New school hours in Thailand to be effective on Nov 2

[BlindMagician]

Another surface knee jerk solution to a serious and deeply ingrained set of problems...sigh.

[jamestip2013]

My Wifes Daughter goes to High School in Cha-am on the 31st October or 2nd November. Ask her teacher and she says "up to you" so I said "monday 2nd November.. .. Ask in advance (so you can book a holiday) when school breaks up or when it goes back.. Guess ?????? Nobody knows..!!! not even the teacher. "up to him" that is the Headmaster. He doesn't make his mind up until the week before... Its about time schools have mandated school holiday dates instead like most other places in the world. The "up to him" attitude spins over onto every Thai everyday regarding everything.. They all do what they like all the time . A classic example is all the Immigration offices working under Central Government Law but what happens .. "he does this ""She does that" .. what a shambles.Even within an office they all do what they like!!!! when in reality the rules should be the same everywhere.. Amazing Thailand

[thaikahuna]

The kids learn precious little now. shortening the school day will only fill up the internet shops and have others causing havoc in the malls....not a wise move.

[waldroj]

The Ministry of Education is ready to impose shorter school hours! Oh yes, we’re getting used to having the junta’s policy imposed on people.

When the kids go back to school on Monday, those at 4,100 schools will be guineapigs in the PM’s scheme to reduce classroom hours in public schools nationwide in order to make time for good values and living skills.

When news of this scheme first appeared on Thai Visa Forum on 5 October, it even came with a hackneyed slogan that (on the surface) bore all the hallmarks of the PM’s meddling, “Teach Less, Learn More”.

In reality, like most other catch cries bandied about by the junta, this slogan has also been "borrowed" from elsewhere (it appeared Singapore in 2006, the UK in 2008, and in Finland in 2011).

As for General Dapong, he may well have introduced the new scheme, but you can be quite certain that he probably doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, after all he is the 17th Education Minister in the past 14 years which, in itself should be sounding alarm bells about a problem within the education system in Thailand!

The new plan will see “the school finishing time from 3.30 pm to 2.30 pm in a bid to give the students a chance to learn from useful activities after school”. Instead of formal class work, students will now be required to spend those saved hours doing extracurricular activities.

According to the results of a poll of 2,089 kids by Chulalongkorn University, most of them expressed support for the reduced hours, believing it would provide a break from hard studies, relieve stress, and thus "make them happier at school".

However, they may be in for a very rude shock, as the PM stressed that teachers must integrate all compulsory curriculum within the shorter class times - which does not look good for the stress levels of students and their unfortunate teachers (hence it may truly become an “imposition” as NNT said).

While this initiative seemed popular with students, there have been no reports of how teachers are reacting to it. It would be interesting to have a few of their views reported here too.

Finally, one needs to ask how will the success (or failure) of the scheme be gauged, and whether there will be any mechanism to roll back the changes if they fail to show any measurable success?

[chickenslegs]

lucky them , when i was child in france we finish at 4pm 5 pm really tired

A glass or two of wine with lunch makes me tired by 5pm too.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

New shortened school hours to start on Monday

BANGKOK:-- The Ministry of Education is set to impose shorter school hours in the upcoming semester, which starts this Monday, in compliance with the policy to allow students more time to take up extracurricular activities.

Education Minister Gen. Dapong Ratanasuwan pointed out that the reform of Thai education requires changes in the educational structure, curricula and quality of personnel. He said it is crucial to foster a good relationship between teachers and students.

Dapong stated that the Education Ministry had been assigned by the prime minister to search for ways to make classroom lessons more concise, allowing students to study with ease and enabling them to apply the knowledge in real life.

Read more: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/10/30/new-shortened-school-hours-start-monday

-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-10-31

[Pormax]

The headline is wrong it should read ' Teachers to be paid the same for less hours working'

According to my daughter aged 17 and in the last year of high school, teaching will finish at 2.30pm but they will not be allowed out of school until 4pm as before,

unless the parent goes to school on the day and requests them to leave early. The school 'bus' runs will leave the same time as before.

Perhaps then they can use this time to get the pupils to cut the grass, plant vegatables, (for the teachers to take home and eat), clean the classrooms etc instead of telling them that they have to go to

school on a Saturday or Sunday to do these tasks when there are no school 'buses' and therefore children in rural areas have to either ride illegally on motorbikes to school or some parents have to do up to a 50km

return journey twice a day in the car.

