Two heads are better than one (sometimes)
some reasons why the education sector in Thailand is so poor
The problem
It is a well established fact that without a sound education, a solid grounding in what used to be called the Three Rs (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic), it is very difficult to get on in life. All the more reason why the people who administer education in schools, whether they be the practitioners themselves, the teachers, or those who manage budgets and generally organize the day-to-day schedules, are often given a somewhat elevated status in the eyes of the denizens of a given community. Such people are prized because they have attained a high level of education and, as such, are entrusted with passing on that knowledge to others in their community. It is here that we are reminded of that old Chinese proverb - "Two heads are better than one". Or are they?
Some of you may have seen the well-written and interesting article by Sirikul Bunnag in The Bangkok Post recently. It was entitled - "School heads lack English, ICT skills - Poor survey showing surprises authorities". What was interesting about this article is that it highlighted a major problem in Thailand or, more specifically, a problem that exists with the administrators who run the majority of Thailand's schools - from the headmasters and executives, to the board of directors themselves.
A survey was carried out by Srinakharinwirot University earlier this year to test the abilities of about 40,000 school directors and deputy directors under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), a government department connected to the Thai Ministry of Education. No doubt this is part of Thailand's increasing efforts to become a "knowledge economy" in line with its Second Educational Reforms.
The Results
The results may shock you though as it was discovered that two major areas where one would expect the executives and headmasters to be not only adept, but highly skilled - English and IT - were found to be seriously lacking. "Many school executives are poor at English and technology," commission deputy secretary-general Saneh Khaoto said...although Mr Saneh declined to reveal how poor many school executives were at English and ICT."
One can only assume that it must have been pretty bad if they won't reveal the exact numbers, but at the risk of sounding churlish, what surprised me most was the response to this dilemma. Instead of admitting that these no-doubt highly-skilled people needed both IT and English language skills, the bulk of the money set aside to correct this anomaly was earmarked for other activities like "morality" training among other equally irrelevant areas. OBEC has apparently spent 678 million baht on the tests alone which is a staggering amount when compared to the amount which was allocated to actually fixing the problem.
As the writer of the original article says - "Another 500 million baht will be spent on promoting morality among teachers and 60 million baht on e-training." Forgive me, but two obvious points spring to mind here - what has morality got to do with making senior manager and executives better at English or IT? Moreover, why, when the problem has been clearly identified as an English language and IT problem, is more than eight times the amount being spent on morality training? Indeed, what has morality got to do with management at all?
For me, this neatly sums up some of the problems inherent in the Thai education system. On the one hand the government spends "...678 million baht on the tests alone" in an effort to identify problems, and then, when those problem have been highlighted, they are seemingly ignored in favour of something that has little or nothing to do with the original problem.
Indeed, other aspects of this survey do not ring true either. "The office did not expect this, because most school executives have master's degrees." The underlying assumption here is that just being in possession of a master's degree automatically confers ability in (a) the English language, and (b) IT.
This is of course a complete fallacy and something of a non sequitur as we all know that many senior positions here are often got through connections, for example through one's family e.g. nepotism, and/or through long term associations like friendships formed in schools or colleges e.g. cronyism, so to have ignored this fact is to have been taken something of an ostrich in the sand approach to problem solving. It is hardly surprising then that the true problem was completely overlooked and a lot of money seemingly wasted on what I can only classify as excessive bureaucracy.
What others say
Judging by some of the many comments left by readers on the bottom of the page where the article appears, it's pretty clear to me that others feel the same way. "I think they should fire them all if they fail the test. How can you teach if you can't pass? Disgrace." While I think this is a bit harsh, I do think it is not unreasonable to argue that those who are in high positions in academia should, at the every least, have the requisite skills to pass their own tests using whatever criteria that may entail.
Another more cynical reader wrote "Why are people surprised that English and ICT are so poorly taught in Thailand? It's what the powers that be want. Too many people with a good knowledge of these two subjects would be dangerous because they would be in a position to read and listen to information from sources other than government approved ones." Whilst I am not someone who would ordinarily listen to such an obvious conspiracy theory, it does seem strange that for all Thailand's wealth and its abundance of human capital, it seems incapable of developing that resource to its full potential?
We don't have to look too far into Thai political history to see that there is a large and developing chasm between those who feel disenfranchised (the Red shirts), who feel totally let down by a system run by an elite in Bangkok (the so-called "amata"). If we have learnt anything from recent conflicts in Thailand, it is this: that there are many who feel that they are being let down by their education or lack of it or, as Einstein neatly put it -"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education". Perhaps this is a case where two Heads really aren't better than one?
Tom Tuohy is a teacher and writer. He has written for a number of newspapers, magazines and websites including: The Guardian Weekly, the EL Gazette, jobs.ac.uk, The Bangkok Post, and UniversityWorldNews.com You can access Tom's blog here.
