Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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Jack Sprat
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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StevePIraq wrote:Thailand has a problem with it's government system not just educational system
Agreed...For the past 80 years the army has continually stifled progress within the country.
A couple of years of real government, then a takeover by an institution that should be reserved for defence.
Start/stop....start/stop....start/stop....and so on.
So here we are 80 years on with essentially little progress.
An army is a blunt instrument, that should never be anywhere near the offices of government.

There's a cavernous gap between 'Great Britain' and 'Thailand'.......the word 'Great'....which under present/past circumstances, Thailand will NEVER be.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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My Thai nephew came first in the country in Civil engineering when he did is Degree and received a special award from the Royal Family yet he did not know how to read a geotechnical report from boreholes from a geotechnical survey.

His partner is presently attending Leeds (UK) University to do a Master Degree in civil engineering, paid for by the Thai Government. Both of these points highlight the inadequacy of Thai education.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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StevePIraq wrote:His partner is presently attending Leeds (UK) University to do a Master Degree in civil engineering, paid for by the Thai Government. Both of these points highlight the inadequacy of Thai education.
How did they manage that? Do you have a link on how to seek Government funding for studying abroad, or is he in the army or equivalent? I ask as my other half's niece completed her masters degree at Southampton, which was funded by her father and it was a real struggle. I met quite a few Thai's who were also studying there, but all were funded by their families.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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They both worked at the Rayong Department of Groundwater Resources so I guess it is an internal government funded scheme for government employees only.
I have never understood how she can manage in Leeds as her English is incredibly poor so it must be a huge struggle to follow courses.
He has now managed to obtain a position as Meteorologist at Thai Meteorological Department, Buddha alone knows how.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

Post by Bristolian »

The company I work for has 30 Thai service engineers based in BKK. All are qualified to degree level. It is very apparent that the electrical/electronics engineers are trained very well but when it comes to the mechanical guys most can not even read an engineering drawing. This is probably why there is no major mechanical engineering group in Thailand producing high end machinery. Of course there is car manufacture but pretty exclusively run by foreign companies.

Engineering and the sciences are taught very badly in Thailand and in the U.K., someone with a vocational training would be of a much higher standard than batchalor degree qualified Thai

I this is of course more of a personal assessment than a proven fact but good engineering technicians are like mosquito sh1t, very hard to find!!
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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One of the features of Asian parenting is that parents drive their children to study study study and to excel. To westerners, in some countries , Japan and S Korea for example, this is taken to extremes. But as in so any things Thai is an exception. I know we have some teachers who post on the forum. I would like to hear your opinion on this and other issues.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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StevePIraq wrote:I have never understood how she can manage in Leeds as her English is incredibly poor so it must be a huge struggle to follow courses.
They are generally required to pass an English proficiency test before being accepted. In Muks case, she took hers just after recovering from a serious illness and didn't do as well as she would have liked. She was accepted for her masters degree on the understanding she took and passed a crammer English test at Southampton. It was only having done so that she could continue and her visa was extended accordingly.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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Jack Sprat wrote:[There's a cavernous gap between 'Great Britain' and 'Thailand'.......the word 'Great'....which under present/past circumstances, Thailand will NEVER be.

Let's not get carried away here. The 'Great' in Great Britain refers to its size by comparison with the small one in France (Brittany), not to any inherent greatness, talent or power.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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No surprise at all about student assessments. In my 19 years of teaching here, the only noticeable difference in students arriving at university is that they are a bit more confident in speaking (however badly). I put this down to English Programmes in schools where they've possibly had a native speaker who doesn't correct everything they say.

My thoughts on why Thailand is failing:
1. Cramming. It doesn't work. Any information 'crammed in' may stay in the short-term memory for a while, but then it's dumped. My students can memorise a huge amount of text word-for-word, but if I ask them about anything they learnt last term they give me that 'look'.
2. Teachers teaching at a level way above the ability of the students in the misbelief that the students will leap up to that level.
3. Teachers not being able to grade their classes. Similar to above, but teaching what they were taught at Master's Degree level to post-grad students.
4. Students not being able to take notes in a class. Relying on handouts or (the latest thing) taking a photo on their phone of what is written on the board.