At least one day of a weekend per month my daughter has to go to school and we live in a rural village 20kms from the school. Thankfully she has a motorbike licence so can go on her motorbike.

Others are either not old enough, do not have any kind of transport or are llegally too young to ride a motorbike. The other point I think why this is wrong is that no prior warning is given, if they are required to go to school on a Saturday

or Sunday, this is told on a Friday so as a family we can not plan anything on a weekend until she arrives home from school on a Friday.

They have to attend the given days as they are told this will effect whether they pass their end of year exams!!

[DisparateDan]

While I agree the school day for some children is ridiculously long especially in more rural areas where they use the school bus and are often out of the house for over 12 hours,but the other half of me is wondering what they shall do with the extra time,I suppose it will be iPads,telephones and Internet shops as always.

We will soon know when the already slow internet gets bogged down that little bit earlier with the advent of schools finishing earlier.

A month ago I may have agreed with you but the recent 3 week holidays, my kids that were always playing on their tablets didn't touch them once, was surprised...days were filled with cycling, sports, beach swimming just playing with friends

6 yo Thai ..

Go to Khun Lat's and see new piglets.

Go to Khun Lat's and actually catch fish.

Go to Railway and watch new tracks being laid, chat to the crews.

Go into Stationmaster's Room and watch and question the digital train/track control display.

Cover my floor with whiteboard track layouts and the output of a versatile display of ..well..everything.

Go to Khao Keo Zoo

Maintenance of bicycle and scooter.

Watch orthopedic surgery on youtube and construct a whole OR with Plasticine limbs, broken bones, knives, forceps, surgical masks..the lot

Learn about Bacteria and Infections.

Go to an uncrowded quiet beach and dig endless holes and swim.

3 hours at a stretch in condo pool, playing constantly changing rules of Sharktopus and other predators.

90 minute sessions on the Inflatable Castle twice a week.

Playing a modified game of " I Spy"

Playing "Lightbot" and Minecraft on PC and Tablet

Scouring youtube and me being amazed by the serendipitous results, too many F words in some, which he has taken to.

I will miss him next week when he drags a huge bag of books from 8 to 5, I'm amazed at very tiny children..3 yo ? doing the same hours.

[puukao]

my salary just went from 29,000 baht a month to 11,000.......but they say I get to experience the great countryside!!!

knowledge is soooo underrated anyhow.....My world history knowledge never gets me a discount at the bars!!!!

We should just have 3 classes for everyone: How to get likes on Facebook. How to take selfies. How to get free money.

[Squeegee]

A lot of Thai teachers only go into school to recruit students for their after school private classes, these can be seen taking place in many venues around towns and villages from about 5pm to 9pm. At school many classes are missed, or the teacher just doesn't show up because breakfast and lunch or facebook take precedence. Many students feel they have to go to the private classes in order to keep up. Thai teacher gets to pay for her car and stupid gadgets that she bought on credit. It's a huge scam and takes place at every government school in the country. The new school hours will just make this business more profitable.

Happens at private schools too.

[kaorop]

You really think dishonest politicians, police and other government officials are somehow unique to Thailand? Were you living in a protective bubble when you were back in Farangville?

Imagine you lived in a country which last year had 3,000 allegations of police corruption. Worse, imagine that of these 3,000 allegations only half of them were properly investigated — because for police officers in this country, corruption was becoming routine. Imagine that the police increasingly used their powers to crack down not on criminals but on anyone who dared speak out against them. What sort of a country is this? Well, it’s Britain I’m afraid — where what was once the finest, most honest service in the world is in danger of becoming rotten.

http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/03/the-shocking-truth-about-police-corruption-in-britain/

"No wonder the average Thai is apathetic. "

Over the past forty years, power, money and greed have corrupted our elected government officials at every level. What’s most alarming is that the blatant corruption running rampant in Washington is actually being tolerated by the American people. Unfortunately, members of both parties act as if their jobs are nothing more than a big political game. They’re so focused on insulting the other side and getting their own agendas passed that they forget who they’re supposed to be working for: the United States public.

http://economyincrisis.org/content/political-corruption-on-the-rise

Ya damm right there Sura old boy, we should discuss the down fall of every other nation on this planet before we get stuck into Thailand.

