Thai schools fail the grade

Onesqa worried that thousands of schools will not meet the minimum qualifications


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Many schools, such as this alternative ‘rongrien withi pud’, or Buddhist approach schools, must be evaluated by Onesqa to see if they meet the proper guidelines.

What is wrong with the public schools in Thailand? Why are some schools having trouble passing certification? Is it a lack of funding or is it because of the lack of teacher qualifications? After you have read the article below, what recommendations would you make to improve the standards of schools in Thailand?

At least 20 percent of the schools in Thailand do not meet current standards of basic education. This may sound bad, but the bright side is that people are willing to accept that there is a problem and talk about it.

Before a problem can be solved, one has to accept that the problem exists.

There is a natural tendency to provide good evaluations for people you know so that they don't look bad and lose face. In some organisations, you are even expected to make only positive evaluations. Making negative critical evaluations can even be dangerous for your career or future.

Using an independent evaluator or assessor without any relation to the person being evaluated can often get around this problem and determine the truth. This is the approach that has been chosen in Thailand.

How did Thailand's education sector get to the point where it is self-critical and able to issue a negative judgement against itself? The answer is the 1997 People's Constitution.

The 1997 constitution calls for a national education law (Section 81). A National Education Act (NEA) became law in 1999. Part of this new law addressed education quality. The "Education Standards and Quality Assurance" chapter of the law (Chapter 6) established an "Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment" (Onesqa) (Source: Onesqa web site, also see Thailand's Education Law).

The 1999 education law called for a nationwide evaluation or assessment of all 35,600 primary and secondary schools. The first phase of assessments ran from 2000 to 2005. The current phase of assessments started in 2006 and will finish in 2010. Results on the current phase of assessment were released earlier this month:

One-fifth [around 4,000 schools] of the 22,811 schools did not pass the assessment. There are about 12,800 schools yet to be evaluated by the agency, and the bad news will become worse, as most of the remaining schools are small ones located in remote areas. The chances of these passing the standard are remote, as they are already struggling to find teachers and sufficient budgets to run the schools.

Privatise or localise education?

The only way to solve the problem is to "overhaul the entire mission" according to Onesqa director Somwung Pitiyanuwat.

Currently, the Ministry of Education runs 80 percent of the primary and secondary schools in Thailand. Mr Somwung proposes that this be cut in half by handing over 50 percent of the schools to government and private enterprise.

Local administrative organisations and the private sector should be allowed to take over this duty from the ministry so that it can concentrate on supervising them and giving them direction and financial support. Many local administrative organisations want to take over schools from the ministry, but in many cases it [the ministry] is reluctant to give up its control over the schools.

As far as privatisation of schools is concerned, Thailand already has a good working model in the country's abundant international schools. International schools are a vibrant part of Thailand's education sector that sets it apart from other countries. Russians send their children to be educated in English and live in the more hospitable climate of Pattaya for part of the year. Other Asian countries such as South Korea have traditionally barred their education sectors to foreign participation, not so Thailand.

Bangkok Post | Learning Post | Thai schools fail the grade

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The current phase of assessments started in 2006 and will finish in 2010. Results on the current phase of assessment were released earlier this month:

One-fifth [around 4,000 schools] of the 22,811 schools did not pass the assessment.

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- What form of assessment is used. It still seems optimistic to me in relation to International [IB or AP] standards.

-The biggest problem here is not lack of knowing information, but knowing how to process information using logic.

In order to fix something, one must first know what is wrong with that "something".

What problems did O.N.E.S.Q.A. find with the Thai education system?

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Originally Posted by hillbilly

The only way to solve the problem is to "overhaul the entire mission" according to Onesqa director Somwung Pitiyanuwat. Currently, the Ministry of Education runs 80 percent of the primary and secondary schools in Thailand. Mr Somwung proposes that this be cut in half by handing over 50 percent of the schools to government and private enterprise.

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I would think that the Ministry of Education is govt.

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Originally Posted by wandering

The biggest problem here is not lack of knowing information, but knowing how to process information using logic.

