Sad state of school education in Thailand

Apparently Thailand is among the worst educated countries in the developed world according to this story http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2012/11/30/th ... o-decline/ (http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2012/11/30/thailands-education-system-continues-to-decline/)

[Neal]

Brisbane guy, that is no wonder as Thais must pay in order to go to school and the more they casn pay the better school they can go to. Most Thai families can barely pay for a place to live and food let alone schooling and salso remember that many Thai families also rely on their children to help provide support by working or taking care of a relative. Go figure, huh?

Are you saying there is no free public education in Thailand and all schools are for students who's parents pay for them to go to school? Does that mean they only go if there parents can afford for them so school is not compulsory?

[Neal]

I can only repeat what I was told and welcome anyone that may have more knowlege on this subject.
What I was told by my b/f before this one is that the schools are paid. The more you pay, the better education is afforded for you. I think I was told (translation can be a bitch) that the free school was 1 day a week and on Sundays. I am not sure on the compulsatory as I do see many many children around at all times. It is a God awful shame as these wonderful people seem to be unable to think understand and make any type of decisions and i am even talking about those that understand whichever language you are talking.

Does anyone have more knowlege if I am right or wrong? :dontknow:

I usually find checking Wikipedia to be more accurate than asking a Thai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Thailand

[Neal]

Well as I knew she went to school only on Sundays, I would wonder how many days and more about it. Seems there are conflicting stories as well as being mandatory. Does anyone really chase after them? What happens with children who do not go so that they can stay hoem and help mama make a living? Just seems to me as too many unanswered questions as many appear to have no or little schooling. Jokingly I used to say when asked that I had 40 - 8 year olds working in the bar and that is the way it seemed. it's like most Thais stop learning at 8 years old.

Due to budgetary limitations, rural schools are generally less well equipped than the schools in the cities and the standard of instruction, particularly for the English language, is much lower, and many high school students will commute 60 - 80 kilometres to schools in the nearest city.

[fedssocr]

Can Thailand really be considered "the developed world"? Certainly some areas are developed, but huge parts of the country are undeveloped or developing.

Obviously there are myriad issues with education in Thailand.

[Liamog]

Obviously there are myriad issues with education in Thailand.

And in Brisbane it seems. :gy:

[ainamor]

Are you saying there is no free public education in Thailand and all schools are for students who's parents pay for them to go to school? Does that mean they only go if there parents can afford for them so school is not compulsory?

I sponsor two young girls for their schooling in Pattaya and have done so for four years.

Schooling is free, but the family must supply the school uniform, scout uniform, books, pens, course equipment, sports kit and other essential items all compulsory and which can be anything between 3-6000 Baht a year depending on the age of the child. These costs have to me met at the start of the school year.

Add to that the bus fares to and from school, school snacks and the cost of any other school activities and you can see why many families struggle to afford to send their children to school. The authorities do chase up children that are not attending school but as there is no financial assistance from the authorities to help with the cost of the essential items and the schools will not permit children without them into school it is a catch 22 situation.

[ceejay]

From what I know of the system, Ainamor's post above is correct. The start of the school year is a busy time for loan sharks. Many families get into their clutches because they are their only possible source of finance for the school uniforms.
I also understand that some public schools are better than others and that the ability of parents to "donate" to the school influences whether or not they can get their children into one of the better ones. Actually, very much the same thing happens with schools in England. It is dressed up as taking "participation" of parents into account, but it adds up to the same thing - money talking.
If you want to do something about this, rather than just tut-tutting over it, visit the Pattaya Street Kids Support Project website. There's a lot of information on this subject, and the opportunity to sponsor individual children if you want.

http://pattayastreetkids.homestead.com/navig1.html

Surely the deleted Royalty comment will do something about it!

[thrillbill]

Like many countries, the more of a "rural" area you live in, the less quality of education you have. The problem with the poor areas of Thailand (such as Isaan or north Thailand) is that once the boys reach age ?14 - many cannot afford highschool (books, uniforms...) and are pressured to go to the big cities to work. Next, the educational practices in most Thai schools are out dated, lacking creative thinking and collaboration. Memorization and poor teachers seem to be the norm. Money that goes to some regional schools are partly pocketed (Thai way, yes?) Some locals think the government wants to keep the people in the east and north uneducated so they can continue to be puppets of the Thaksin regime.
Next, foreign complanies that are trying to employ Thais with special skills (engineers, chemists, architects, special welders and electricians) find it difficult since there are very few "locals" with these skills that meet their expectations. Sad.

[Beachlover]

My ex boyfriend was born into a shit poor family, very simple people, and no chance in hell they could send him to university. But he somehow begged a scholarship out of the government, did his last two years of high school (think it might be referred to as junior college) near Bangkok and got another scholarship for university in Bangkok, persevered, got a great job with a middle-class income and several years later ends up going into business with me on the other side of the world... hell of a jungle boy to riches life story, which I will never even begin to match.

It's not just that education opportunities for the poor in Thailand are of low standard... a lot of the rural Thais just don't place a lot of weight on the importance of education in their value system. I don't know whether it's a cultural thing, ignorance or just that they can't get their act together.

They either don't realise or don't care that education is a path for their kids to rise out of that shitty existence. And unfortunately, when the parents and family don't value it, the kids typically won't care about it either. The only exception is the odd visionary A-type personality kid who comes along, somehow realises how critical education is to his own future and pursues it relentlessly until he gets a place at university and a path out of the village and onto bigger and better things...

So they end up working the bars and disgusting you by selling themselves to us old white guys Beachlover so there you win both ways contempt for the Thais who will not educate themselves and contempt for the old white guys who buy there time you must fell such a superior person alround.

[Oliver]

It is sadly true that the rural poor get a poor deal both in education and healthcare.
And this is partly why the Redshirts are so popular. Thailand needs a Democratic Socialist revolution.

[Rush, Yet Again]

Wow. ItтАЩs great to hear you and your little jungle bunny are getting along so well Beach. Tell me, do you let him sleep inside or did you make up a nice spot for him out on the back porch?

Interesting how there is the uneducated and then the uneducated too, huh?

[latintopxxx]

...there's absolutely nothing wrong with the educational system in Thailand.....every single gogo boy I rent fully understands my demands...after all...imagine if they were all engineers...where would I find "love"...

[hai336]

I was told by a Thai friend a while ago that school is provided for all Thai kids up to the age of about 14. After that, boys are able to continue education at the high school level for free provided they become novice monks in the religious schools. Most graduates leave the monasteries after completing high school, but some stay on. I'm not sure what opportunities girls have.

[latintopxxx]

hello...the girls have lots of opportunities along walking street....l

[kjun12]

Can Thailand really be considered "the developed world"? Certainly some areas are developed, but huge parts of the country are undeveloped or developing.
No, I don't think that Thailand can be considered a developed country. It is not even a developing country in that progress in too many areas is stymied. Bad and corrupt politicians who supposedly run the country are much of the problem. They foster the corruption which is imbedded in Thai society and government. Unfortunately, things generally seem to be going backward or very little progress is being made in the betterment of the country.

[cdnmatt]

It is not even a developing country in that progress in too many areas is stymied. Bad and corrupt politicians who supposedly run the country are much of the problem. They foster the corruption which is imbedded in Thai society and government.

I love it when people say this, especially when Americans say it (no idea if you're American or not).

Really though, would you like to get into a debate regarding how political corruption affects daily lives in the US versus Thailand? Think twice before saying yes. Just because the US legalized corruption via lobbying, doesn't make it any less harmful to the average citizen.