Thai officials to slash number of foreign English teachers

[joshstiles]

that's what happens when the ignorant govern the ignorant. What else can you expect....

Thailand's future is going to be exactly what they deserve.

Effort = E

[mogo51]

Oh my Buddha, I want to see how this pans out. My gf is a Filipino teacher of English/Maths in a Government School. I wonder if the person who will take her place is theThai female teacher that presented with a Masters Degree in English and could not speak English!!!! And I mean COULD NOT. Another degree off the rack!!!!.

They are already so far behind in English congnisance due to their appalling school attendance structure and the need for everyone to pass, they now progress to this new low level!. what a destructive road they are on.

[DavisH]

The poor quality of Thai teachers of english is no surprise really. Just look at how teachers are recruited and paid. Very few of the best and brightest go into teaching, and that applies to many countries. Thais with excellent english can earn a lot more doing other things and not stuck teaching a class of 60 sweaty students 24 hours a week. I only know of one Thai teacher would would ever teach only in english, and this was in a school in Ratchaburi. The Thai teachers in my current school have a fair grasp of english, but they do not teach the subject. That's due to their exposure. Unless Thai teachers are rewarded for their excellence in teaching english, I don't see them making an effort to improve.

[NoshowJones]

Honestly, native English speaking teachers don't need to be very expensive. Make the visa situation easier for them and many young native English speakers will want to do this for at least a few years just for the adventure. Yes, I'm saying they're willing to be exploited and it seems daft to me not to take advantage of that for the good of the future of Thailand. Yes, Thailand would benefit with better English.

Yes I understand just being a native English speaker doesn't make you a good teacher.

But I happen to think a native English speaker with even basic training in teaching is better than a trained teacher who can't really speak English.

Well said JT, I agree completely.

[Zzon]

I have never seen a country that keeps shooting themselves in the foot. I have lived all over the world but this is just flabbergasting. They can't or don't want to speak English with the teachers they have now. I can understand why they say " TIT " , because the people who make these decisions aren't educated either!

[namatjira]

The METV is the first practical step in purging out the English teachers from the provinces teaching on their TEFL......

[sharecropper]

The same rocket scientist who designed the third stage boosters for the Space Shuttle program, must have been the one to come up with this plan. All one can surmise is that they are deliberately sabotaging the future prospects of the Thai people. When some theorize that many in charge, and the Thai elite, are deliberately trying to dumb down the nation, and restrict the ability of the people to become smarter and wiser, a policy like this one certainly comes to mind. Not sure if this is based on pure, ignorant, blind nationalism, or if there is a heinous agenda at play here, like the one I suggested. But regardless, it has to be one of the most pig headed, silly, inane, churlish, and misguided policies to come around, in quite some time. To expect Thais, who have little command of English, to teach other Thais how not to speak english well, and expect that to somehow have a positive result, requires people in positions of power, to have tremendous ignorance.

One can only hope and pray that someone comes along, at some time in the near future, who has competence as a leader, and can lead this country into the future. The current crop just do not quality to run a 7/11, much less the country.

I think you're right on this. It also explains why some bright spark/s thought cutting the school week to four days was a great idea - I mean, WHAT?!

It might have something to do with wishing to keep Thais untainted by outside ideas culled from overseas news reports when the internet firewall goes up, as they plod about in happy Serfdom in a Feudal, Medieval bubble.

[Caitrin]

Hopefully they will get rid of the trashy teachers trying to teach English when English is not their first language. Half the time I can't even understand when the Filipino English teachers at my son's school try to talk to me in English.

I agree with you're first sentence, but I taught with two Filipino English teachers, and they spoke as if English was their first language.

My best student here in Japan is a native English speaking half-Filipino (Japanese father). Her English is as fluent as mine is, and significantly more fluent than some of the Latinos/Latinas I grew up with near the Mexican border. I thought she was either Asian-American or a "returnee" who had spent her childhood in the U.S. But that was not the case. I've also worked with Filipino teachers that run the gamut, based on their socio-economic starting point. Those who are upper middle class or higher will sound American, as you go down the socio-economic ladder, you find thicker and thicker accents. Which is to be expected, given that several Filipino languages still exist, not just Tagalog and Cebueno, but several others, especially in rural areas.