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That is because there is no LOGIC in the Thai thinking or language, first of all the Thai children should be taught from the first day in c
school or even before if [possible to think for themselves instead of the way it is done now, Do not ever think but just do as you are told and follow what is done by the others around you and do not make waves.
And if you do not do your school work and receive a passing grade then you will be in that same desk next year and if you do not pass next year you will find yourself here again in 3 years.
My wife is a school teacher and the shit that goes on in her classroom and in every classroom in that school is atrocious.
I sent my daughter back to USA to go to school starting in first grade and she is getting a B average which is fine with me.

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Originally Posted by hillbilly

struggling to find teachers and sufficient budgets to run the schools.

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this is a big factor IMO

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Originally Posted by hillbilly

Local administrative organisations and the private sector should be allowed to take over this duty from the ministry so that it can concentrate on supervising them and giving them direction and financial support.

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true, to a degree. but will this create a system like england/australia etc of private school 'haves' and public school 'have nots'?

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Originally Posted by hillbilly

As far as privatisation of schools is concerned, Thailand already has a good working model in the country's abundant international schools.

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not all, proper supervision would be the key.

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Originally Posted by kingwilly

Local administrative organisations and the private sector should be allowed to take over this duty from the ministry so that it can concentrate on supervising them and giving them direction and financial support.

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Seems like the minister of Edu just wants to get out from under the work and still scoop up the money..If he wasn't qualified for the job, he shouldn't have been appointed then.

First thing would be to have someone qualified with a degree in education instead of the way they do it now, it is a job that is given to pay debts to someone, kind of like the ambassador jobs in the USA is given, remember before he was PM, Toxin was minister of edu.and he has a degree in police science or some such shit.

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Originally Posted by blackgang

Seems like the minister of Edu just wants to get out from under the work and still scoop up the money..If he wasn't qualified for the job, he shouldn't have been appointed then.

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disagree. he/his department should set a mission, then some standards and benchmarks for all schools.

then monitor that said schools are reaching those standards and complying with regulations.

that's how it works in most developed countries.

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Originally Posted by hillbilly

Local administrative organisations and the private sector should be allowed to take over this duty from the ministry so that it can concentrate on supervising them and giving them direction and financial support.

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translation: we can't do the job so we want to tell someone else how to do it:rofl:

reminds me of the saying Those who can do it, do it, those who can't, teach.

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Originally Posted by kingwilly

disagree. he/his department should set a mission, then some standards and benchmarks for all schools. then monitor that said schools are reaching those standards and complying with regulations. that's how it works in most developed countries.

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Thats all well and good KW Baby, but you have to know enough about it to set those standards and to see if they are being reached.
So first of all they need to appoint someone to the minister of Education that knows how it should work and how to implement the plan, not some silly asshole with a degree in govt corruption and how to work it. All Toxin did was fuck up when he was minister.:(

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Originally Posted by blackgang

Thats all well and good KW Baby, but you have to know enough about it to set those standards and to see if they are being reached.

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quite correct. and running the schools themselves aint gonna help them get this bit right.

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Originally Posted by blackgang

So first of all they need to appoint someone to the minister of Education that knows how it should work and how to implement the plan, not some silly asshole with a degree in govt corruption and how to work it. All Toxin did was fuck up when he was minister.

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again, even developed countries do not always do this correctly.

Interesting thread and some excellent points here; I see the futility of teaching children how not to learn almost every time I visit my local primary and secondary schools.

Teacher training teaches prospective teachers how to teach, not what to teach, and in a sentence the art of teaching (for me) is not what you teach but to first encourage the student to want to learn and then how to learn...and they ain't going to learn anything at all if they're specifically taught not to think for themselves.

I've had literally dozens of requests to help out teaching English at the local schools, but aside from work permit, which the directors assured me is not important (like fekk!) the only time I gave it a shot, early on, the kids could not learn anything because they were too afraid to ask, just sat there with cute enough smiles but happily not absorbing a thing.

