Ray of hope for Thai education system

[webfact]

CHALK TALK
Ray of hope for Thai education system
CHULARAT SAENGPASSA

BANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Education's recent announcement of new criteria for teachers' Vidhayathana - trans-academic standing and competency assessment - is a good sign.

The Office of the Teacher Civil Service and Educational Personnel Commission approved the new criteria and methods governing teachers' application for Vidhayathana's "special expertise" and "specialist teacher" titles, with students' academic achievement easily the most important factor.

From past experience, one must admit that the Vidhayathana assessments didn't help students, as the more expertise and specialist teachers there were the poorer the students' results seemed to get. This is despite the fact that Vidhayathana's real objective - as part of the second round of education reform - is to promote teacher development.

The new criteria needed before someone is granted a special expertise or specialist teacher title is as follows:

- The assessment focuses on the results a teacher as delivered in terms of their students' performances;

- A teacher must be able to elevate the quality of education concretely;

- The assessment is conducted in a classroom environment, which will help stop teachers abandoning classes;

- Prior to the application for a Vidhayathana assessment, a teacher must pass an examination and have their experience assessed by their affiliated civil service agency;

It's good to see the new criteria giving more weight to students' academic achievements. In fact, that element is now 80 per cent of the assessment, and comprises various components like the Ordinary National Education Test (ONET) scores, the central examination scores, and a student's public consciousness, while the remaining 20 per cent is based on the output and quality of a teacher's work. Those teaching at rural schools, or teachers with overwhelming teaching burdens, or those teaching at schools suffering a teacher shortages will get extra points in this part.

The consideration of ONET scores will be done at a school and national level. The assessment also aims to compare students' academic improvement, meaning students in rural schools or small schools, who generally get lower scores, could still have some leverage.

For the Vidhayathana criteria for school administrators, a student's academic achievement counts for 50 per cent of the assessment, with general administration and community participation 30 per cent and teacher/human resource development and ethics 20 per cent.

Above all, the new assessment will ensure teachers don't abandon classes or hire someone else to do their work for submission.

Getting more money by achieving special expertise or specialist teacher status serves as an incentive. In the past, teachers spent a lot of time working on papers to apply for a special expertise or specialist teacher title. The extra money makes life easier, and thus many teachers did anything and everything in pursuit of this goal.

The special expertise title has two levels. Kru chamnankan comes with Bt3,500 extra pay and kru chamnankan piset comes with Bt12,000 extra. If a teacher's remaining civil service term is 20-30 years, the extra Bt12,000 a month until retirement would be very handy.

"The extra Bt12,000 a month times 20 remaining years in service means Bt2.88 million extra, while the amount times 30 remaining years equals Bt4.32 million," a teacher explained.

The old assessments for kru chamnankan and kru chamnankan piset weren't too difficult although many teachers still failed. The specialist teacher promotion for the kru chiewchan and kru chiewchan piset levels required a high-standard thesis being written, resulting in widespread cheating.

Many people reportedly make a living writing academic projects for others, while some exam paper-checking committee members resorted to extorting aspiring teachers for money. Teachers who were promoted via cheating did not gain the necessary knowledge. It was these negative factors that led the Ministry of Education to implement the change.

Thai education problems don't stem from a lack of budget because the annual budget for education rises each year, and teachers' salaries have also been increasing, Thailand Development Research Institute president Somkiat Tangkitvanich said, during a 2011 seminar on education reform in Bangkok.

Somkiat said the problems stemmed from the education system, with no one held accountable for poor results and, as such, no one bothered solving the problems.

He said the system had a "long line of accountability", meaning there were so many groups involved - including parents, politicians, civil servants, schools and teachers - no one party took full responsibility for education's ills.

"It has been proven in other countries that if the education system has clear accountability, it would boost the students' academic achievement," he said.

Somkiat urged the Education Ministry to link the Vidhayathana assessment with students' academic performance.

If the change proceeds unabated, people can hope to see better teacher and student development finally materialise. We will see more teachers seriously devoted to their pupils' education, as they should be.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Ray-of-hope-for-Thai-education-system-30260843.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-25

[SoilSpoil]

No Fail Policy = lipstick on a pig.

When students have the best teachers in the world, have the best equipped classrooms in the world, but lack a valid assessment and evaluation, any initiative will be futile. Only when students, teachers and corrupt administrators are being held accountable for their (non) actions, you can improve your system.

Why is this so hard to see?

I always find it sad to see that ambitious young students turn into mediocre ones once they realize that whether you play video games whole night or do school work doesn't really effect your grades. Everyone passes anyway.

[Gsxrnz]

Ray of hope?

More like a train coning down the tunnel.

[lostinisaan]

Those teaching at rural schools, or teachers with overwhelming teaching burdens, or those teaching at schools suffering a teacher shortages will get extra points and a free boy scout uniform in this part..

[z42]

Utter utter nonsense. What about the role of students in their own learning and development. With neither carrot nor stick nothing is likely to change in a meaningful way

[NongKhaiKid]

It doesn't matter what ministry is involved all the fine words are as regular as clockwork but does anything actually come of it ?

Anyone with knowledge of education here from parents to teachers know the score, the entrenched views, the corruption, the whole rotten system. All the fine words in the world won't change anything and the will to do so doesn't exist.

[upena]

Thailand first needs to find teachers that can pass a test in the class they teach.

[Lupatria]

Ray of hope? I think it's more like the pot at the end of a rainbow...

