Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodia

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HHTel
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by HHTel »

Make sure your kids have the number 1387 on their phones. This is the childline number (toll free 24/7) and they WILL take action. Every incident WILL be reported to the school heads and every incident WILL be reported to the MoE. They undertake never to reveal to the school who the child was who reported such incidents.

Students have much more power than they realise. They should be demanding a decent education and feel they can attend school without the threat of the 'stick'.
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StevePIraq
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by StevePIraq »

Well there you go, many of us have had a right old grumble and bitch about Thai education and to be honest many other topics as well.

Most of us are pretty happy here and wish to remain but would like some changes.

My next question how do we do something positive and help to bring about change? ...... Ok Ok now five minutes have passed and you have finally got up off the floor with your stomach hurting from laughing so much, but the question remains.. ok get up again and pay attention, there must be a way to establish a pressure/concern group to address some of the issues that affect our lives in Thailand.

Maybe CheaperCharlie can advise as he does have experience in education, I'm serious about this, there are some things which we can somehow influence we just have to find the right path to follow.

Oh come on get up off the floor.
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by richard »

first thing must be to involve some Thai parents. If you can
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by HHTel »

You are correct, Richard. However, that isn't easy as they've never been encouraged to stand up to authority and they still look upon teachers as some sort of demi-god!

The secret lies with the students. They have to start asking questions. What has our homework to do with the subject we are learning? Sorry, teacher, I didn't understand that. Could you explain it to me.
What if ......?
Why is that ......?
Why is that the answer?
Why is that wrong?
etc etc.

Teachers don't encourage or like taking questions. If the students persist, then teachers will have to change their way of teaching or get out of the profession. Let them try punishing students for asking questions and see where that gets them!!!

In the past, students have changed the face of other countries, including the UK. Change will only happen when the students start demanding it. They are the future of the country.

For our part, we have to support them.

Some time ago, my daughter and her friends managed to get a teacher ousted because he was showing the girls porn videos and videoing some of his female students. The Thai students wouldn't have done anything if it hadn't been for my daughter (who I advised) persuading her friends to support her in reporting him. He was gone the following day!!

Teachers have never had students question what they are doing as they believe they are far too superior. But that is where the change will come.

Real progress would be made if each school had a students committee who met with the teacher's representatives say once a month and discussed the good and bad from both sides. That is a long way off or am I just dreaming!!

Parents who have issues with the school should approach the school initially. If the school doesn't want to deal with those issues, then report them to the regional education office or ultimately to the MoE.

Schools must stop being a law unto themselves and start following all the rules, regulations and guidelines which are already in place. More importantly, the MoE should monitor the schools. They are supposed to assess a school every 5 years and make the result public. I don't recall ever seeing that happen apart from lip service.

I know I'm ranting a lot but I'm quite passionate about this. Some may say that as a farang, I have no right to question the system. My daughters are half Thai and here is there future so I believe I have the right to put pressure where it's due.

Rant over ......... for now!
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StevePIraq
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by StevePIraq »

HHTel very good posting however I do not think it is so easy, last night my family had a chat and we discussed the issue as best as possible, you point was raised and both girls said the same to the issue of questioning the teacher "We cannot do that". Youngest one said that some in her class had questioned and they are told to stand outside class so the enthusiasm for questioning is quickly crushed. Obviously some students are stronger and maybe with the right support this approach will work, however it cannot be widespread.

A student/parent committee would be a fantastic plan but it doesn't happen in Thailand.

We have been called in for parent/teacher discussion at the end of the term but this was more of a lecture and only in Thai so I was lost, the points I raised via my wife were not even answered.

My thoughts were more on the lines of starting a petition and submitting it at a high level in the system rather than trying to deal with individual teachers or schools. If there was a way to get a high ranking Thai (parent) to support it may actually work. I know this isn't easy it's just something thrashing around in my empty head.
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by Pleng »

A couple of thoughts occur to me here, and they're probably way off the mark but...

