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Wayne Kerr

Looking for the dates for the formal (or official) school year in Thailand years 2007/8 and 2008/9. Is there such a thing as a formal school year in Thailand? If so can anyone direct me to (or send via e-mail) related documents?

Thai language documentation or websites will be fine.

Cheers, Wayne

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natalie8

This site pretty much sums it up:

THE THAI SCHOOL CALENDAR


[FONT='Times New Roman', Times, Serif, serif]The school year begins in May and ends in February, with a semester break from late September to mid-October. Most hiring is done during February and March, or for the universities, in early August. Schools in the provinces often close briefly during the local rice planting and harvesting seasons. [/font]
[FONT='Times New Roman', Times, Serif, serif]The following are public holidays in Thailand, when you may have time off from teaching. [/font]

• January 1: New Year's Day
• February: Magha Puja (commemorating the preaching of the Buddha)
• April 6: Chakri Day
• May 5: Coronation Day
• Mid-July (full moon): Asanha Puja (commemorating the Buddha's first sermon)
• Mid- to late July: Khao Phansaa (beginning of Buddhist lent)
• August 12: Queen's Birthday
• October 23: Chulalongkorn Day
• December 5: King's Birthday
• December 10: Constitution Day

bongthom

cheers nat

Wayne Kerr

Thanks Nat. I wasn't very clear in my OP (late night and drunk) but looking for some official document issued by Ministry of Education that says the formal school years from 2007/8 and 2008/9 are from [date] to [date]. Reckon I might be pushing my luck.

natalie8

That would never happen in Thailand, so just go by my post. Holidays? You might find out the day before.

buad hai

Even the public schools here seem to follow different calendars. One of my students goes to public school and her first day back after vacation was the 14th. Ms. B's daughter goes to private school. She started the 15th. On my morning run I first started seeing significant numbers of kids in uniform on Monday, the 19th, but the school buses didn't start to roll until the 20th.

We just had a good long look at the Ministry of Education web site and there is no calendar to be found. (It is just as crappy as most Thai government web sites: dead links, out of date site map, etc., etc.)

NickA

They make it up as they go along

Wayne Kerr

Thanks guys and yes Mrs. Kerr spent half a day on the phone to the Ministry and no one seemed to be able to say. Despite this there has been a big push in the Thai TV reminding parents that it is time for the kids to be back in school. Just thought some of the teachers on here might know.

Urrggg ... dealing with the petite functionnaire in developing countries (well anywhere for that matter) is a complete pain in the arse. Thanks for your time guys.

Scooter

My stepson had more days off than when he was there.
He went to Wat Pra Sing and most days off were Budda Days.
In the fours years he went there he never ever did a full week.

CSFFan

Most government schools opened on May 20th....but some opened as early as the 12th and some will open as late as June 2.

From what I understand, most schools make up their own schedule....nothing "offical" except for the holidays (and then schedules may vary, check with the school in question to find out for sure).

buad hai

WK - Ms. B wondered why you needed some official document from the Ministry of Education? Why not just get something from the school itself?

qwerty

^That about sums it up! Each school Director runs his or her school as a private fiefdom. They arbitrarily decide when the school opens or closes and just about everything else.

buad hai

The brilliant Ms. B has located the appropriate Ministry of Education regulation.

The pertinent part, in Thai, which appears in an amendment to the original regulation states:

(I hope I got that right....)

Roughly translated this says that the official school year begins on May 16 of each year and ends the May 15th of the following year.

So, that's the official school year. However, the period of summer vacation, which would dictate the actual beginning and ending date of classes, is up to the local school, as long as their school year fits within the dates stated by the regulation....

Texpat

^

Love it. The official school year is 16/05 through 15/05 the following year. Beautiful. What genius came up with that one? They don't even have to update it -- ever.

buad hai

^Funny thing is, the original regulation (year 2538) said May 1st through April 30th. They amended it in 2543 to the May 16th to May 15th dates.

Wayne Kerr

Ms. B is a bloody beauty! I knew there must be some administrative instruction somewhere. Strange as it may sound this is the best news I've had for weeks. Mrs. Kerr is also very, very happy. Big thanks to Mrs. and Mr. Buad hai for helping out over the weekend.

buad hai

It was good practice for the law student....

NickA

^Come on, explain.... I guess some school is giving you trouble and stating rules and regulations which don't exist and now you have the ammo to let them shoot themselves in the foot

buad hai

I'll let the OP explain if he likes. Suffice it to say that the formal definition of the "school year" has importance beyond the actual dates the little darlings are away from home.

Norton

A brilliant piece of work. Only one amendment. Thai politicians could use their help in writing a "final" constitution.