What will your kids do after they finish education?

Discussion on schools, colleges, universities, educational facilities, teaching, and learning resources for adults and children.
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migrant
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by migrant »

As Pete posted above, the prices here in the states are really getting ridiculous.
Most people get by with loans and scholarships here.

I've many clients with kids in schools and even some well off parents can get partial scholarships, but it's not unusual for kids to come our with student loans of 200,000 ++
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STEVE G
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by STEVE G »

What average costs are you looking at in the UK BB - with the proposed increases?
This is in todays news:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11677862
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by poosmate »

This is aimed at ex-STW-teacher or anyone with teaching experience.

I was interested in the IGCSE.
The courses being followed at Somtawin should allow pupils to be able to take an examination at the British council. I believe the standard being taught will enable pupils to take the Core part of the exam only. This only achieve a 'C' grade at best.
I was surprised to read from the British Council:
students who obtain five passes at IGCSE (grade A, B, C) can apply for an equivalent to the Mathayom 6 certificate from the Ministry of Education.
I was under the impression that this was taken and passed by the majority of Thais who complete high school and is an accepted entry qualification in many foreign schools and university's.?

Looks like many of Somtawin students may find themselves under qualified or are they taking the wrong course? :?
Are students who follow an IGCSE expected to be able to pass Mathayom 6 government exam ?
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by ex-STW-teacher »

To the best of my knowledge the IGCSE has equivalence to a standard GCSE, and comparing what STW kids did vs the students in my British school, the STW kids compare pretty well. The information I got was that the IGCSEs would help students get into university outside of Thailand. As to university in Thailand, I'm not 100% sure, but my suspicion is that the IGCSEs would be useful for more internationally-oriented universities, where more Thai places might expect Thai qualifications, especially where Thai language skills are expected (even though IGCSEs can be translated to many different languages Thais may perceive them as foreign and thus not an indicator of Thai skills). That said, I'm not an enormous expert on the topic. In terms of the students who were going down the IGCSE route, it seemed that most were the ones who planned a future beyond Thailand.
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by E-Dork »

The above is pretty much correct. Your child will be unable to enroll in International Universities with a Mathiom certificate and should the situation arise the child would need to sit his/her GCSE's before being allowed in.
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by bigideas »

I'm so glad I'm not a kid reading all this drivel about my future, I might be tempted to just top myself! Such an interesting question has been reduced to IGCSE's and A Levels, no wonder most of them are in such an unpleasant state by the age of 16.
For me (and my kids) education starts young, very young.
My stepson is 8 and I know what he (most probably) wants to do already. Engineering. Now all we have to do is the fine tuning. Of course it's no surprise that it's the only thing that he can do for hours and hours without distraction because we all sort of engineered it. From the age of 3 it was jigsaws, then every sort of Lego from 5, then Mecanno at 7. By 9 he'll be building solar powered robots (to order from the US), he'll do an apprenticeship at the local motorcycle repair shop by 12 and then as his passion is aeroplanes probably be enrolled in Hua Hin Aeronautical school to study Aeronautical Engineering at 18. Not a university in sight- though he might want to finish up at a university. Of course he'll do his studies at school and complete examinations he wants to complete but that's almost incidental. He'll do everything it takes to do his passion. My guess is that most kids have things that switch them on and switch them off by 7 years old.
By contrast my daughter is crap at building things but has fantastic lungs, can hold pitches, notes and harmonies with Beyonce and loves to dance. So we enrol her in classes, perhaps later a stage school and then hope that she gets jobs in the ever growing field of entertainment. We also hope that she marries well!
Have I mentioned boring old GCSE's and A Level's followed by a boring old job in an office somewhere?
That's the last resort!!
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by JimmyGreaves »

Mines gonna play for Tottenham, earn enough dosh for a lifetime in 10 years and then really enjoy life without having to worry about boring things like money.
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by BaaBaa. »

JimmyGreaves wrote:Mines gonna play for Tottenham.
I'm disappointed in you mate, you need to push him Jimmy, aim for the top, make sure the lads got a bit of ambition. :twisted:
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by ex-STW-teacher »

@bigideas

I definitely understand your point about GCSEs and A-Levels being a bit dull and useless. However, they are a means to an end, not just for boring office jobs, but if one gets a degree and eventually PGCE, a really rewarding (not financially maybe, but emotionally definitely) job like teaching.

I'm glad you say education starts early. I agree entirely. I can spot the kids whos parents have taken an active interest in their education from an early age a mile off. I can spot them because they want to learn, and they are usually miles ahead of the rest in terms of maturity and ability. I am very much on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate and believe we can have a big effect on kids futures, and none moreso than parents (for better or sadly sometimes worse as I've noticed at my current school).

The route you've got mapped out is an excellent one, and as someone who went into the IT business initially with no degree, just a C in A-Level computing, and made a lot of money while I was there, I know that not every industry is about A-Levels and GCSEs and degrees etc. I would also say that it's useful to have a backup plan, or at least be competitive in the modern job market. Every industry has down times and it's useful to be able to turn your hand to other things while you wait for it to pick up. Good qualifications will generally tilt the odds in your favour, though of course experience trumps that every time (barring jobs with legal requirements), and getting some relevant work experience can work wonders.

Finally the useful aspect of school, even if we don't like GCSEs and A-Levels, is that it teaches us the self-discipline required in the workplace, to turn up on time and give 100% whether or not we like the task at hand. This is important, and I worry for the kids who can't manage that, because they'll find it hard to hold a steady job (I'm mostly referring to some of our lower-ability kids from rough areas who go to my current school).

Ultimately there are many routes you can take, and it's the job of school to provide as many chances as possible for the students. Ideally it should be tailored to their needs (so for instance I offered programming classes as I figured the kids could earn European money with Thai living costs if they were working for European companies and telecommuting) and offer a challenge that will get the most out of them.

The important thing, which differentiates between successful students and unsuccessful ones is their expectations. More often than not, the ones who fail, who can barely read let alone write a coherent sentence, are ones whos parents want them to fit in, be normal. The ones who succeed are the ones whos parents expect them to do better than they did, to be the best, to excel. Whatever school you choose, you as parents have the power, because of your relationship with your child, and because you have one-to-one time that us teachers would kill for, to really make a huge difference to your child's future.
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by PeteC »

All the planning, insight, nurturing, encouraging is really a good thing. Don't be surprised though after all of it the boy announces one day that he wants to design woman's clothes, and the girl says she wants to wrestle in the WWF, Yes, it's a :P but happens more than people think. The old saying that "Kids are full of surprises" is not idle talk. :shock: :D Pete :cheers:
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Re: What will your kids do after they finish education?

Post by terry+carmen »

You are so right; one on my three daughters went to Royal Holloway, London. She did a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Geography. Took about seven years and was so expensive. Got a fantastic position in a Shipping Company after 4 years this was "no longer challenging"

She is now a happy florist, yes a florist!
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