Southern students get excellent tuition

Thank you for your thoughtful editorial on the southern issue. However, we would like to set the record straight on what you incorrectly termed “karaoke lesson” bilingual education. 

Two models of Thai-Malay bilingual education are used in government schools in the South. The first, promoted by the Ministry of Education, allows kindergarten teachers to speak the local Malay dialect in class, but does not permit the teaching of literacy skills in the local language, and returns to the Thai-only approach in primary Grade 1. Thus, experts consider this a “partial” model with limited long-term benefit.

The “full” bi/multilingual education (MLE) model – pioneered by Mahidol University, the Thailand Research Fund and a network of committed teachers, administrators and parents – systematically develops listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in multiple languages. Kindergarten students learn to read and write their Malay dialect using a simplified Thai script that matches the local pronunciation exactly, so the children learn to read and write quickly and confidently. This script also serves as a tool to help the children learn Thai reading and writing skills in Grade 1. All the teaching and learning materials were developed locally by ethnic Malay people working with outside experts – and honour the unique cultural identity of the students while meeting Ministry of Education standards. Many of the books contain both Thai and Jawi script. 

The children in the MLE schools begin formal Jawi (Arabic script) study in Grade 3. They systematically learn the differences between their local dialect and the Malay dialect on which the Jawi script is based. In Grade 4 they begin to learn Standard Malay, using the Rumi script of Malaysia, which will benefit Thailand in the AEC era. By Grade 6 they will be fluent in all of these languages, based on a strong foundation in their local dialect. 

The results have been very encouraging. First-graders in the MLE schools performed 40-60 per cent better in all subject areas than ethnic Malay children in Thai-only schools. Boys were 123 per cent more likely to pass their Thai exam, and girls 155 per cent more likely to pass their maths exam. Community support is high, with many parents commenting that their younger children are reading and writing much better than their older children who did not have this opportunity. This year the project expanded from 4 to 15 pilot schools – although 60 schools asked to be included. Yala Rajabhat University is joining the project to assist with teacher training. 

According to 2011 Ministry of Education statistics, ethnic Malay children make up 100 per cent of the students in 758 of 875 government schools in the deep South. The Ministry also says 42 per cent of third-graders in the South are still unable to write Thai after five years in Thai-only schools (compared to the national average of 6 per cent). In this dire situation, the MLE approach offers hope, although expansion will require financial support and much training to help both Thai and Malay-speaking teachers understand this innovative method.

Therefore, we ask that The Nation not dismiss our approach as “karaoke lessons”. In fact, OIC adviser Sayed Kassem El-Masry was briefed on our project on May 9 and was pleased to hear that the local Malay dialect was finally being used in schools! 

The Pattani Malay Multilingual Education Research Team