Thailand forever wearing the dunce’s cap

[webfact]

OPINION

Thailand forever wearing the dunce’s cap

By The Nation

 

Apathy, greed and faulty logic can all be blamed for our poor education system, but smart ideas are also lacking
 

For as long as there have been nations, the people aspiring to lead them have promised to improve education. In recent times the rationale has been the need to remain competitive in a rapidly changing world. But Thailand, after decades of talk, has yet to move in the right direction.

 

National exam results are one indicator of how well or how poorly a nation is doing in educating its youth, but far more important are the responses of the private and public sectors. Corporate executives and business managers know that a university degree is no longer a guarantee of career advancement or success.

 

How could it be when a society runs its institutions of higher learning like factories? The scales have long since fallen from the public’s eyes, and no one is the least impressed with the state of education in Thailand.

 

This is not to say we lack 

 

good schools or smart students. There are plenty. Some travel the world to participate in educational competitions and return home 

with trophies and medals. 

 

Every time this happens, we duly applaud their accomplishments and, for a while at least, feel good about the country we live in.

But we are as a nation only as clever as the poorest student.

 

There is an enormous gap between our advanced students and those who fall behind, and the cause can be traced directly to income disparity and other inequalities in our society.

 

We become so focused on seeing our children excel among their peers that we make no collective effort to assess the larger predicament.

 

Those who can afford to do so send their children to extracurricular tutors, who form a lucrative industry that feeds on parents’ insecurities and, inadvertently, reflects the inadequacy of our public schools and the gap they create between the best and worst performers.

 

Underachievement in class is too easily blamed on the individual’s laziness and mental inability. Too often we overlook the flaws in teaching that stem in part from poor salaries, and in curricula that never seem to shake off decades-old dogma.

 

Teaching is not a coveted profession in Thailand. Teaching courses are often the alternative choice of university students unable to pursue their preferred career.

 

One reason why young people don’t want to be teachers is that the government – every government – neglects the reforms needed to make the profession more attractive.

 

If the standards were higher and the pay better, more people would be interested. Those who do become teachers find themselves mired in bureaucracy and a heavy workload, and among children being gradually robbed of their creativity and enthusiasm.

 

Homework is piled on in an effort to improve IQ at the expense of EQ, fostering individual competition at the expense of mutual benefit through teamwork.

 

The Teachers’ Council of Thailand recently endorsed a proposal from the Thailand Education Deans Council that teacher education be reduced to four years from five.

 

The reasoning is that Thai youngsters’ scores in the Programme for International Student Assessment did not improve between 2000 and 2015.

 

The proposal ignores the facts that the first teachers to graduate from the five-year programme only began working in 2009, and that there are still relatively few of them. Whoever conceived the proposal gets a failing grade. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30320508

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-12

[Dobredin Ghusputin]

Good thing the author is unidentified.  Else, people wearing dunce's caps may come looking for him armed with a libel lawsuit.

[Samui Bodoh]

I remember a few years back watching a TV interview with the late Lee Kwan Yu (spelling?) where he was asked if he feared for Singapore's future in relation to its much bigger neighbours.

 

He smiled and said "what are their education systems like?"

 

That really said it all.

 

This is a simple equation; if you have a good education system, you will have a good future. If you don't, you won't.

 

What do you think Thailand's future is?

[yellowboat]

55 minutes ago, webfact said:

Those who do become teachers find themselves mired in bureaucracy and a heavy workload, and among children being gradually robbed of their creativity and enthusiasm.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge".  Start with this Einstein quote and remove the stifling bureaucracy.  

 

Edited July 11, 2017 by yellowboat

[Chris Lawrence]

Thailand has and will be putting all the eggs in one basket, the Military.

 

There is a world wide measure of military around the world, Government Military Index; Thailand is rated E. This indicates a high degree of corruption from within, has been no independent scrutiny of defence policy by the legislature, a lack of budget transparency, and insufficient institutional measures concerning most aspects of the procurement cycle.

 

Though prior to the 2014 coup, there existed a National Anti-Corruption Strategy from the office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which had the authority to scrutinize corruption issues within military departments and once condemned a former permanent secretary to the ministry of defence on corruption. However, this was the only case and there was no information on his punishment. Furthermore, it is difficult to gauge the future of the NACC itself. Indeed, since the 2014 the new military junta (NCPO) has planed massive constitutional modifications which may see the scrapping of parts of the NACC.

 

Who is watching the watcher's?

 

So why would go into education as a career? The playing field is unfair, and money will go to military expenditure. 

 

If one can afford education in Thailand, they are going overseas; if you can't afford that well may be you don't deserve a good education?

 

The army is where the real money is.

[dcnx]

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I remember a few years back watching a TV interview with the late Lee Kwan Yu (spelling?) where he was asked if he feared for Singapore's future in relation to its much bigger neighbours.

 

He smiled and said "what are their education systems like?"

 

That really said it all.