Comments
Hi Forrest,
Yes, I’m currently teaching in Saudi, and yes, “you’d be hard pressed to find an in-country forum to air your comments”. Having said that though, I would say that like many closed societies, Saudi is also bracing itself for major changes that are inevitable as in Iran and it’s only a matter of time before something big happens there and the youth rise up against the muttawah (religious police) and other extreme religious clerics.
I agree that you should be angry that you are unable to teach as I see little connection between age and bad teachers. In fact, there are many arguments to show that age merely increases knowledge of the subject and all the experience that obviously goes with that.
“I don’t see any home economics (or shop or any vocational) classes in Thai K-12 schools. There is no tracking, either (maybe for cultural reasons). I’ve heard a British commentator on education say it’s as if we want every student to be a little professor - ain’t going to happen.“
This shows that the system is very “top down” and there is little or no education on how to manage one’s own family finances as you say - “home economics”.
Again I agree with you here - “There are reasons why Thailand is locked in the past that have nothing to do with English and IT.“ I believe I have mentioned some of them above.
“Saudis still cannot come to Thailand. To be more accurate, they can come, but there will be repercussions when they get back.“
And this works both ways as my wife was refused a business visa to Saudi simply because she’s Thai. All Thais have suffered a great deal since that case of the missing blue diamond where a Thai gardener stole it from a Saudi prince and has never been recovered. For me, this is yet another example where Thais are punished for the sake of a few greedy poo yais!
Thanks for your post.
Tom
By Tom Tuohy, Riyadh on 2010-07-15
Hi Frank,
I agree with a lot of your comments.
I am assuming your reference to “88 wasted years” is to do with 1922 when the country adopted a constitutional monarchy. I agree that the idea that the “Abhisit Vejjajiva, finally has a Primer Minister who fully intends to change the old, busted “software” of Chinese style education”.
However, I have seen little evidence of any major changes to date and am becoming a little sceptical that they will indeed effect an tangible positive change in the long run.
Yes, it’s true - the democrats “ceding control of the lucrative “Grade A” ministries to coalition parties (i.e. Thaksin’s former buddies) in order to secure the Ministry of Education.“
But again, what has come out of it? I didn’t mention it in my article but 95% of those school executives failed those exams which is a shocking statistic in a supposedly modern state. Moreover, when the teachers were also tested, the following results were published. Here’s an excerpt from my latest article from the ELG which will be published in their September issue (online and globally):
“This year saw testing among teachers at the senior high school level, but red flags began appearing immediately. With a pass mark of 59%, the vast majority of teachers failed their subjects miserably. According to the figures released by the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), as many as 88% of 3,973 teachers whose specialty is computer sciences failed the test. A similar fail rate could be found in biology (86% of 2,846), mathematics (84% of 5,498), physics (71% of 3,487), chemistry (64% of 3,088), astronomy and earth sciences (63% of 529).“
Can you believe on top of 95% of the headteachers failing exams, we also had an incredibly high number of teachers as well, so what hope is there for the future of Thai education with such depressingly poor numbers? (If you want to read where I got these stats, here’s The Bangkok Post link - http://www.bangkokpost.com/life/education/38353/teachers-fail-exams-on-own-subjects)
Again you are right about the way Thais buy their degrees - “...as a newly-minted ‘Doctor Sue Parinya’ - as the expression goes for someone who paid for another person to do most of their coursework. Executive Summary anyone? CEO PM anyone?“ So again, I don’t think a few years of Abhisit’s family or the democrats led by the unbelievably honest Chuan Leekpai will be able to overthrow a system as corrupt as Thailand’s.
Yes, I read the full page Learning Post interview with the Education Minister around last October.
“...2009 was the year for planning and 2010 the year for implementation of teacher retraining via distance learning. Teacher re-training…“
And what have we seen? I am the English Language Gazette’s Thailand correspondent, and I write about Thai issues and I can tell you that I have written extensively on the Second Educational Reforms where little or nothing has changed and the same old tired people are dipping into the treasury pockets and pulling out a few million for themselves and their friends while kids in local Thai schools get little or no education from teachers and heads who are not making a difference in their lives when they are specifically employed to do so..
This is the 64-million dollar question:
“The question is how effective it will be, but even if it is only 50% successful, 50% of something is a lot better than 50% of nothing.“
You are perhaps more optimistic than me. I see the change in the education system as a social one that will come from outside not from within the government. Social sites and peer to peer networks are getting people together like never before and sooner or later they will rise up like a phoenix from the ashes and take what’s rightfully theirs. It’s only a matter of time before there are major revolutions in the world’s political systems, upheavals beyond our comprehension that will change the way we govern ourselves and are governed by others. Just my two cent’s worth.
