Thai officials to slash number of foreign English teachers

[Genericnic]

When I first saw the title of the topic, I was hopeful that they were going to start culling the native English speakers who were truly inept teachers and focus on upgrading the quality of the teaching pool. Silly me.

David

[PankajAmrit]

Yes, the Thai teacher stating to loose face.

So the only option for Thais is to eliminate the competition. Since this is thailand and no one is facing the music, what easier way to just kill the band.

Politics never cares about education only power. How to stay in power? Make the people happy. Promise them something .

Set the date in the near future. Aaaaaaaaaaand voilà you have nice obidient people how give a flying ? .

[Eddy B]

The funny thing as well is they think they are going to save money by not hiring native English speakers. Well I guess that means most schools with a MEP program will have to shutdown their "cash cow" as parents will not pay the money schools demand for non-native speakers. A double shot in the foot!!

[ratcatcher]

I'm glad the source of this article was Coconuts, it has eased the Mind-Blown experience at least a little bit.............

D​ont want to rain on your parade its headlines in the Unmentionable other English language paper

Still its utter madness!

Both articles make it pretty clear it's a long-term plan and it is something that should be aimed for. Of course it is better to use well-trained local teachers than rely on foreign teachers forever. The headline that Coconuts uses is typical of the sensationalism of gutter rags.

Why ?. It will always be better to have a native speaker doing the teaching. When I went to school, the French teachers were always French. That way you get the correct pronunciation and inflexion as well.

I've yet to meet a Thai who understands future tense.

I've yet to meet a Thai who understands future tense.

I asked a Thai friend and he showed me this.

[mihalis]

Logical... Running last in English proficiency, so lets cut more teaching positions....

[BuaBS]

Ah , they are making room for Chinese language teachers. China is going to be a bigger part in Thailand's future , logical.

[chrisinth]

I'm glad the source of this article was Coconuts, it has eased the Mind-Blown experience at least a little bit.............

D​ont want to rain on your parade its headlines in the Unmentionable other English language paper

Still its utter madness!

Doooooooooooooh..............................

Edited November 13, 2015 by chrisinth

[jphantom]

Pathetic Education Ministry. Sheer lunacy.

[SlyAnimal]

This is a pretty good idea. As if the British Council is doing the intensive 6 week training course I'd imagine that it'll be CELTA or similar that the Thai teachers are going through. Not only will it improve their English significantly, but it'll teach them how to teach more effectively.

As it's meant to be for the best English teachers at each school it'll likely be heads of department, or teachers who have the full support of the head of dept, and so they'll have the authority/status required to teach the other teachers.

"Slashing" the number of foreign teachers wouldn't be a good move at this stage, but long term that's where Thailand needs to head to. Also they didn't say if by foreign they meant NESs or non-NESs. As they need better Thai teachers, they can't rely on every school having foreign teachers, there simply aren't enough to go around, and so it just increases the inequality between the rich & poor schools.

My personal view is, and has been for a long time, that Thailand needs to spend money on teaching the teachers if they want to be successful. Foreign NES teachers are more expensive and often only stay teaching in Thailand for a few years. Comparatively Thai teachers start on less than half of the salary most foreigners are paid & can increase their ability over a career of 30-40 years, rather than just 1-5.

The current problem is though, that they start at such a low level that even after 30 years they're usually not as effective at teaching as a NES is after 3 years experience. Which is why the teachers need to have their level increased, courses like this one will help, but it's only (hopefully) the first step, the next step being reassigning foreign teachers from high schools to universities where they can teach the teachers. Thailand needs to look forward to the next generation, as it's already too late for this generation.

[than]

Ah , they are making room for Chinese language teachers. China is going to be a bigger part in Thailand's future , logical.

Like for the rest of the world......

[terminatorchiangmai]

Just when you think it can not get more ridiculous they come up with something new.

Another step backwards !

[kkup]

Yeah 6 weeks should do it. Good wuck

[bubba]

So there you go. Another generation of "Solly, I sapeak inglit nid noi".

[Artisi]

Well at least the students will be proficient in Thinglish

[bdenner]

We relocated TW's daughter out of one private school to another because of the crappy English education, they used Filipinos. The new school used an English Farang (of dubious qualifications) as a class room moderator which worked very well. He just basically sat back and corrected the lessons as they proceeded.

Worked much better for the students and teachers, alike.

Edited November 13, 2015 by bdenner

[LotusBoy]

Never mind the news, check out his shirt!! that is criminal indeed

[Jingthing]

Ah , they are making room for Chinese language teachers. China is going to be a bigger part in Thailand's future , logical.

