Thailand a bright spot for regional education

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Nereus
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Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by Nereus »

Maybe this should be in Foo, or is it April 1st today?
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Thailand a bright spot for regional education

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... -education

Thailand has the potential to become a regional hub for education particularly among students from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam because of its comparatively low tuition fees and high-quality international schools, according to education experts.

Toryos Pandejpong, director of Denla British School, said affluent families from countries in the Mekong sub-region and China are now seeking overseas education for their children, with Thailand high on their list.

"Thailand is a friendly place, is centrally located and easily accessible, and has a variety of curricula on offer -- potentially making Thailand a hub for international education," he said.

Mr Toryos said the number of foreign students enrolled in Thailand's international schools has steadily increased in the last few years with the trend likely to continue.

"China, Myanmar and Laos are big markets for Thai institutions because these countries still lack quality international schools.
"Thailand now has more than 170 international schools nationwide, the highest number in Southeast Asia," he said.

Mr Toryos said not only are more foreign students from neighbouring countries set to enrol in Thai international schools, but such schools are now admitting more Thai students because of the country's low birth rate, meaning parents can afford to spend more on the fewer children they have, including on education.

"Thai parents now only have one or two children, so they can look for the schools which provide the best primary education for their kids.
"And they are willing to spend more money to guarantee a bright future for them," he said.

Mr Toryos said he expects sending children to study in international schools will become commonplace among affluent parents in China and CLMV countries in the near future.

According to the Denla British School's assistant director Temyos Pandejpong, the school has seen almost 200 students sign up for courses even though the school opened just a couple of months ago, adding the school expects to see enrolments rise to 900-1,500 within five years.

"At present, 20% of our students are foreign nationals but we estimate this proportion to go up to 30% within five years, with our school planning to offer boarding facilities by that time," he said.

Meanwhile, Howard Wu, an education specialist and adviser at Bromsgrove International School Thailand, said tuition fees for Thailand's international schools are cheaper than those of Malaysia and Singapore, while the standard of education at a Thai international schools is as high as those of the UK or the US.

Therefore, when compared to sending children to a UK boarding school where fees are 50% more expensive, Thailand's international schools come across as great value for money.

Mr Wu said Bromsgrove last year saw its Mandarin-speaking student intake go up. There are over 10 Chinese students studying at the school and that number is likely to grow.

Earlier, Laureate Thailand CEO Gilles Mahe said a survey conducted by his company found 60% of students in Thailand want to study on international programmes.

However only a fraction, at 3%, are usually accepted to do so.
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by oakdale160 »

China not have quality International Schools--that is just NOT true.
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by RCer »

I think these are private schools which would make them likely ti bee top tier for the region.
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by StevePIraq »

So the Thai universities are so good that is why wealthy Thais, the Thai government, and I am sure the top military send their kids overseas to be educated.
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by HHTel »

From one report I've read, the top university in Thailand is Mahidol which is ranked 501st in the world and 8th at the moment is Prince of Songkla ranked at 801st.

Hardly impressive figures imo.
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by PeteC »

If I'm reading it correctly, the entire article is about Primary and Secondary International school education. Nothing to do with any system the Thai Ed authorities are involved with. Pete :cheers:
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

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Ah yes I think it is aimed at under 18s
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by laser »

Nereus wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 9:54 am Maybe this should be in Foo, or is it April 1st today?
Foo looks fine; it does not fit in 'HH Classifieds".
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by oakdale160 »

It's delusional. You remember last year, the general said that Thai is rapidly becoming an important International language. Now it's becoming an International educational centre!!!
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by RCer »

prcscct wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 4:12 pm If I'm reading it correctly, the entire article is about Primary and Secondary International school education. Nothing to do with any system the Thai Ed authorities are involved with. Pete :cheers:
That's how I read it, too.
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by HHTel »

Having re-read the article, I'm inclined to agree. International schools here do have a good reputation and most closely follow western curricula. That alone makes them stand out against the mainstream education.
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

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They are all kidding themselves. The top ten universities in Thailand have some regional credibility (not much further than that though), but what they are talking about here is the super expensive private international schools like Harrow in BBK or Saint John Mary international and their ilk etc. which cost a fortune.

Certainly not your run-of-the-mill high school like Assumption/Saint Mary's College or the typical local Rajabhat college/university etc. as the mainstream places are hopelessly brainwashed and dogmatic and just pump out grads that can barely meet the standard really.

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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by Vital Spark »

You're absolutely right, Spitfire. It never ceases to amaze me that a student can turn up at university and major in a foreign language (French/German/Korean/Chinese, etc.) having zero knowledge of that language. Can you imagine applying to a university in the West to do a degree in Chinese without ever having uttered or read the language? Some of these students cannot answer 'What did you do last weekend?' in English, after having studied it for 15 years - so they're not linguistically gifted.

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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by handdrummer »

My daughter entered the univ. in Bangkok, 4 yrs. ago, as a Korean studies major. She didn't know Korean when she entered and graduated this year with honors and is working as a translator. I think that most of the onus must be placed on the students. You can teach until your brain rots but if the student doesn't want to learn it's all for nil. The univ. provided scholarships, if your parents are poor, for a yrs. study in Korea, so it's not all bad. (No, we're not poor, she didn't get a scholarship.)
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Re: Thailand a bright spot for regional education

Post by Bamboo Grove »

handdrummer wrote:
You can teach until your brain rots but if the student doesn't want to learn it's all for nil
.

This is very true, and also the attitude that I can't learn stops one from learning.
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