Schools to close at 2pm each day

[SlyAnimal]

Didn't see this posted as news yet, so thought I'd post up something here incase any haven't seen this yet, as it'll no doubt make for a good yarn in the staff room on Monday.  Moderators please feel free to merge a topic or delete/edit this when you repost with the version of the article which TV is running with.

 

Some 3,500 schools across the country will cut academic hours and offer more extracurricular activities in 2nd semester

AN INITIAL 3,500 primary and secondary schools in Thailand will start reducing compulsory school hours to about 840 hours per year from the current 1,200 late this year in a pilot scheme to free up more time for extracurricular activities that could better promote students' learning capability.

Education Minister General Dapong Ratanasuwan said the change would be implemented in the second semester of this academic year or around November when about 10 per cent of all schools nationwide, or about 3,500, would join the programme.

According to the new policy, compulsory classes will finish about an hour and a half earlier or at around 2pm instead of the current 3.30pm. Dapong said the programme was aimed at easing pressure on students, whose current school hours are regarded as too long.

Students will have more time to take part in non-academic activities after classes while others could do their homework at school or go home earlier. The minister said having fewer classroom hours would not affect students' academic capability as the core subjects will remain unchanged. 

 

For the full article, please see below:

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Pilot-project-set-to-slash-school-hours-30267712.html

[chowny77]

Just wait for the drop in teacher salaries to match the drop in hours unless they are assigned an activity.

[aidenai]

News from 29 August 2015.

 

Our school was one of the pilot schools. The whole project didn't work out. However, the MOE said it works and wants to continue the project on a larger scale. 

[otherstuff1957]

My P4 (4th grade) students take 14 different subjects each semester.   They are overwhelmed with all of the extra classes they have to take.  The Thai Curriculum desperately needs to be rewritten with the goal of simplifying it and changing a lot of the required subjects to electives.

 

Given the current curriculum the only way to reduce the classroom hours would be to cut the hours of the 'core subjects', like English, Math, Science, Thai Language and Social Studies.  The other subjects, like Thai Dance, Art, Civic Duty, etc., are already taught just one period per week, so they cannot be cut further unless they are dropped from the curriculum! (which they should be)

[DavisH]

The studious kids won't like it.....they will just use that time to go to tutorial school to make up for their missed classes. 

 

It's very simple really. Reduce the number of redundant/useless classes - why is dance a main subject? Even m6 students are forced to learn it! 

 

Students should be far more specialised at the m4-m6 level. 6 subjects maximum. The majority of the graduates end up at jack's of all trades and masters of none. 

 

Maths  / science students should be doing exactly that - english / maths / science / thai + some electives. That's it. It's not rocket science!

[aidenai]

7 minutes ago, otherstuff1957 said:

Given the current curriculum the only way to reduce the classroom hours would be to cut the hours of the 'core subjects', like English, Math, Science, Thai Language and Social Studies.

 

Exactly, and that is what the MOE doesn't want as Thai students are in general weak in those subjects. That's why the project doesn't work. Our school was one of the pilots last year. Talking with some Thai seniors I asked how our school would be going to manage it. The answer was, till 14:00 h the core subjects and after 14:00 h the others. So, where's the cut on hours then, I asked. There isn't any as the new curriculum isn't read yet. And that's a fact. Page 25 of the Basic Education Core Curriculum 2008 states the amount of hours for each level per year.  Not more than 1,000 hours for each year for P1 - P6. Not more than 1,200 hours for each year for M1 - M3 and not less than 3,600 hours for a total of 3 years for M4 - M6. As long as there is no new curriculum and a decree to adopt it issued by the MOE, nothing will happen and the whole idea is nothing more than the usual brain fart.

[SlyAnimal]

Whoops just noticed that the translation I found was actually from last year. I posted as saw an article in Thai about this pop up on my wife's Facebook newsfeed. I'll try to find an English version about the more recent changes.


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[muzmurray]

19 hours ago, DavisH said:

The studious kids won't like it.....they will just use that time to go to tutorial school to make up for their missed classes. 

 

It's very simple really. Reduce the number of redundant/useless classes - why is dance a main subject? Even m6 students are forced to learn it! 

 

Students should be far more specialised at the m4-m6 level. 6 subjects maximum. The majority of the graduates end up at jack's of all trades and masters of none. 

 

Maths  / science students should be doing exactly that - english / maths / science / thai + some electives. That's it. It's not rocket science!

 

Why should those students be doing English ?

[otherstuff1957]

^ because your career as a scientist/engineer/mathematician/programmer will be severely limited if you can't read English.  There is a lot of technical information that is not translated into Thai.

[DavisH]

3 hours ago, otherstuff1957 said:

^ because your career as a scientist/engineer/mathematician/programmer will be severely limited if you can't read English.  There is a lot of technical information that is not translated into Thai.

Many of my EP graduates end up in Thai language programs...and yes, many of their books are in english, such as in medicine, pharmacy and engineering. The question is, why would university graduates NOT need a firm grasp of english to excel in their field, especially if they want to study further overseas, publish in international journals, develop business contacts, etc.