International school is ripping off parents say Thai and foreign mums and dads

[Bangna Betty]

I think some posters are very confused about international education in Thailand. There are several extremely good international schools in Thailand which follow the English National curriculum or American system.  Most of them are in Bangkok and there are a couple on the Eastern seaboard.  Just to give you an example: Bangkok Patana School is a Foundation School which was established over 50 years ago. That means there is no single owner and no-one profits - all money is ploughed back into the school. ISB is the same.  These schools employ properley qualified and experienced teachers from abroad, are accredited by several different agencies and have very high academic standards. Graduates regularly gain entry to universities around the world.  In the 1990s rules changed in Thailand which resulted in many other international schools being established. Most of these had individual owners and were very definitely for profit. Some had links with recognised schools from abroad.  The proportion of Thai students attending increased -one reason being the devaluation of the Baht and parents who would normally send their children overseas looked locally.  

 

There are also now a whole lot of schools calling themselves international which are really bilingual schools offering some tuition in English and a sort of hybrid curriculum.  They have become very popular and have been chosen by Thai parents who want their children to have opportunities not available at Thai government schools.  As a foreign parent you have to very carefully look at these schools and check that what they are teaching your chldren is to a standard comparsble to what they would have in your home country.  And that if your children go back, that they will have a recognised certificate so they can easily apply for further education. 

[Jane Dough]

2 hours ago, JacChang said:

Those who graduated or taught in the "real international schools" will know these problems do not exist. Last time I remembered, there are only 4 "real international schools" in Thailand. All these other so-called franchise copies don't make the cut. Students graduating from these 4 international schools have no problems whatsoever getting into the top universities around the world. ISB and RIS are one of the 4, make a phone call to anyone on the school grounds, ask them who they compete with for student activities (sports, music, knowledge bowl) and you will find out the other 2 real international schools.

Only 2? Would you not put Patana,  nist, shrewsbury, harrow in that list of top inter schools? 

[wotsdermatter]

So, the parents thought they had laid their complaints to the correct authority but are told they must put the complaints in writing to a different place.  Kind of gives the school the chance to do some housekeeping and clean things up a bit even to the point that there will be little or no reason for the parents to complain. 

[JacChang]

1 hour ago, Jane Dough said:

Only 2? Would you not put Patana,  nist, shrewsbury, harrow in that list of top inter schools? 

Patana and NIST made the cut, but not shrewsbury or harrow.

There's one more CIS, if I remembered correctly. But not sure if they are still counted.

Edited February 15, 2017 by JacChang

[Jonmarleesco]

13 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Headline should be in the plural.

As in 'is'? Afraid not. It's the 3rd person singular of the subject, international school, not of the plural parents.

[Thaiwrath]

1 hour ago, Jonmarleesco said:

As in 'is'? Afraid not. It's the 3rd person singular of the subject, international school, not of the plural parents.

I meant the headline should have read:

International schools are ripping off parents say thai and foreign mums and dads.

 

It was not a comment about the grammar used in the headline, but a suggestion that a lot of International schools over here do not give value for money. 

 

[spetersen]

This school is a joke , the director is a great person and she is suffering for the poor management and the extremely greedy owner with no communication skills. I pulled out my child already in the end of January and he has been in the school for 4 terms, and at school start, January 9 2017 the wanted to have the school bus fare as the same amount as a full term 12000 THB and I said the term is only 9 weeks instead of 18 and that was then stupid as you can be sometimes so I paid 7500 THB that for 14 schooldays , apparently the have added two more weeks as of now but that won't add up to 18 weeks , they still want 63000 THB the whole term fee to release the documents , I can assure you this won't happened . The whole School will suffer a lot and I feel so sorry for all the students and parents. I already put my son in another International school here in Pattaya and he loves it and very affordable  . if you find out that you want more info send me a private mail 

 

[Blinking Eyes]

I also heard from my kids before that teachers at Burapha School provide revision topics which is exactly the same a their exams which results in students cheating on their exams in almost every subject using their mobile phones... 

[wakeupplease]

12 hours ago, Bangna Betty said:

Of course those schools are international schools! They provide tuition in English and a curriculum based on the British or American system which will provide students with a recognised 'certificate' or qualifications that enable them to spply for entry to universities around the world. 

recognised 'certificate'

 

why bother you can buy one in bangkok for B3000 and if you need an IETs level 8 that.s only B5000

 

and the IETS looked better than MY wife's real one

[bandito]

23 hours ago, chrisandsu said:

The main reason why I will not live in Thailand full time . The schools for the most part are sub par , my son goes to a very good government school where I live and it knocks spots off the international schools I have toured in Thailand. ! If I lived in Thailand I'd send my son to a very good thai school instead . I'd see networking with Thais from decent families far more advantageous in the long run . 