 

This is a simple equation; if you have a good education system, you will have a good future. If you don't, you won't.

 

What do you think Thailand's future is?

As their neighbors rise and dig themselves out of poverty and ignorance Thailand will be left behind. It won't be long before Burmese, Lao, and Cambodians mock Thais and use them for slave labor.

 

Education will free you or a lack of education will enslave you. Thailand is heading towards the latter.

[Cadbury]

26 minutes ago, dcnx said:

As their neighbors rise and dig themselves out of poverty and ignorance Thailand will be left behind. It won't be long before Burmese, Lao, and Cambodians mock Thais and use them for slave labor.

 

Education will free you or a lack of education will enslave you. Thailand is heading towards the latter.

Vietnam is a classic example of a country digging itself out of a deep hole. After occupation by the French and then the Japanese, the French again and then the Americans, all stealing their rice or poisoning it and millions dying, they have used education to rise above total poverty to reach an economic state where their GDP growth is now twice that of Thailand.

Thailand will ultimately be left in the dust of other ASEAN countries.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Cadbury

[whatawonderfulday]

2 hours ago, Dobredin Ghusputin said:

Good thing the author is unidentified.  Else, people wearing dunce's caps may come looking for him armed with a libel lawsuit.

Just armed more perhaps. Hell has no fury like a Junta scorned

[Reigntax]

2 hours ago, yellowboat said:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge".  Start with this Einstein quote and remove the stifling bureaucracy.  

 

 

Yes but I  believe Einstein assumed a reasonable level of education and desire to search for the unknown so that intelligent imagination was possible. 

Remember also that his theories were denounced by his peers,  who were supposed to be the scientic brains of that era for being both unable to be proven and therefore, somewhat irrelevant for decades.

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by Reigntax

[darksidedog]

The long held policy of keeping the masses stupid, so they don't question the order of things, is clearly backfiring. Others in the region have woken up and are way more progressive than Thailand, who may well end up being the true idiot of SE Asia and become the poor man of the region. Sadly they deny everything, including the warning signs, so difficult to see a way out of the hole.

[leeneeds]

 

when the government of the day is focused on military spending,

what reforms and spending needed to reform and lift the skill set of 

the education system is never going to happen,

 

in my life time,

[inThailand]

Dunce caps could take off as being the next trend in uniforms? There's a million dollar fashion idea.

[hawker9000]

1 hour ago, dcnx said:

As their neighbors rise and dig themselves out of poverty and ignorance Thailand will be left behind. It won't be long before Burmese, Lao, and Cambodians mock Thais and use them for slave labor.

 

Education will free you or a lack of education will enslave you. Thailand is heading towards the latter.

Laos - I don't think so.  Their best & brightest don't hang around.  Initiative and intellect are not really rewarded.  Greener grass anywhere else, even Thailand!  Still heavily dependent on aid which isn't always as much about local needs as it is about some NGO's or UN or business interest's rice bowl.  Communism has all but locked this country in the first half of the last century.

 

Cambodia - not sure.  They're incentivizing tourism and I guess retiree immigration, but that's not the same as meaningful progress.   Seems like their corruption and political patronage issues are every bit as stultifying as Thailand's.

 

Burma - maybe, but have my doubts.  Things looked rosy there for awhile, but I think they've lost at least some of their momentum.

 

Vietnam - Yes.  'Stands a definite chance of leaving Thailand in its dust and sooner rather than later.  'Not sure if Hanoi is helping, hurting, or just benign, but the country is moving.

[hawker9000]

5 minutes ago, inThailand said:

Dunce caps could take off as being the next trend in uniforms? There's a million dollar fashion idea.

Make 'em the right color, and they might make great emergency marker buoys...

 

 

[Machiavelli]

1 hour ago, Cadbury said:

Vietnam is a classic example of a country digging itself out of a deep hole. After occupation by the French and then the Japanese, the French again and then the Americans, all stealing their rice or poisoning it and millions dying, they have used education to rise above total poverty to reach an economic state where their GDP growth is now twice that of Thailand.

Thailand will ultimately be left in the dust of other ASEAN countries.

You must be as high as the figures you are spouting. Vietnam GDP is not double that of Thailand. It's the other way round.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ASEAN_countries_by_GDP

[maewang99]

you don't need to have national exams. 

do a survey of "students" that have already graduated..... with whatever degree(s).... on their 30th, 40th and 50th birthdays let's say..... and have them send in a list of their recent reading choices. you know..... of the planet Earth's Number One or maybe Number 2 favorite pastime.... that only vies with travel for fun and relaxation.......
 

....not sex.... not alcohol... not eating food..... and not comic books and fashion mags....

the world's #1 or #2 favorite pastime...... which is..... reading books of course.  duh.

which is by the way also the greatest social thing someone can be engaged in... sharing what they read and new perspectives on life by........... reading books and after that.. conversation and discussion... socially. with or without alcohol. better with but not too much.

sharing.

and then.... and only then....... can you save your country the mega bucks you now spend on national exams...... not to mention all of those fingerprint machines you currently need for keeping track of where the Civil Service ajarn are. you sure don't need those things for the contract teachers.



