First of all, I would like to thank Adam Wes (@AdamWesTutors on Twitter) for asking us about the education system in Thailand compared to our U.S. education system.
Like I said before, where do we start? There are many differences and yet there are some similarities.
To make it easier for my audience in America to understand a foreign education system (in this case, a Thai system) so they will be able to compare it to what they know and experience in America, I will divide this topic into two parts.
The first part detailed below will discuss about the classroom and school culture in Thailand. Comparative information will be given where necessary. The second part which is to follow will involve the culture of tutoring in Thailand. This is going to be a series of blog posts or the article will be way too long even for the first part--let alone the two parts combined.
The Thai education system is divided into elementary (grades 1-6), secondary (grades 7-12), and college levels. In this post, I’m just going to focus on schools in Bangkok. I’m not focusing on higher education in this post either. But I may mention about it if relevant.
Like many countries, Thailand has both private and public school systems. Actually, there is also a third group of schools in Thailand known as international schools.
The Thai private and public schools adopt the curricula set by the Ministry of Education. On the other hand, the international schools have their own curricula and standards, depending on their affiliation. For instance, the American School of Bangkok and the International School of Bangkok both have followed those in America. I will address more about these schools in Part 1.2, which may be of interest to some of you teachers in the U.S.
While many parents in LA who can afford it prefer private schools, Bangkok private schools are not necessarily popular nor desirable for that matter. Having said that, it also depends on the education levels.
For smaller kids (grades 1-6), parents prefer private schools to public schools. Their curricula are quite different. Private schools seem to have more rigorous curricula and students have more choices in terms of classes to take. Mostly students who go to a private school start studying English at an early age and will usually continue through college.
On the other hand, at the secondary level, public schools are somewhat more popular. This is perhaps in part due to the fact that reputable public schools in Bangkok are highly competitive--not every student can get in.
Although now some students living in the same district in which the school is located may be able to get in through ruffle drawing, most students take an entrance exam to secure a seat in the school. It's quite competitive.
Now, let’s talk about Thai students and teachers. On average, Thai students spend a lot of time at school. For instance, a high school student can spend up to eight hours a day at school. Students are usually subject to many courses. Often times, they also have many program options. For example, some schools ask their students to choose a program as early as 7th grade.
It is also common that high school students already have the academic program of their choice picked out before they even start high school. These programs are believed to help tailor students to enter college and transition into their academic major in a seamless manner.
For example, a high school math-science program is supposed to help students better prepare for programs like medicine, dentistry, science, and engineering in college. (In Thailand, high school students can apply for medical, dental, vet schools directly without having to first complete their four years in college. They will, however, spend six years in these programs.)
By the way, the college math-science-oriented majors don't accept students without a background from the high school math-science programs. This means that if you choose a language program in high school concentrating on English and French, they you might as well forget about becoming a physician.
Now for Teachers in Thailand, like their American peers, they work very hard and are dedicated to their job and students. Yet their earning is quite low. It is not uncommon to find these teachers, especially in a big city like Bangkok, to have a second job. They tend to work as a private tutor after school hours, or even on weekends. More on tutoring in Part 2.
For our next post, I will address more about the international schools and some new programs in both public and private schools called “international program”, “bilingual program”, etc. These programs have recently seen more support and interest from both the public and the government.
Till then, take care.
