New school hours in Thailand to be effective on Nov 2

[Mosha]

My wife's niece was here, and I asked at what age high school finished. I was told 20. If that's right the quality of education has to be the issue, not the school day.

[Confuscious]

Make the school hours shorter is a benefit for the teachers and the school.
NOT the students.

The teachers and the school will blame the bad scores on the shorter school time and the only way to get a good score is to do "extra classes" at a HEAVY PRICE TAG.

It seems to me that everything this Government is bringing out is only meant to benefit a few well paid persons and not the common people.

Look further than your nose is long (Dutch proverb).

[kevvy]

Son just got home from school , the school learning finishes at 2.30pm , but the children have to stay till 4.15 for other activities .Wife rang the school board and they confirmed that the students have to stay till 4.14 pm .

[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.

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.

Banning phones would be good for sure.

I disagree with one thing: Children are absolutely not lazy! Maria Montessori observed this over 100 years ago - children have a deep inner desire to learn. The entire montessori school system is based on that, and it works. As an example, my son learned reading at age 5 without anyone promting him to. He was given the opportunity in school - and at some point he realized how interesting books are and he spent entire days and weeks going through the reading learning materials at the school. Pretty soon he was reading books. Other kids only get interested in reading later - they learn other things at that time.

If they appear lazy in school it's because they are made to learn things they are not interested in; rather than encouraging them to explore the things they want to explore - like a Montessori School does, or the abovementioned Sudbury schools - the normal schools squash their creativity, their inquisitiveness, their curiosity. It is an epic waste of everyone's time. And actually detrimental to child development.

I remember there were a few interesting classes in my highschool - and they were interesting despite the system, and solely because of fantastic teachers who would go and teach kids despite all the obstacles the school and school system threw at them.

[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.

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.

The US is not the only place with that type of school. One exists in the UK and it is over 70 years old. Thing is not every kid, infact very few, benefit from such a style. Many/most need a strict regime.

[Pormax]

Is it any wonder the education of children in Thailand is so poor.

Yesterday my daughter who is in High school comes home to say there is no school on Thursday.

When asked her why as it is not a public holiday the reason below was given.

The head teacher is 60 Years old on Thursday so then has to retire so the teachers are having a party for him!!

Could this not wait for Saturday?

Of course not. It gives an excuse for teachers not to teach and they don't want to ruin their weekend where some have private tutorials, so will lose money.

[Jonmarleesco]

I'm pretty sure HM's royal initiative was never intended to give schoolkids more playtime. My school day finished at 4.00 p.m.; any extracurricular activities followed that.

[Jonmarleesco]

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.

Their viewing something as useless doesn't mean that it is, or that they shouldn't learn it. Should they avoid learning maths because they consider it useless? Should they be able to elect not to learn to read and write, because they can't see the point? Should they be left in ignorance of the cause and effect of two world wars - I know, many are, but that is not the point - because those wars are ancient history?

The kids' interest, or not, in learning comes down to the ability of a teacher to harness and nurture that interest.

[nikster]

Their viewing something as useless doesn't mean that it is, or that they shouldn't learn it. Should they avoid learning maths because they consider it useless? Should they be able to elect not to learn to read and write, because they can't see the point? Should they be left in ignorance of the cause and effect of two world wars - I know, many are, but that is not the point - because those wars are ancient history?

The kids' interest, or not, in learning comes down to the ability of a teacher to harness and nurture that interest.

That's an opinion that is not backed up by any facts. It's assumed to be true because that's what we learned in school...

The Montessori school says different - they say that kids have an inherent and innate desire to learn. I'd say this is obvious to anyone observing children. But that's just my opinion. Beyond that, Montessori is actually well researched. It's based on observations, not opinions.

Why don't you trust your kids ability to learn things they need? That's really the question.

Obviously kids need to be exposed to all knowledge that we as humanity have accumulated. Showing them all that is available is important. But letting them choose to follow their interest is equally important.

I'll ask anyone here how much they really remember from their school years. Apply some logic. Anything that you know you learned, and don't remember now, was probably a waste of everyone's time. Yeah there's some allowance for the idea of "general knowledge"but why should anyone memorize the year where Napoleon did X. In my life, I'd be just as happy knowing nothing about Napoleon, and actually I would know just as much about him as I know now.

You have an interest in world wars, so you probably know quite a bit about them. But if I ask random people who have learned about them in school, I am willing to bet good money that 99% won't remember a thing. They'll remember that Nazis are bad, but I'm pretty sure nobody would know anything about WW1.... who fought against who, and why. This is exactly the sort of thing that should be left to those developing a natural interest in these things. I'm not interested in them, I've forgotten pretty much everything about it - although it's just a Google search away should it be needed. So why did I have to learn this in the first place? If it's not forced on people, there will still kids that love history, and that will learn all they can about it.

[DisparateDan]

Bertrand Russell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell), opened and ran a school where the students had "free choice" on everything.

He later related it was the worst thing he ever did.

[BlindMagician]

Their viewing something as useless doesn't mean that it is, or that they shouldn't learn it. Should they avoid learning maths because they consider it useless? Should they be able to elect not to learn to read and write, because they can't see the point? Should they be left in ignorance of the cause and effect of two world wars - I know, many are, but that is not the point - because those wars are ancient history?

The kids' interest, or not, in learning comes down to the ability of a teacher to harness and nurture that interest.

That's an opinion that is not backed up by any facts. It's assumed to be true because that's what we learned in school...

The Montessori school says different - they say that kids have an inherent and innate desire to learn. I'd say this is obvious to anyone observing children. But that's just my opinion. Beyond that, Montessori is actually well researched. It's based on observations, not opinions.

Why don't you trust your kids ability to learn things they need? That's really the question.

Obviously kids need to be exposed to all knowledge that we as humanity have accumulated. Showing them all that is available is important. But letting them choose to follow their interest is equally important.

I'll ask anyone here how much they really remember from their school years. Apply some logic. Anything that you know you learned, and don't remember now, was probably a waste of everyone's time. Yeah there's some allowance for the idea of "general knowledge"but why should anyone memorize the year where Napoleon did X. In my life, I'd be just as happy knowing nothing about Napoleon, and actually I would know just as much about him as I know now.

You have an interest in world wars, so you probably know quite a bit about them. But if I ask random people who have learned about them in school, I am willing to bet good money that 99% won't remember a thing. They'll remember that Nazis are bad, but I'm pretty sure nobody would know anything about WW1.... who fought against who, and why. This is exactly the sort of thing that should be left to those developing a natural interest in these things. I'm not interested in them, I've forgotten pretty much everything about it - although it's just a Google search away should it be needed. So why did I have to learn this in the first place? If it's not forced on people, there will still kids that love history, and that will learn all they can about it.

Your mistake is that you are focussing on memory.

Look at Bloom's taxonomy of learning.

The educational process might leave a trail of forgotten facts, but its more important effect is to have developed your thinking, as well aspects such as creativity, skills, etc.

[DisparateDan]

Yesterday "my" boy 6 yo Thai, wanted to know why there is no air on the moon.

I told him I did not know.

He then asked why is the sky blue.

I told him I did not know.

He then asked..well many questions.

I told him I did not know.

He said "Dan, do you mind me asking all these questions?"

"Of course not", I said, " If you don't ask you'll never know"

Edited November 22, 2015 by DisparateDan