Like for the rest of the world......

But the Chinese are learning English.

Hmm.

[BlindMagician]

Possibly a move to reduce sources and influence of non-Thai ideas on the students?

[Thai at Heart]

I have never heard such utter idiocy in all my life.

[arithai12]

As a long term plan, it is not bad.

The idea that by having more native English teachers the Thais will learn more or better, is just an assumption anyway - so far without proof.

[worgeordie]

Another great leap forward.........into darkness.

regards Worgeordie

[Johnniey]

I saw the Deputy Education Minister speak at the FCC in Bangkok a while back. He seemed like a really smart guy, who I thought could really do some good in transforming the Thai education system.

Then I read this....

Oh dear.

When I was 'teaching' English here 5 years, the school I was at ran 'Teach The Teacher'. Once a week one of the farang teachers had to 'teach' the Thai teachers English.

That lesson teaching the teachers was more problematic than even my lowest ranked pratom class.

The Thai teacher had absolutely no interest in learning and often just sat their talking among themselves, playing on their phones and would almost never participate for fear of losing face.

If I were a qualified Thai teacher, I would want to be taught by a (probably unqualified)prathom farang teacher with a couple of years experience and only hired because of his big nose and naivety. University professor maybe.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Johnniey

[AdamRich]

I'm glad the source of this article was Coconuts, it has eased the Mind-Blown experience at least a little bit.............

D​ont want to rain on your parade its headlines in the Unmentionable other English language paper

Still its utter madness!

Both articles make it pretty clear it's a long-term plan and it is something that should be aimed for. Of course it is better to use well-trained local teachers than rely on foreign teachers forever. The headline that Coconuts uses is typical of the sensationalism of gutter rags.

Why ?. It will always be better to have a native speaker doing the teaching. When I went to school, the French teachers were always French. That way you get the correct pronunciation and inflexion as well.

I've yet to meet a Thai who understands future tense.

Must have been a long time ago. I have a bachelors degree in French. In high school my French teacher was Canadian. At the university level 2 out of my 6 French teachers were French and the other 4 American. I am American and I taught high school French as well.

[djayz]

Never mind the news, check out his shirt!! that is criminal indeed

I was just thinking the same thing about his fabulous shirt! I wonder what neck tie would go with it?

All joking aside, it's a step in the wrong direction. I'd really like to know what's the real reason behind this.

Edited November 13, 2015 by djayz

[Fairynuff]

Fully support this decision. What's the point in spending good money on native speakers when the kids have no interest in learning anyway. I've met a number of Thai English teachers over the years. Their language skills have been at worst appalling and at best mediocre. Not one of them could be considered even remotely fluent. When you see the text books they use it soon becomes clear

[overherebc]

I'm glad the source of this article was Coconuts, it has eased the Mind-Blown experience at least a little bit.............

D​ont want to rain on your parade its headlines in the Unmentionable other English language paper

Still its utter madness!

Both articles make it pretty clear it's a long-term plan and it is something that should be aimed for. Of course it is better to use well-trained local teachers than rely on foreign teachers forever. The headline that Coconuts uses is typical of the sensationalism of gutter rags.

Why ?. It will always be better to have a native speaker doing the teaching. When I went to school, the French teachers were always French. That way you get the correct pronunciation and inflexion as well.

I've yet to meet a Thai who understands future tense.

I've yet to meet a Thai who understands future tense.

I asked a Thai friend and he showed me this.

future tents.jpg

Question.

Where do boy scouts live?

Answer

Intense

What's your problem? .

[SoiBiker]

Fair enough. If the current bunch of farang rejects scraping a living on the English teaching circuit were any good, Thailand wouldn't score so poorly for English speaking. Let the locals have a go.

[baboon]

Ah , they are making room for Chinese language teachers. China is going to be a bigger part in Thailand's future , logical.

Perhaps. However I remember being told at various stages we Europeans would have to learn Russian and Japanese as that was where the future lay. It didn't happen.

Mind you, the way things are going, we will soon be sharing Arabic as our common language on that continent...

[bark]

Lunacy

The Government will supply all Thai teachers with the google alphabet for their smart phones; believing they can be "THE HUB".

[navara]

Insane!!

I feel so sorry for those Thai English teachers, IF this is would happen! I can not believe this it true.

It is said that they need MORE Thai English teachers and because there are LESS farang teachers. THIS is what I have heard from the educational office.

Edited November 13, 2015 by navara