Teacher quality project revived

[webfact]

Teacher quality project revived
Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation

TDRI president says good choices possible with high supply, low demand

BANGKOK: -- THE Education Ministry is reviving the Khuruthayat Project through which successful candidates will get scholarships to study in teacher-education programmes and get teaching jobs after their graduation.

The project, which was scrapped more than a decade ago, aims to recruit quality teachers to the country's educational sector.

Education Council secretary-general Prof Piniti Ratananukul yesterday disclosed that the Khuruthayat Project would name nearly 6,000 scholarship recipients in its first year. The project will run until 2029.

"We will choose about 4,000 participants from Mathayom 6 graduates who will enrol in the teacher-education programme and the rest from university graduates who will take an extra course to get teacher licences," he said. The extra course will take about one to one and a half years.

The country's ongoing educational reform now focuses on teacher quality, as research suggests the educational quality will depend largely on the quality of teachers.

Speaking at a seminar on Wednesday, Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) president Somkiat Tangkitvanich said the country should be able to recruit quality teachers to classrooms to improve education quality given that supply surpassed demand.

"With the supply of about 600,000 teacher candidates to be available by 2019 and just 40,000 or 50,000 positions to fill, we should be able to get really qualified ones," Somkiat said.

He believed quality teachers were one of the main cores to raise the country's educational standards.

Deputy Education Minister Krissanapong Kiratikorn said at the same seminar that the country's education should also be adjusted to respond well to the world's changing context.

"Today, the world expects members of its labour force to have many skills, particularly about fast-evolving technologies," he said, "The Education Ministry will strive to equip Thai children with up-to-date skills".

Krissanapong said that his ministry had also focused on promoting lifelong learning, as Thailand would soon become an ageing society.

"In addition to the fact that the country will see a lower birth rate and the growing population of the elderly, we also need to think about dropouts," he said.

According to available statistics, one out of 10 children going to schools quit before they complete primary education. About five others complete just Mathayom 3 or vocational-certificate education. One will go to a university but never graduate.

"From the statistics, it is clear that seven out of 10 Thai youth will drop out of official schooling before they acquire solid skills and knowledge," Krissanapong said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Teacher-quality-project-revived-30256824.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-27

[quandow]

The quality of teachers is not the issue - it's the entire educational system. I recently wrote about how a fellow teacher (we work in Southeast Asia's largest private school system) had to pass a student who had put not ONE viable mark on his final exam; he couldn't even write his name. This student is 12 years old and has had years of English lessons, he's just a drooling idiot with rich parents, and we have to pass him anyway. Until honest reporting is accepted, the Thai leaders will just keep their heads in the sand and blame it on the lack of quality teachers.

[Kayahammer]

The quality of teachers is not the issue - it's the entire educational system. I recently wrote about how a fellow teacher (we work in Southeast Asia's largest private school system) had to pass a student who had put not ONE viable mark on his final exam; he couldn't even write his name. This student is 12 years old and has had years of English lessons, he's just a drooling idiot with rich parents, and we have to pass him anyway. Until honest reporting is accepted, the Thai leaders will just keep their heads in the sand and blame it on the lack of quality teachers.

maybe the kid is special needs and would benefit from compassion and understanding. Maybe...

[wotsdermatter]

Surprising how, in the past, many people here complain about how students are allowed to continue their education even if they fail a grade. When I taught here, since 1994 until retiring a couple of years ago, I was never told to do that. However, for those who make such statements, this type of action is condoned in Canada, U.K., U.S., and other countries. Teachers are not allowed to "fail" a student. Case in point last year, a teacher in Alberta was fired for not passing students who do no homework assignments, nor did they do any work in the classroom. Other students got a petition up and sent it to the School Board complaining about their action. The teacher was eventually reinstated, because of the support the students gave him. In Thailand, it is partly the fault of poor teacher education, partly the fault of Thai society not really providing quality education, and the lack of parental concern that their offspring should be encouraged to study and learn. Surprising, though, how Thai students pick up playing cell phone games, computer games, and the like, without understanding the language being used in the games because they are conditioned to just play without thinking about what they are doing. No critical thinking involved, they are just like Pavlov's dogs - conditioned to salivate but do not know the real reason why - just react.

[thhMan]

He believed quality teachers were one of the main cores to raise the country's educational standards.

When a comment like that is made, then it only shows how stupid the people who are running the show really are...

[lostinisaan]

From the statistics, it is clear that seven out of 10 Thai youth will drop out of official schooling before they acquire solid skills and knowledge," Krissanapong said.

Is working at a bar and telling all old and fat foreigners that they love them too much a solid skill?

[DaiHard]

They will create 600,000 new teachers (1% of the population) to fill 50,000 posts? Am I missing something here or is that not a huge disincentive?

[WonnabeBiker]

Well, I wish they would turn into a customer-centric service provider.

It's not always clear what constitutes >a good teacher<.

For English, it would help if

• the teacher were a NES or had outstanding pronunciation
• the teacher could actually speak, write and understad English. (The TOEIC score should be >700. It's absurd to hire foreign teachers with sub 600 scores while Thai talent has got no chance even with a >800 score to start at say 16,000 Baht).
• schools had a syllabus for each class and curricula.

Is there a book? Errm, maybe yes, only the students haven't gotten it yet. Or it's awful. - But hey, Thailand spends 4% of GDP on education?!

[lostinisaan]

Well, I wish they would turn into a customer-centric service provider.

It's not always clear what constitutes >a good teacher<.

For English, it would help if

• the teacher were a NES or had outstanding pronunciation
• the teacher could actually speak, write and understad English. (The TOEIC score should be >700. It's absurd to hire foreign teachers with sub 600 scores while Thai talent has got no chance even with a >800 score to start at say 16,000 Baht).
• schools had a syllabus for each class and curricula.

Is there a book? Errm, maybe yes, only the students haven't gotten it yet. Or it's awful. - But hey, Thailand spends 4% of GDP on education?!

Here’s my solution to solve most homemade problems. Send all of them who’d like to become English teachers to an English speaking country and let them study there for at least four years.

When they come back, they certainly speak English and do not lose face anymore. Those teachers would also be qualified enough to hear/know the difference between a good spoken and written English and the Tinglishised version of it.

At least the right start with the hopefully right Co-pilot in the cockpit.

Just my 5 baht to it.

Edited April 2, 2015 by lostinisaan

[puchooay]

Student exams need to be centralised.

At present teachers write their own exams. They tell the students what is in the test. Students pass and parents are happy that the good teacher has taught their children so well.

Maybe, just maybe, if the exams were unseen an students failed there would be some complaints.