Is there such a concept as home schooling here? It seems to me there may be enough disgruntled people here to be able to afford to pay a couple of full time teachers to cover most of what's required. It would take a lot off effort to put it all together, but if you seriously believe that your children are learning *nothing* at school, you'd surely couldn't be any worse off for trying it.
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by sand_dancer »

Pleng wrote:A couple of thoughts occur to me here, and they're probably way off the mark but...

Is there such a concept as home schooling here? It seems to me there may be enough disgruntled people here to be able to afford to pay a couple of full time teachers to cover most of what's required. It would take a lot off effort to put it all together, but if you seriously believe that your children are learning *nothing* at school, you'd surely couldn't be any worse off for trying it.

Hi Pleng,

My knowledge of the Thai Education system is pretty close to the square root of 0....

What I have picked up on..... Is that a major problem with the Thai Education System is the actual Teachers themselves...... Who by all accounts are as good as my knowledge of Thai Education......

I am sure that others will correct me if I am wrong.....

So home schooling would probably be more beneficial if it was done by the parent.....

But would that then be classed as work ?
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by StevePIraq »

Home schooling does sound like an option but a lot would have to be checked,
who can/would do the tutoring
How would you determine the syllabus
would the education be accredited i.e. for getting into uni / work etc.
would you need license/permit
the best solution may be to home tutor to a group of children but then they all need to be the same age and would this be seen as completion to the system
trying to home tutor for individuals would not work in my opinion and any way that would only be dealing with your own situation and not the bigger picture.

But still it is worth looking into now where to inquire and find out the info.

Where is Cheapercharlie when he is in such need?
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by Pleng »

I guess once we talk about groups of people, the concept has moved on from home schooling anyway...

I guess like anything here, it would need to be run as a business to avoid any work permit issues -- so somebody would essentially be running a small school.

Licenses, permits and accreditations would most likely be the biggest drain on monetary resources and I'd imagine you'd need somebody with a lot of willpower to battle through all the red tape involved.

I don't think you'd necessarily have to have all people involved the same age. Let's assume that you'd be happy with your child getting 5 half days of quality education as opposed to 5 full days of unsatisfactory education, bearing in mind the classes would be likely be extremely small. If you employ 3 teachers on that basis, then that would enable you to run 6 classes a day which should be enough to cater for quite a range of ages. You could, of course, augment the half days teaching with some carefully planned online learning sessions so that the students have a full school day.

So, yea, I think actually delivering the education to the students would be relatively straightforward. It's the rest of the stuff that would really dictate if the project would be feasible or not.
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by buksida »

In recent years quite a few of these little expat operated home schools have sprung up in Hua Hin, most of them cost a fair whack more than the two bilingual schools in town. This puts them out of reach of many of us (especially those with more than one kid).
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by HHTel »

Homeschooling is recognised in Thailand. There is even a support group, The Homeschooling Association.

To register as a homeschool in Thailand, the Education Service Area Office requires that the teacher or parent has completed a minimum education of Grade 12 or pass the evaluation by the Education Service Area Office. Once the Area office is satisfied, it will issue certificates to the student and parents under the Education Ministry that can be used as authorization to pursue further studies or to apply for a job.

Registered parents also receive state subsidies for their child's education, the same as students who attend formal schools, only the money goes directly to the parents instead of to the school.

Homeschoolers are required to take the national examinations, just like students who attend formal schools, and must test at Grades 3, 6, 9 and 12

It is a viable but mammoth task. As a farang, there are various hoops to jump through but not impossible. A few years ago an Australian and his wife did just that and with some other parents formed a small group. I lost touch with him so don't know how it progressed.
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by Pleng »

Maybe this should discussion should be split into a new thread?
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by nanyang »

Pleng wrote:Maybe this should discussion should be split into a new thread?
You are more than qualified to teach English in Thailand. :D
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by HHTel »

Nothing wrong with your eyesight, T.

Incidentally, when for are you to buy for me another beer isn't it!!
:laugh:
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Re: Thailand education ranked lower than Vietnam and Cambodi

Post by Pleng »

nanyang wrote:
Pleng wrote:Maybe this should discussion should be split into a new thread?
You are more than qualified to teach English in Thailand. :D
I haven't taught English for years and never in Thailand. But yes, that was a pretty spectacular error :)
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