At first I considered it might have been the farang factor but nope, according to the other teachers that's the way it always is, which is no surprise seeing that with few exceptions the teachers don't care either as long as they get their wages at month's end and the school meets it various MoE targets, which are a doddle.

I found out the same thing when I was asked early on to come to the school a couple of days a week and help with the english class so that they could hear a native speaker speak, I did and out of a hundred kids only one could learn and his mom was married to a farang, but I have not been to the school for 3 or 4 years now, just a waste of my time and theirs.

Without knowing what problems O.N.E.S.Q.A. found, I have a few "starting point" suggestions:


1] Either of the anthems shall not be played at all schools.

2] The "cultural rules" need to be revised. What was a good idea a thousand years ago may not be such a good idea now.

3] Religion &/or culture shall not form a part of the education system. These things need to be left up to the individual to decide if they need education in these specific areas. There are 2 Muslim students at my school & quite a few Christian students.

Doing these things could probably "free up" the brains of many.

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Originally Posted by kingwilly

disagree. he/his department should set a mission, then some standards and benchmarks for all schools. then monitor that said schools are reaching those standards and complying with regulations. that's how it works in most developed countries.

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But in most developed country's they do not appoint a fellow with a degree in animal husbandry to head the Dept of Education, nor a guy with a degree and background in Education to run the state hyways dept. either.
Usually they appoint someone with an education/experience in the field that he is to minister, here if they owe you then you can have any job you want.
Corrupt assholes.

I went to Ruam Rudi School in BKK for a couple of years of highschool It is a school intended for the elites. My classmates got good grades by cheating or sleeping with the teachers. It was supposed to be fully in English... haha. In 9th grade (1984) I raised my hand to ask a question. The teacher yelled and screamed at me for 10 minutes for having the audacity to ask her a question. Asking a question was equal to challenging her authority. She raved on about how evil and stupid America was for allowing it's children to actually ask questions in class. I was informed that I should ask the "Class pet" to talk to her privately about what it was that the class did not understand. She usually just read directly from the text book without actually teaching and then regularly accused the class of being stupid. It was a horrible experience but I eventually learned to ignore her when she talked and then I fared much better there.

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Originally Posted by wandering

I went to Ruam Rudi School in BKK for a couple of years of highschool It is a school intended for the elites. My classmates got good grades by cheating or sleeping with the teachers. It was supposed to be fully in English... haha. In 9th grade (1984) I raised my hand to ask a question. The teacher yelled and screamed at me for 10 minutes for having the audacity to ask her a question. Asking a question was equal to challenging her authority. She raved on about how evil and stupid America was for allowing it's children to actually ask questions in class. I was informed that I should ask the "Class pet" to talk to her privately about what it was that the class did not understand. She usually just read directly from the text book without actually teaching and then regularly accused the class of being stupid. It was a horrible experience but I eventually learned to ignore her when she talked and then I fared much better there.

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That was over 20 years ago. Things are just slightly different now.

At my school, the "younger" Thai teachers encourage students to ask questions. Mind you, the older "stuck in the mud" Thai teachers still have that same "I am god...you will listen & obey" mentality.

I think Thailand will be a slightly different place when a lot of the older generation die off.

They could start by having a comprehensive national curriculum for English-learning instead of expecting every fly-by-night teacher to "develop" lesson plans off the cuff.

At my school, they are having a spelling bee, story-telling, essay, & speech sort of affair. It was assigned last week, Wednesday. Some students were away at a camp on Thursday and Friday and haven't had an opportunity to even think about what they're going to do if they've even been informed about it. Tomorrow is the spelling bee--no vocabulary list or any hint of what they might be asked to spell. Zero planning. Another whimsical demand from the old bats at large.

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Originally Posted by BugginOut

They could start by having a comprehensive national curriculum for English-learning instead of expecting every fly-by-night teacher to "develop" lesson plans off the cuff.

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uhha. and then they could even think about teacher training standardas

the biggest problem with the edu system here is that no one really gives a flying f*ck.