you need to find them online.

[watcharacters]

There are online courses she can take for free if she understands English. EdX.org has some. There are others but you need to find them online.

Thanks Richard but the topic really is a question was about auditing classes at a Thai University. I gather from the lack of replies even teachers on this board are unsure of the answer. Looks like we'll be making a trip to a University soon.

I was hesitant to post it in the first place and now I realize I should have listened to my better judgment. Live and learn.

Nevertheless, Richard10365, cudos to you for posting about EdX.org.

Edited February 13, 2015 by watcharacters

[richard10365]

I think the best route is to get her qualified to attend a university program. Thailand does have adult education classes to get her her secondary school certificate. Any other route keeps her limited in her life in what she can do. If you're near Bangkok you can enroll in a GED course which is also just as good.

[casualbiker]

If all she's doing is getting a degree. Here in Thailand just worry about the end results .. the paper degree!

[richard10365]

I suppose that depends on the student and where they study in Thailand.

[SlyAnimal]

Is she currently studying at the Gor Sor Nor?? (School of Non Formal Education for Adults, or something like that).

e.g. Does it offer the equivalent of a high school diploma, which then allows people to attend University? (Or to at least apply for University courses, I assume they can't just instantly be accepted into the top universities).

As each amphur, and evem Tambon I think, has a Gor Sor Nor, which offers the equivalent of a high school diploma over a 1 or 2 year course (Depending on when they dropped out of school).

They make it really flexible, so that people can fit it in around work and try to make it sorta fun and not too tedious, as they know that the students dropped out once from high school, and so they don't want them to completely give up on education. Particularly as many of them haven't studied for years and years, and so aren't used to being a student (And when they were used to being students, they probably weren't the students who did their homework every day lol). My wife teaches at the Gor Sor Nor sometimes, whenever they are doing a "camp" for a particular subject, and I occasionally go to help her with the English ones, and if some of the students could find information on the internet then copy/paste it, that'd be a real achievement (When she taught them Information Technology, she had to start off by explaining to half the class, about how to left/right click).

But yeah, ask her about if her course is the Gor Sor Nor or another course. As graduation from the Gor Sor Nor would allow her to sit a university entrance examination, although she might need to do some additional private study before the university entrance exams, as from what you've described, I don't know if the Gor Sor Nor would adequately prepare her for the exams (Although each university has a different standard, and your wife would probably know which universities she would have the best shot at, since she would be a good gauge of her own ability, and could likely find examples of questions online etc, so gauge the difficulty of each institution).

Regarding audited classes, I've never heard of them (At my university in NZ, outsiders weren't allowed in classes, but we could go to lectures other than our own without any problems, unless the class had too many "extras", in which case they'd check ID cards at the door). From asking my wife, she didn't think they have any audited classes at universities, or at least not that she knew of when she was at uni, although sitting in would be a bit more difficult since you'd stand out if not wearing a uniform.

[SheungWan]

The answer of course is no, unless there are some classes which are being show-cased for marketing purposes.

For sure she should attend a course where she is a full participant and that means undertaking both assessment and reading the necessary materials.

So the pathway you are currently enquiring about is likely fruitless and not worthwhile.

[Stradavarius37]

No, for auditing. That is only available as an option in the US to "full time students" who are enrolled and paying full time fees. In Thailand, there is no "full time fee" - everything is paid credit by credit. If you want to sit in the class you have to pay for the class.