I tell you what, I'll start, Australia is full of self serving lying politicians, what say you?

[Keesters]

Increase the educational standard of Thai children by reducing school hours. Typical Thai logic like the faster I drive the more I'll miss all the accidents.

[waldroj]

Good pickup kaorop, I would just like to add that Suradit69's examples highlight another thing lacking in Thailand - a free and critical media!

[DisparateDan]

Increase the educational standard of Thai children by reducing school hours. Typical Thai logic like the faster I drive the more I'll miss all the accidents.

Norwegian children start primary school at the age of six. Their school day lasts for around four hours and later increases to six or seven hours.

Don't think these children suffer educationally.

BTW the root of the word "education" is educare, to ""To draw out that which lies within." ", not "to hammer in"

[SOTIRIOS]

.....without any structure or programs in place......

...just a half-baked idea......

...and as for the family schedules....what will it do there......

[SoilSpoil]

Thai students waste at least 50% of their school time parading, marching, flag waving, dancing and prancing.

[callaway]

Looking at some of the kids up in Isaan going to school 24/7 wouldnt help. The rocket scientists jobs are safe. I think it is mainly due to the uneducated ones they call teachers. The ones i have met couldnt teach a dog to lick it balls. They do not care for the kids and there is no incentive to push the kids to learn. If they do not get a couple of baht extra a month slipped to them then they are not interested.

[dageurreotype]

While I agree the school day for some children is ridiculously long especially in more rural areas where they use the school bus and are often out of the house for over 12 hours,but the other half of me is wondering what they shall do with the extra time,I suppose it will be iPads,telephones and Internet shops as always.

We will soon know when the already slow internet gets bogged down that little bit earlier with the advent of schools finishing earlier.

A month ago I may have agreed with you but the recent 3 week holidays, my kids that were always playing on their tablets didn't touch them once, was surprised...days were filled with cycling, sports, beach swimming just playing with friends

That's great news, but what changed?

[dageurreotype]

Thai students waste at least 50% of their school time parading, marching, flag waving, dancing and prancing.

Yeah I find that kind of disturbing. I was seated across from some woman and what looked to be about 4/5 year old son. Head to toe in khaki, cap and all. all that was missing was the AK47.

[ronwparker]

Thai education is so bad on average that they need not just longer hours but better teaching

Edited October 31, 2015 by ronwparker

[Eagleizer]

Piloted in 4,100 schools? That sounds like too many if you ask me.

In Norway, kids have the option to stay in "school", after school...

This costs a lot of money. Result: Kids from poor families are spending

their time alone, waiting for their friends to come home and play, or their

parents to come home from work...

Not at all sure this is a good idea...

To see the possible downsides of this "experiment", it needs to run for

years, and then, to call this a pilot when it`s done in 4100 schools, it`s

just not the right word for it.

Or, maybe I`m just seeing this wrong...

Cheers

[phantomfiddler]

The education/knowledge level of the schoolchildren must surely go down as a result, a key requirement in keeping control of a third world country. Already the poorest education standards of any of the southeast asian countries, what chance do these students have in a technologically spiraling world

[nikster]

Increase the educational standard of Thai children by reducing school hours. Typical Thai logic like the faster I drive the more I'll miss all the accidents.

The actual problem is that this kind of attitude is too prevalent - kids are innocent, the parents perpetuate the insanity.

Imagine a school where the kids do whatever they want. All day long. There are lots of options to do school-like stuff - but you don't have to. You can sit around twiddle your thumbs all day if you like.

I'm sure you'd be shocked. You'd say - hey, no, this cannot be. They need to learn that life is not fun. They need to learn that they have to do things they don't want to do in order to make money, so they can send their own kids to a school where they learn how to do things they don't want to do.... and so on....

Well this school exists, it's in the USA, look up Sudbury Valley School. They have higher than national average college attendance rates. Kids are much happier too. And they grow up to be happier adults.

The current school system is broken, and the less there is of it, the better. How much of what you learned in school do you remember? I remember learning to get passing grades with minimal effort - didn't need 12 years of school for that though. Nowadays where your test scores are so important, I'd probably learn how to get optimal test scores with minimal effort - test is over, forget everything.