Thanks for your post
Tom
By Tom Tuohy, Riyadh on 2010-07-15
Modern Education > Modern Government > Modern Country
After 88 wasted years (including 6 from Thaksin) Thailand, in the form of Abhisit Vejjajiva, finally has a Primer Minister who fully intends to change the old, busted “software” of Chinese style education here for a modern variety - as evidenced by him ceding control of the lucrative “Grade A” ministries to coalition parties (i.e. Thaksin’s former buddies) in order to secure the Ministry of Education. PM Abhisit also chairs the Committee on Education reform, so it’s not hard to guess where the real ‘grunt’ is coming from - someone who actually earned his education at Oxford instead of returning from the U.S. as a newly-minted ‘Doctor Sue Parinya’ - as the expression goes for someone who paid for another person to do most of their coursework. Executive Summary anyone? CEO PM anyone?
As the full page Learning Post interview with the Education Minister around last October revealed, 2009 was the year for planning and 2010 the year for implementation of teacher retraining via distance learning. Teacher re-training because otherwise teachers still won’t understand what a modern education actually is, and distance learning because there aren’t enough (Thai) teachers who do know to get the information across any other way. At least that’s how I understand things to be.
The question is how effective it will be, but even if it is only 50% successful, 50% of something is a lot better than 50% of nothing.
By Frank Lee, Bangkok on 2010-07-14
I taught for 15 years in Saudi where I see your posts are coming from. Certainly, Saudi education has as big a mountain to climb or get around as Thai education, but you’d be hard pressed to find an in-country forum to air your comments.
I’m over 60 years old now so I can no longer teach in Thailand or Saudi - and this irks me a lot.
I agree with most of your discussion points about Thai education (although my direct exposure has been small), but I think there is one more item that does not concern English or IT instruction.
There was a book (I think) years ago entitled: The Poor Pay More. I think this is true about the rural Thais.
I don’t see any home economics (or shop or any vocational) classes in Thai K-12 schools. There is no tracking, either (maybe for cultural reasons). I’ve heard a British commentator on education say it’s as if we want every student to be a little professor - ain’t going to happen.
As a result, my family members still buy bagged meals from their cousins and refuse to plan meals ahead of time (even though there are two refers in the house). Thai food means feresh(?), and fresh means no leftovers. Very costly.
And there are no middle class trades people, save a clever cousin or two. When a retired contractor friend was building his house, he told the Thai workers how he wanted the building constructed. To his surprise the Thai workers said “no” and walked off the job. There are reasons why Thailand is locked in the past that have nothing to do with English and IT.
* * *
Saudis still cannot come to Thailand. To be more accurate, they can come, but there will be repercussions when they get back. This comes from a former student who checks with his older diplomatic-corps brother regularly on this issue.
By Forrest Greenwood, Takhli, Nakhonsawan on 2010-07-13
Hi Chris,
thanks for the history lesson ):): You clearly have a firm grasp of the origin of modern education.
“Education in Western society used to teach people the Bible, and the virtues of the monarchy…people were taught traditional morality and a number of other social edicts, or cultural truths – rules based on convention, not reason…“
You just neatly summed up much of what happens in Thailand and has been for centuries. Implicit in the notion that “morality” play a major function (in Thai education) is also the notion that people should know how to behave especially where that behaviour means “know thy place” in the social fabric of Thailand.
Viewed this way, the ignoring of the other skills (IT and English) and the major focus on morality in their stead tells you that the powers-that-be are scared out of their wits that, with the increasing use of peer sites like YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace etc., the younger generation especially are growing up and seeing the unequal and unjust society that exists in Thailand, and how the social landscape is there to benefit a select few only - the so-called “amata”.
I fully agree with the following:
“In Thailand, promoting religion and the monarchy are still features of the national curriculum, they continue to precede the development of rational knowledge and thinking skills on the national agenda. As all teachers must know. As Tom is pointing out, morality remains a focus. So obviously, we have a situation here that invites comparisons to be drawn.“
Yes, in other words, a certain blind devotion is encouraged even expected and anything that invites logical reason, the ability to think critically (e.g. about the (un)fairness of the society in which one lives) is avoided at all costs.
These ideas are even codified in the three colours of the Thai flag, each colour symbolising and indeed upholding this unequal system.
Again, spot on:
“Also, many of the owners of those Master’s degrees did not do the work themselves. It is no secret in Thailand that at university, as the age of the students increases, so does their propensity to cheat. A great injustice is afoot, actually – the young people have to get down on their knees to people who style themselves as moral and intellectual examples, but whose education was extraordinarily information impoverished, whose integrity is often very dubious, and whose agenda is often very self-serving.“
What also surprises me is that those school executives often feel they have a right to buy their certificates or even get someone to sit exams for them (just because they have money or come from families with well-known surnames) and for me it is shameful. As you rightly point out, why should those hardworking bright, enthusiastic students have to be lorded over by cheating, incompetent, lazy poo yais who, when asked, are often proud that they cheated the system and gained masters and doctorates by dint of trickery?
There was a scandal here a few years back when it was discovered that about 30 well-known politicians had all bought their higher degrees prior to taking political office so this dynamic is not solely confined to heads in education.
Thanks for your post.
Tom
By Tom Tuohy, Riyadh on 2010-07-08