[angsta]

Nice to see the Nation writing utter rubbish again.

[DLang]

There is no hope for the Thai educational system.

Not while Thais are their main teachers.

[Pattaya28]

[TPI]

If the teachers don't know the subject and the students can't fail and the directors have complete control of a schools budget.........

[fred Kubasa]

Bah ! Ray of hope would, as outlined, will have to go thru 23 committees and 12 sub committees, be approved, then budgeted,

submitted for final draft. subject to corrections and wind up in the DOM, ( Dept. Of Mulling), where it will languish for eons and then ?.....

it will simply vanish !

[Torrens54]

Those teaching at rural schools, or teachers with overwhelming teaching burdens, or those teaching at schools suffering a teacher shortages will get extra points and a free boy scout uniform in this part..

I'd just be happy if those alleged Teachers of English, could read, write and speak it correctly.

[redandyellow]

My (Thai) brother in law is doing a Doctorate in English (so obviously he already has a Masters in English). I have corrected - edited his work many times over the years.

His English speaking ability is quite good, but his written work is pretty bad. I only found out a few years ago when I read Tourist signs in Thai National Parks - that my brother in law's style of written English is a "bona fide" form of Thai- English writing that has been adapted over time, albeit riddled with punctuation, grammar and syntax errors. However, it is legible enough to get the point across.

The issue of low standards of English writing in Thailand are systemic, chronic and unaddressed in. That's just the plain truth, not a put-down.

To be fair, there are other underlying reasons for this inherent lack of English proficiency in Thailand, which may not be germane to this topic.

Best

[redandyellow]

My (Thai) brother in law is doing a Doctorate in English (so obviously he already has a Masters in English). I have corrected - edited his work many times over the years.

His English speaking ability is quite good, but his written work is pretty bad. I only found out a few years ago when I read Tourist signs in Thai National Parks - that my brother in law's style of written English is a "bona fide" form of Thai- English writing that has been adapted over time, albeit riddled with punctuation, grammar and syntax errors. However, it is legible enough to get the point across.

The issue of low standards of English writing in Thailand are systemic, chronic and unaddressed in. That's just the plain truth, not a put-down.

To be fair, there are other underlying reasons for this inherent lack of English proficiency in Thailand, which may not be germane to this topic.

Best

Sorry about that. I forgot to proof read the darned thing.

My (Thai) brother in law is doing a Doctorate in English (so obviously he already has a Masters in English). I have corrected and edited his work many times over the years.

His English speaking ability is quite good, but his written work is very substandard. I only found out a few years ago when I read Tourist signs in Thai National Parks, that my brother in law's style of written English is a "bona fide" form of Thai-English writing that has been adapted over time, albeit riddled with punctuation, grammar and syntax errors. However, it is generally legible enough to get the point across, with exceptions.

The issue of low standards of English writing in Thailand are systemic, chronic and unaddressed to date. That's just the plain truth, not a put-down of Thais or Thailand.

To be fair, there are a veritable plethora of underlying reasons for the inherent lack of English proficiency in Thailand, which may not be germane to this specific topic.

Best

[diehard60]

I can see tons of coruption and lying in this program.

[Godders]

If Thailand is serious about being a player on the international stage, it should adopt adopt a globally recognised secondary education system based on IGCSE or its US equivalent.

Continue merely to tinker with the present antiquated set-up, producing qualifications only recognised in Thailand, will ensure the Kingdom continues to language in the lower regions of the Asian and world education league tables.

[Rhys]

Now focus on the Thai Teacher's Council.. the so called experts would do for a change of scenery.

[kaorop]

and teachers' salaries have also been increasing, Thailand Development Research Institute president Somkiat Tangkitvanich said

Not so for many farangs.

[Harveyg]

No Fail Policy = lipstick on a pig.

When students have the best teachers in the world, have the best equipped classrooms in the world, but lack a valid assessment and evaluation, any initiative will be futile. Only when students, teachers and corrupt administrators are being held accountable for their (non) actions, you can improve your system.

Why is this so hard to see?

I always find it sad to see that ambitious young students turn into mediocre ones once they realize that whether you play video games whole night or do school work doesn't really effect your grades. Everyone passes anyway.

Then it follows doesn't it, that the only reason for students to learn is because of some accountability threat. It seems that is what you are saying. Furthermore, absent such threat as is now the case, there is no reason for students to learn for simply the sake of learning.

I disagree. In an ideal educational setting, which exists nowhere, I'm not sure any accountability is desirable and in our present setting of anti ideal, it is equally not desirable to not have accountability.

My premise: every student wants very much to succeed.

The teachers job: uncover and facilitate that possibility.

Whatever success is gained in this endeavor is in spite of any accountability or accountability threat and may be more important than any learning gained from accountability.

But we are really talking about only one aspect of education in the classroom.

I wonder if farang teachers could even agree on what it means to be a teacher.

We certainly have differing opinions on most things here.

Of course it is always easier (and safer) to look outside oneself for answers, but not nearly as rewarding.

[lostinisaan]

Above all, the new assessment will ensure teachers don't abandon classes or hire someone else to do their work for submission.

Here's a very good example of an experienced foreign English teacher. Passed the Thai culture course with A 1+

[Scott]

Does this mean that instead of giving the students who should have failed the 50% they always get, I now have to give them 80% and I am a specialist teacher?

If the students' performance is a part of the criteria, it has to be assessed independently.