Children are left ill prepared for life
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For as long as I have lived in Thailand, politicians from prime ministers down and other public figures have waxed lyrical about the need for educational reform. Yet it stops there - with the words - for I have yet to see any real evidence that anyone is
I would like to suggest that we start by asking why we send our children to school in the first place. Yes, obviously to learn. But to learn what? Maths, science, languages, geography, history and art are the obvious answers.
However, there is a higher call, for, above all, school should be a place where kids learn to think. To think for themselves, to analyse, to form opinions, to think critically, and to have the confidence to express their points of view – particularly when they may differ from the majority opinion.
If you accept this philosophy, then the shortcomings and failures of the current Thai educational system become apparent. A pedagogic system that relies on learning by rote, teacher-centric classrooms in which the students are quietly submissive and unquestioning, and in which individuality is suppressed and conformity is demanded, produces unthinking, uncritical graduates ill-prepared for the challenges of today’s world.
David Brown
Rayong
