Schooling in Udon Thani

You have listed haircuts and Social learning so St Mary,s I am sad to say will not be to your liking.

When My daughter first went to the school they had a marvelous highly respected farang called Sister Margarita.

She was marvelous and the standards at the school, thanks to her were first class.

Sadly she moved and from then on all what we liked about the place went down hill.

Now the students have to do lots of extra studying to catch up on class mis management with the the lack of qualified teachers being the main area of contention IMHO

Should you wish to go to the school and make comments on the adminstration as we did on a couple of occasions you will be marked as trouble makers and as in our case, rather than discuss and act in a constructive manner on pertinent observations relating to education and discipline, be informed that if you are not happy please consider moving your child to another school.

I might add that our daughter started in Pat. 1 and is just about to finish the final year in Mat. 6.

At the time we were told this she was in Mat. 5 and it was in our opinion not in her best interests to take her out at this late stage without it having an effect on her and especially losing all the class mates she has gone through the school with.

Did St. Mary,s care when we pointed out why she should not be made a scapegoat of rather than try to address our concerns...as was a reasonable expectation, not a chance and discussion on equal terms was obviously lacking and non existant.

Another thing that has got increasingly worse is the inventing of ways to get additional fees out of the parents in the way of overtime at nights and weekends to cover subjects that the students are supposedly being taught in normal schoool times as per curriculum that is applicable and should be expected to be taught and learned.

As in our case students are made to feel insecure and obliged to enrol for these extras and when you consider this is a private school with parents already paying fees to cover what should be, a reasonable education they are supposedly in the main part to cover.

From my take, one of the main reasons is that many of the teachers are not as you would expect, university qualified and yet they are put in charge of the classes rather than supportive roles to which they are more suited

If anyone needs extra tuition then I reckon the school should address it correctly and provide additional support for these hard working teachers who while working hard, lack the ability to gain the respect and attention of their students, and having to tolerate those who lack the ability to learn at the expected standards is another additional problem that in turn makes it worse.

Consequently this has a negative effect on those who do ( with precious teaching time spent on those that do not ) and they have to do out of school learning to make up for lost time during normal school hours.

As for safety although there is a gated security it is very easy to enter and leave without being challenged, especially at opening periods and after school finishing.

Another concern we had was the amount of students allowed to use m.bikes with many not mature or big enough to control them.

You can see for yourself from the overpass and observe not only this but other important issues like riding 3-4 on a bike, no helmet enforcement and total disregard for road safety when entering and leaving the premises.

What and where is the schools responsibilty, supervision, and laying down of positive rules on this very important issue.

Last of all the number of lessons left un taught during the terms due to all sorts of pathetic reasons, self made by the schools administration and executives / owners, in many cases to save money or bring in additional funds, that do NOT go to the benefit of the students or the provision of a higher level of education / teachers that should be there in the first instance is taking place all to frequently with students being left to their own resources when it takes place.

I leave it to your imagination where it finishes up.

Take a look at the school over the last few years and how it has expanded to accomodate many additional students while neglecting the expected standards we experienced back in the beginning and has in the last couple of years erroded considerably.

Yes our daughter could have left in Mat. 5 but we did not feel it was in her best interests at this late stage as we know Mat. 5 and 6 are very important ( IMHO ) for continuity and to take her away from her comfort area and adapting to different regimes of schooling ect. could have had a detrimental effect on her education at this important time.

marshbags St. Mary,s

Staying in NongBuaLamphu we found, what the locals called, a private school to send our children who were three and four years old. Our children weren't happy, they had a very outdated way of educating the children and believed in smacking the children for punishment. When we found this out I thought we'd better find a new school for them before my wife started smacking the teachers back.
Not long after we enrolled our children at Paramin School in Udonthani, the children really enjoyed themselves there.
I found that Paramin put a lot of effort in to providing interesting field trips, fun sporting days and many other events.
They also had some european born teachers for teaching english. At the lower age groups I think a school like this can provide a good education and a happy learning environment for children. Most importantly a young child needs to be safe, comfortable and happy in school.
We had to drive thirty minutes every day from Nongbua to attend this school but seeing our children happy was worth it.

marshbags wrote:You have listed haircuts and Social learning so St Mary,s I am sad to say will not be to your liking.

When My daughter first went to the school they had a marvelous highly respected farang called Sister Margarita.

She was marvelous and the standards at the school, thanks to her were first class.

Sadly she moved and from then on all what we liked about the place went down hill.

