Education woes too deep for a quick fix

I think a recent experience of mine could shed some light on why Thai education never gets better: Last year I was a teacher in a high school that was considered to be among the elite. In fact, for every ten students that applied, only one was admitted. (Rumour had it that the school’s director was making a fortune from “tea money,” donated by parents, determined to have their child admitted by this reputable institution.)

The English program director was, of course, Thai. Thus, she practiced Asian management with all its manifestations: Loyalty was more important than competence. Inflexibility and a dictator attitude were her hallmarks. Any concepts about humility and self-improvement were either unknown or unwelcome. She had neither imagination nor common sense. In addition, advice from (as she viewed it) underlings was unthinkable. No problem was so big that it couldn’t be ignored.  Also, as expected, she was process and not result-oriented; she thought that prodigious paperwork equalled progress. If something looked right then to her it was right. Finally, she had acquired her position through connections; not merit. 

This was a bad enough start, but it got much worse: The English material the students were using was totally unsuitable for the basic reason the students were using books designed for very small classes with keen pupils in language schools. My 35 typically supine Thai students found the book too difficult and boring, so mostly they chatted with their friends or daydreamed during classes. Yet I was forced to continue to use the book. In addition, the school’s no-fail policy, though ensuring no student lost face, also had the effect of making students immature and poorly self-disciplined until the day they graduated. Predictably, by graduation day, only a handful of students were able to converse in anything better than baby English. Their parents, not surprisingly, had been kept in the dark by administrators the entire time their child was a student at the school. I am sure that parents were never fully aware of all the corruption, atrocious standards, poor organisation and mismanagement at their child's school. On the other hand, it is possible they wouldn’t have cared anyway as they expect such. Besides, they could now boast that their son or daughter had graduated from a prestigious high school. That is all that matters to Asian parents, correct?

The school’s foreign, English-speaking teachers were largely comprised of young, male backpacker-types. At one time they arrived for a holiday in Thailand, fell in love with a local woman, and now would work in Hades itself just to get a work visa and thereby stay with their Thai girlfriends. None was a qualified teacher.

But even if they had been licensed teachers, the system would have completely undermined their efforts. 

I could go on and on about all things wrong with Thai education, but I will simply end by declaring that matters will improve only when Thai attitudes, habits and thinking change. To be frank, that will take centuries. So let’s stop wringing our hands every time the results of national tests are revealed. And let us waste no more time listening to all the ridiculous ideas, ludicrous promises and other nonsense from the ministry of education that are only good for a few (mirthless) laughs. 

Despite the fact that learning and knowledge are not really valued by Thais, we foreigners should just forget about hopeless Thai schools and instead focus on all the myriad superlatives to be found in Thailand. With its friendly people and spectacular nature (among other wonderful things), Thailand is still the best nation in Asia. 

CM Phillips

Nonthaburi