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/
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/
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?
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
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.
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.
And in Brisbane it seems. :gy:Originally Posted by fedssocr
A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
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.
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
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