[carlyai]

You know the British Council is a great institution.

They can really teach English.

Train the Trainer is a little more complicate, but given a lot of year, this is a great step forward.

Have any of you Nay sayers ever worked with the British Council, attended any of their courses, or been a trainer

[ldiablo]

If anything they should be making it more enticing to qualified native English speakers to want to come and teach in Thailand as opposed to the mediocre salaries they are paying right now. We have all heard the old saying that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Oo oo oo

[NoshowJones]

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.

I completely agree. Those native English speaking 'teachers' managed to make Thai kids the worst in English. My Thai girlfriend has an English degree and is nearly fluent in English, but I bet her grammar is far better than most native speakers as she had to learn the rules, not just relying on what sounds right. She was asked many times to teach at prominent Thai schools, but the salary on offer is no more than 30,000 baht per month, as that is what the NES is willing to work for. Get rid of these unqualified NES teachers and salaries will have to rise for qualified local teachers. This will entice a lot more Thais to choose a future career as English teacher. And trust me there are plenty of (near) fluent English speaking Thais in this country. But right now they can make much more money in a non teaching job.

Another advantage Thai English teachers have over foreigners is that they speak Thai! Who would be able to learn a completely unknown language from a native teacher who cannot explain anything to you in your own language? Would you be able to learn Thai from a Thai teacher that can't speak English at all?

Most schools do not allow native English speakers to speak Thai when teaching.

[Nicki D]

This new project should be named "The Dumbing Down of Thailand"

[Caitrin]

Honestly, native English speaking teachers don't need to be very expensive. Make the visa situation easier for them and many young native English speakers will want to do this for at least a few years just for the adventure. Yes, I'm saying they're willing to be exploited and it seems daft to me not to take advantage of that for the good of the future of Thailand. Yes, Thailand would benefit with better English.

Yes I understand just being a native English speaker doesn't make you a good teacher.

But I happen to think a native English speaker with even basic training in teaching is better than a trained teacher who can't really speak English.

Well said JT, I agree completely.

JT:

No. It doesn't work that way. Language teaching is a skill that requires levels of education and training. Thailand, along with my country of Japan, and several others in the region, already suffer from the "gap year" English man/woman-children. Enough, I say. Send ESL teachers abroad as part of their training, or hire qualified Native English Teachers with education backgrounds and experience. No more "adventurers." That's no way to teach what is oft-touted as a "core" subject across East and Southeast Asia.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

[UPDEHSOI]

What is NOT said above, but I have read elsewhere, is that 43,000 Thai teachers of English were tested and only SIX reached the required level of proficiency in English.

What standard are the other 42, 994? And what percentage of fluency is that? Only 0.01395% of Thai teachers tested in English were reasonably fluent.

It boggles the mind that the cretins in the Ministry could even contemplate such lunacy.

From what I understand...five of those tested grew up in Canada, and the sixth was a refugee claimant who got kicked out of Poland.

[kingalfred]

Time to make plans elsewhere all you English teachers in high schools

[upena]

All part of the Thai Government's plan to keep the people uneducated - and I am not only referring to the ruling junta - but all Thai Governments before them too.

[Gandtee]

Any comment would be superfluous.

[ldiablo]

The director at the bilingual school I work at can only say "good morning" in English. And she's the darn director. And the Grammar teacher can't even speak English either. Today the Grammar teacher was teaching count and non count nouns to grade 10 students and he was having the students draw and color a bowl of rice and other various items. In grade 10. Come on. The government just wants to keep the population dumb so they are more easily controlled.

Edited November 13, 2015 by ldiablo

[elgordo38]

I am lost for words. The people making these decisions are "Brain Dead"

And the blind shall lead the blind.