There are certainly more reasons than this which are mostly related to Thai culture, but I won't bore you with them...

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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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VS--i, for one,
would not be bored by any more info from you
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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oakdale160 wrote:VS--i, for one,
would not be bored by any more info from you
Likewise. The fact a small number of Thais can go abroad to complete masters degrees and do exceptionally well shows that with a combination of their education here and their own application / intelligence, they can succeed and that doesn't always mean they come from a moneyed background.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

Post by RCer »

Since coming here, I've wondered if diet is not a major factor in ability to learn. Rice is not a brain food. If the diet were changed to a diet of 50% vitamin foods like vegetables, fruits, and meats, it seems to me education would be greatly improved.
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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caller wrote:The fact a small number of Thais can go abroad to complete masters degrees and do exceptionally well shows that with a combination of their education here and their own application / intelligence, they can succeed and that doesn't always mean they come from a moneyed background.
I'm sure there are some that can cope with a totally different style of education (and do well), but I've certainly come across Thais who have been to an English speaking country and returned with a Master's or Ph.D. and have very little knowledge of their studied subject. It's a well-known fact that foreign students are given a lot more leeway when it comes to their academic performance than native speakers. They're paying top dollar, and the universities don't want to lose that nice little earner.

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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

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Vital Spark wrote:I'm sure there are some that can cope with a totally different style of education (and do well), but I've certainly come across Thais who have been to an English speaking country and returned with a Master's or Ph.D. and have very little knowledge of their studied subject. It's a well-known fact that foreign students are given a lot more leeway when it comes to their academic performance than native speakers. They're paying top dollar, and the universities don't want to lose that nice little earner.

VS
I agree about the earner that is foreign students, I think it was £16k for the course. But in M's case, I just think she's an exceptionally bright person who was well briefed about what to expect, including by me, although the uni covered that as well. She certainly grew as a person and in confidence in a very, very short time and loved living in the UK and asked me whether, with her qualifications, she would be able to stay on and work there. Ironically, in view of what you say, Southampton actually wanted her to stay to do her PHD, but finances were against that (repaying family). She also, for her masters, studied a financial subject that has no equivalent in Thailand, which was quite brave. She's very driven and was offered employment by various banks here, but chose the one she had already decided on, as she believes it gives her more opportunities, including working and living abroad. It also had the highest starting salary!
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Re: Thailand tumbles in International Student Assessments

Post by Jack Sprat »

dtaai-maai wrote:
Jack Sprat wrote:[There's a cavernous gap between 'Great Britain' and 'Thailand'.......the word 'Great'....which under present/past circumstances, Thailand will NEVER be.

Let's not get carried away here. The 'Great' in Great Britain refers to its size by comparison with the small one in France (Brittany), not to any inherent greatness, talent or power.
Granted, but in my opinion probably should be.......

Considering that Great Britain once governed 75% of the planet (Hence the worlds common language), started the industrial revolution, and invented:
The computer, The World wide web, The light bulb, The electric motor, Jet engine, Telephone, Television, Electric telegraph, Steam turbine, Steam engine, Passenger railway, Reflecting telescope, Military tank, Modern torpedo, Cement, Hydraulic press, Photography, Hovercraft, ATM, Tin Can, Electric vacuum cleaner, Waterproof material, Stainless steel, The Glider, The Toothbrush, Automatic kettle, Carbon fibre, Pneumatic tyre, Disc brakes.....amoungst many more......I think you'll find that Great Britain was, and is, a 'Great' country.

Thailand has invented,
An HIV vaccine....That's pretty much it!

The point was, until they can cease the relentless cycle of Army then real government, nothing is going to get any better for the poor populous, regarding education, or anything else.

'Great', An accolade Britain unreservedly deserves.........outlined in the contributions to the planet above.
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