True story: I was talking to one of the traditional but elite international school principals. She told me that there's a lot of Chinese and Korean kids and they need special English classes. Except that one Chinese kid, he arrived speaking perfect english when he was 13 years old. She asked him how he'd learned English so well. Answer: He wanted to learn English, so he hit up free classes on YouTube. I am not sure why she told me this - but that's the way it is now.

The best course programs in the world are online and free. If you want to learn Computer Science the way it's taught at Stanford University in California - it's all online. You can do that. So the purpose of a school is now social interaction, and getting kids interested in different topics. Developing a love for learning - or since kids actually love learning to begin with, not crushing their love for learning by demanding they learn useless stuff that doesn't interest them.

[hawksway]

Great!

That will do wonders for education in Thailand. Why waste time doing maths and science when you can play football?

[Pormax]

Increase the educational standard of Thai children by reducing school hours. Typical Thai logic like the faster I drive the more I'll miss all the accidents.

The actual problem is that this kind of attitude is too prevalent - kids are innocent, the parents perpetuate the insanity.

Imagine a school where the kids do whatever they want. All day long. There are lots of options to do school-like stuff - but you don't have to. You can sit around twiddle your thumbs all day if you like.

I'm sure you'd be shocked. You'd say - hey, no, this cannot be. They need to learn that life is not fun. They need to learn that they have to do things they don't want to do in order to make money, so they can send their own kids to a school where they learn how to do things they don't want to do.... and so on....

Well this school exists, it's in the USA, look up Sudbury Valley School. They have higher than national average college attendance rates. Kids are much happier too. And they grow up to be happier adults.

The current school system is broken, and the less there is of it, the better. How much of what you learned in school do you remember? I remember learning to get passing grades with minimal effort - didn't need 12 years of school for that though. Nowadays where your test scores are so important, I'd probably learn how to get optimal test scores with minimal effort - test is over, forget everything.

True story: I was talking to one of the traditional but elite international school principals. She told me that there's a lot of Chinese and Korean kids and they need special English classes. Except that one Chinese kid, he arrived speaking perfect english when he was 13 years old. She asked him how he'd learned English so well. Answer: He wanted to learn English, so he hit up free classes on YouTube. I am not sure why she told me this - but that's the way it is now.

The best course programs in the world are online and free. If you want to learn Computer Science the way it's taught at Stanford University in California - it's all online. You can do that. So the purpose of a school is now social interaction, and getting kids interested in different topics. Developing a love for learning - or since kids actually love learning to begin with, not crushing their love for learning by demanding they learn useless stuff that doesn't interest them.

Yes I agree with you that if you really want to learn just about anything now can be found online.

The problem I see with that is it gives teachers a good excuse not to teach properly, and tell the students to go on the web.

However many families cannot afford a computer and internet. Many rural areas have no internet connection.

Unfortunately you can't make children learn if they do not want to and many don't. They are lazy.

However social media networking and games are what the kids want to do on their computers and this in itself causes problems.

Therefore the teaching quality in schools has to be improved.

One thing to do is ban mobile phones in school, this for the teachers aswell as the students.

Also note that there are no parent evenings where you can go and discuss your childrens development.

No doubt this is because teachers do not want to be confronted by parents about the poor teaching.

I would also suggest, throw out the calculators as most high school children cannot ad 5 and 8 together without one.

[jacko45k]

Darn, I used to always set off back to the house prior to 3.30 to avoid dumb kids on bikes, now I need set off an hour earlier to avoid even dumber kids.

[bangon04]

Thai students waste at least 50% of their school time parading, marching, flag waving, dancing and prancing.

but you have to admit they are really really good at it.....

[kaorop]

Thai students waste at least 50% of their school time parading, marching, flag waving, dancing and prancing.

Yeah but they're good at it, right?

(probably should read all posts, lol, see above, who beat me to it)

Edited November 1, 2015 by kaorop

[kaorop]

Good pickup kaorop, I would just like to add that Suradit69's examples highlight another thing lacking in Thailand - a free and critical media!

I'm quite happy for that member to challenge the so called "Thai bashing", if and when it is so, but the constant "but it happens in xxxxxxx" is pointless to the actual thread and offers no alternative.

[Ks45672]

Get ready for the Social Media frenzzzzyyyyyyyy attack......

Buy shares in Facebook... What else do they do with more free hours and no money except sit somewhere with free wifi and.... ?