[metisdead]

An off topic deflection post has been removed as well as the replies.

Another post containing content and a link to Bangkok Post has been removed:

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[brownknees]

Gee I misunderstood!!When they said get rid of all the foreign English teachers I thought they meant keep only the "English"english teachers!!!!!

[ebonykap]

I wont be popular but given the quality of a large percentage of the foreign teachers here I cant blame them. Yes there are very good committed teachers here from all backgrounds but unfortunately we all know that most are here for the booze and hookers and nothing else.

I don't know about "most" as I haven't done a survey (have you?), but you do have a point. However, rather than a negative response, let's have a thorough selection process. It is quite probable a portion of these undesirable NES teachers have degrees, so why is this normally the only criteria used for employment? Surely your ability in effective delivery, communication, pronunciation and passion for teaching should be taken into account.

[Singharh]

Disaster !!!

[thhMan]

The "Night Ladies" speak decent English... I guess they learnt it from Western Gents

Surely some Thai official should note that.... We boys do offer more than just financial income for some

[swerver]

The biggest problem Thailand has is the country has so many dialects versions of the Thai language that the Thai teachers teaching English in a province school may likely come from an area that their Thai is not fully undrstood by the students in the English class, much less their use of English. So they're fighting 2 language barriers in many cases, thus a self-inflicted hurdle that the "brain trust" aka as Ministry of Education seems to have overlooked.

Of course hiring the thick accented foreign teachers to teach English as the case is at present who themselves cannot speak discernibly clear English, yet are contracted to teach Phonetics to Thai students.

Being located where Thailand is from own experience the most suitable people to teach English are New Zealanders. They peak what I call "straight English" same as people native of California. I speak as a foreigner (Dutch) graduated from 4-years college in NZ and PHD / J.D, degrees from California universities. I have recommended Thais to go to NZ to learn English, not a one of them has been disappointed with that recommendation.

[Caitrin]

I wont be popular but given the quality of a large percentage of the foreign teachers here I cant blame them. Yes there are very good committed teachers here from all backgrounds but unfortunately we all know that most are here for the booze and hookers and nothing else.

I don't know about "most" as I haven't done a survey (have you?), but you do have a point. However, rather than a negative response, let's have a thorough selection process. It is quite probable a portion of these undesirable NES teachers have degrees, so why is this normally the only criteria used for employment? Surely your ability in effective delivery, communication, pronunciation and passion for teaching should be taken into account.

"Should be" being the operative, but alas rarely considered, part of this. I have to say, that truth be told, it's often a case of "white? Check. US/UK/AUS/NZ? Check. BA in something, even underwater basket weaving? Check." ...and that's usually where they stop. In some of the places I have worked, I left because my co-workers would turn up the next day, reeking of sex and booze, in the same clothes they had on the previous day. They definitely had legitimate degrees. No mickey mouse shenanigans. They really did graduate from uni. But they sure as heck didn't have any educational training, pedagogy coursework, student teaching, or certification/licensing.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Caitrin

[Crossy]

Lunacy

On a "likes per word" basis this post has to be up there with the best

[stickylies]

Thai rak Thai. Thai teacher: sanook. Farang teacher: siliout (and always sweating, min)...

[SOTIRIOS]

.........6 weeks of pleasantries....and breaks and snacks....and games.....

...hasn't this been going on for 40 years....

...and where will they put all that money they will allegedly save....

....just struggle through ASEAN with smiles....and change nothing...that is the plan I guess...

[Artisi]

You know the British Council is a great institution.

They can really teach English.

Train the Trainer is a little more complicate, but given a lot of year, this is a great step forward.

Have any of you Nay sayers ever worked with the British Council, attended any of their courses, or been a trainer

Yes, I have worked as a BC trainer - and if you think you can teach very poorly trained, if trained at all "English teachers " in 6 weeks you are kidding yourself. 6 weeks training can / will assist skilled English teachers to become better teachers but it won't teach none English speaking teacher, English.