 

Edited July 12, 2017 by maewang99

[loong]

Quote

Those who do become teachers find themselves mired in bureaucracy and a heavy workload,

Heavy workload? Maybe some but most teachers that I have seen hardly work at all.

[loong]

15 minutes ago, Machiavelli said:

You must be as high as the figures you are spouting. Vietnam GDP is not double that of Thailand. It's the other way round.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ASEAN_countries_by_GDP

He said 

"where their GDP growth is now twice that of Thailand".

I have no idea whether that is accurate or not but  I wouldn't be surprised.

[YetAnother]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

This is a simple equation; if you have a good education system, you will have a good future. If you don't, you won't.

wish they, the education ministry, those above them and the true rulers bought into that

[wgdanson]

If the cap fits..............................

[klauskunkel]

1 hour ago, Cadbury said:

Vietnam is a classic example of a country digging itself out of a deep hole. After occupation by the French and then the Japanese, the French again and then the Americans, all stealing their rice or poisoning it and millions dying, they have used education to rise above total poverty to reach an economic state where their GDP growth is now twice that of Thailand.

Thailand will ultimately be left in the dust of other ASEAN countries.

 

28 minutes ago, Machiavelli said:

You must be as high as the figures you are spouting. Vietnam GDP is not double that of Thailand. It's the other way round.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ASEAN_countries_by_GDP

@Machiavelli: it is usually a good idea after you read something to also try and understand it. Cadbury is talking about GDP growth rate not actual GDP. There is a difference.

[727Sky]

I really do not know what the answer is.. Many countries throw money at the problem and end up with administrators making a fortune while the teaches get a small. if any, pay raise..  I do know this though...Back in the early 70s the population seemed to be better educated, spoke passable English almost everywhere you went and the country had a feeling of better things to come.. Now it seems the population is more into survival mode..

[Rancid]

1 hour ago, leeneeds said:

 

when the government of the day is focused on military spending,

what reforms and spending needed to reform and lift the skill set of 

the education system is never going to happen,

 

in my life time,

Ne need to take a dig at the US on a Thai topic...

[williamgeorgeallen]

they need more chinese blood. problem is the thai/chinese hate the chinese.

[mikebell]

46 minutes ago, maewang99 said:

the world's #1 or #2 favorite pastime...... which is..... reading books of course.  duh.

I totally agree with Maewang99.  I taught English for 39 years albeit in English schools.  I was hailed as an inspirational and successful teacher (he says modestly.)  My secret was getting them interested in reading - either by my own performance of reading aloud; my own enthusiasm for authors (I 'discovered' J K Rowling & brought her books to the fore.)  Another 'innovation' was a weekly private reading lesson where the kids brought their own choices in or borrowed from a book box I compiled buying them in charity shops.

My own enlightened English teacher in 1954 ignored me ignoring him whilst I read under the desk, only bringing me into the lesson when he set homework.  On Parents Nights mine asked him about this.  He said the finest English/Language teacher in the world is oneself.'

[NCC1701A]

everything is running very smoothly at my local 7/11.

 

My massage was great yesterday. 

 

whats the problem?

 

 

[tigermoth]

Even when the wealthier of the population can send their children overseas for a supposedly better education it is not really working due to to the greed of overseas educational institutions. These institutions, particularly the universities have lowered their pass standards considerably so that their foreign students will receive a pass grade, be it one they would never achieve some years ago, just so the foreign income will continue to flow rather than dry vup due to a large failure rate. I know several university teachers overseas who are very depressed with this situation. The foreign students families are being conned by these unscupulous western institutions.

[Bill Miller]

2 hours ago, Machiavelli said:

You must be as high as the figures you are spouting. Vietnam GDP is not double that of Thailand. It's the other way round.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ASEAN_countries_by_GDP

Growth rate, not the GPD.

 

[Cadbury]

2 hours ago, Machiavelli said:

You must be as high as the figures you are spouting. Vietnam GDP is not double that of Thailand. It's the other way round.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ASEAN_countries_by_GDP

I think it is you that must be high. Nice putdown try newbie but no cigar. My comment referred to GDP PERCENTAGE GROWTH. Not the GDP itself.

For your homework tonight try and be a good boy and find out what each of those means. In the meantime go to the back of the class and put on the dunces hat. 

I look forward to your future offerings with a high anticipation of amusement.

[HappyinNE]

Machiavelli,  Cadbury did not say that Vietnam’s GDP was twice that of Thailand.  What he said was that Vietnam’s GDP growth is now twice Thailand’s.

 

 

I looked at the figures in your reference (Thank you) and Vietnam’s GDP growth both absolutely and per capita is not twice as large as Thailand’s.  Vietnam’s growth is increasing in both measures by about 50% while Thailand’s is increasing at about 29%.  Not twice but over 70% faster.