 

That's what I did.

My kids went, daughter finished and son still goes, to good Thai schools and plucks the fruits of this, so do I.

 

[mok199]

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 7:18 AM, exparte said:

My kids went to 4 different Bilingual schools in Pattaya and Bangkok (including BEST) before I gave up and moved back to my home country for my kids sake. The schools have a screwed up curriculum and for profit attitudes about everything. The teachers are not "Real Teachers". I could find mistakes in most every text book and they skip a lot of fundamentals of math, English and science. My kids went to the USA in the 6 and 7th grade and graduated HS in the USA, but they struggled the first couple Years. I have a new son two years and old and will NOT let him attend a Thai Billingual Private school.

I now have a 3 yr old boy...schools here are poor (at best)...we cannot all return home to educate our kids...my goal is to teach my boy perfect English myself ( if that's possible,with an uneducated woman from isaan)...I see the storys I read the bad reports and they are all TRUE...home school for English is paramount..they wont get it anywhere else,not with friends not at school not on tv...if you love your child and care about their futures..GET OUT OF THAILAND..if that's impossible...don't let them slip away into thai laziness...be a good parent and spend time on English...without it they are lost...

[NanLaew]

11 hours ago, spetersen said:

This school is a joke , the director is a great person and she is suffering for the poor management and the extremely greedy owner with no communication skills. I pulled out my child already in the end of January and he has been in the school for 4 terms, and at school start, January 9 2017 the wanted to have the school bus fare as the same amount as a full term 12000 THB and I said the term is only 9 weeks instead of 18 and that was then stupid as you can be sometimes so I paid 7500 THB that for 14 schooldays , apparently the have added two more weeks as of now but that won't add up to 18 weeks , they still want 63000 THB the whole term fee to release the documents , I can assure you this won't happened . The whole School will suffer a lot and I feel so sorry for all the students and parents. I already put my son in another International school here in Pattaya and he loves it and very affordable  . if you find out that you want more info send me a private mail 

 

Thanks for keeping this thread on-topic. I was beginning to despair of the debate about name brand schools in Bangkok being all that they claim to be.

[chrisandsu]

4 hours ago, bandito said:

 

That's what I did.

My kids went, daughter finished and son still goes, to good Thai schools and plucks the fruits of this, so do I.

 

Absolutely! My niece and nephew go to an excellent private school in bangkok . They are very well rounded kids . Intelligent and not spoilt (against the school philosophy). All the kids that go to the school are poilite normal well behaved kids . The one stipulation to attend the school is that the parents must volunteer once a month . From memory this school is around 30 k a term . If your planning on your kids living in Thailand why bother with an international school ? 

[Thailandfriend]

The school in focus names itself “English-Programme School”. During the school year 2014/15 they changed their “Secondary” section into an “International” section and are now, school year 2016/17, back to having a “Primary”, “Secondary” and “International” section.

We have our children at that school, I also know some teachers there, and so I am well informed.

In January of this year they were a total of two (2) native English speaking teachers plus a few Non-Philippine (e.g. European, Indian) teachers at the “Secondary” and the “International” section. All the other English speaking teachers are from the Philippines.

Whereas the school is badly organized, these Philippine teachers are doing their best to have their part of the school properly organized.

The main problem lies with the Thai teachers. Because an effective organization of the school is missing and, as a consequence, there is no control of the teachers, some of the Thai teachers, instead of teaching, let the children copy from the whiteboard and play with their mobile phones during the lesson. Even worse, some let the children copy from the whiteboard and leave the class room during the lesson.

It is true to say that children at the school in focus cannot properly read and write Thai, even after many years.

However, to say that the school is ripping off parents is too hard and probably justified as long as there is the current mess. Otherwise the school fees are in the range of other English-Programme schools in the Chonburi and Rayong province. And the other schools also have Philippine teachers for their English programme.

Every “International School”, having native English speaking teachers, is charging about 5 times as much for the “Primary” and about 3 times as much for the “Secondary” level of their schools. The majority of the parents having children at the school in focus, including my wife and me, could not afford an “International School”.

Nevertheless, my wife and I are also thinking of moving our children to another English-programme school. But, looking for a good one (and charging a decent school fee), we found no school in Pattaya!

 

[BruceMangosteen]

The English in the Philippines has improved greatly over the last decade. The teachers coming from there also will do what they are told by the Thai's. Thai's in supervisory roles like a teacher who is subservient towards them. A sense of national pride is established. The students won't learn much but that's not the issue. It's all about face and money. OO and God Bless You.