Now the students have to do lots of extra studying to catch up on class mis management with the the lack of qualified teachers being the main area of contention IMHO

Should you wish to go to the school and make comments on the adminstration as we did on a couple of occasions you will be marked as trouble makers and as in our case, rather than discuss and act in a constructive manner on pertinent observations relating to education and discipline, be informed that if you are not happy please consider moving your child to another school.

I might add that our daughter started in Pat. 1 and is just about to finish the final year in Mat. 6.

At the time we were told this she was in Mat. 5 and it was in our opinion not in her best interests to take her out at this late stage without it having an effect on her and especially losing all the class mates she has gone through the school with.

Did St. Mary,s care when we pointed out why she should not be made a scapegoat of rather than try to address our concerns...as was a reasonable expectation, not a chance and discussion on equal terms was obviously lacking and non existant.

Another thing that has got increasingly worse is the inventing of ways to get additional fees out of the parents in the way of overtime at nights and weekends to cover subjects that the students are supposedly being taught in normal schoool times as per curriculum that is applicable and should be expected to be taught and learned.

As in our case students are made to feel insecure and obliged to enrol for these extras and when you consider this is a private school with parents already paying fees to cover what should be, a reasonable education they are supposedly in the main part to cover.

From my take, one of the main reasons is that many of the teachers are not as you would expect, university qualified and yet they are put in charge of the classes rather than supportive roles to which they are more suited

If anyone needs extra tuition then I reckon the school should address it correctly and provide additional support for these hard working teachers who while working hard, lack the ability to gain the respect and attention of their students, and having to tolerate those who lack the ability to learn at the expected standards is another additional problem that in turn makes it worse.

Consequently this has a negative effect on those who do ( with precious teaching time spent on those that do not ) and they have to do out of school learning to make up for lost time during normal school hours.

As for safety although there is a gated security it is very easy to enter and leave without being challenged, especially at opening periods and after school finishing.

Another concern we had was the amount of students allowed to use m.bikes with many not mature or big enough to control them.

You can see for yourself from the overpass and observe not only this but other important issues like riding 3-4 on a bike, no helmet enforcement and total disregard for road safety when entering and leaving the premises.

What and where is the schools responsibilty, supervision, and laying down of positive rules on this very important issue.

Last of all the number of lessons left un taught during the terms due to all sorts of pathetic reasons, self made by the schools administration and executives / owners, in many cases to save money or bring in additional funds, that do NOT go to the benefit of the students or the provision of a higher level of education / teachers that should be there in the first instance is taking place all to frequently with students being left to their own resources when it takes place.

I leave it to your imagination where it finishes up.

Take a look at the school over the last few years and how it has expanded to accomodate many additional students while neglecting the expected standards we experienced back in the beginning and has in the last couple of years erroded considerably.

Yes our daughter could have left in Mat. 5 but we did not feel it was in her best interests at this late stage as we know Mat. 5 and 6 are very important ( IMHO ) for continuity and to take her away from her comfort area and adapting to different regimes of schooling ect. could have had a detrimental effect on her education at this important time.

marshbags St. Mary,s

Thank you Mr. Marsh Bags for this report supports what I have heard from several sources recently. It seems that St. Mary's pulled instead of being developed. It is sad that this earlier, historic and prestigious school has fallen into the same trap such as Don Bosco, from what I heard others report. It looks like that in Udonthani not much remains of good schools for our children and it is sad.

Anubal on Posri road is an option that I see today as perhaps the best school in Udonthani for children of younger ages (although it is not private).

Paramin seems to be a god option for as a preparingschool (nursery). I have many Thai friends use paramin for there children and we have only heard god things about them! My wife is a teacher as well but here experience is from business management and ........that comes later maybe!

CONTINUE TO ADVISE AND SHARE your experience!

REGARDS Kjell

kjellsnell wrote:
Thank you Mr. Marsh Bags for this report supports what I have heard from several sources recently. It seems that St. Mary's pulled instead of being developed. It is sad that this earlier, historic and prestigious school has fallen into the same trap such as Don Bosco, from what I heard others report. It looks like that in Udonthani not much remains of good schools for our children and it is sad.

Anubal on Posri road is an option that I see today as perhaps the best school in Udonthani for children of younger ages (although it is not private).

Paramin seems to be a god option for as a preparingschool (nursery). I have many Thai friends use paramin for there children and we have only heard god things about them! My wife is a teacher as well but here experience is from business management and ........that comes later maybe!

CONTINUE TO ADVISE AND SHARE your experience!


REGARDS Kjell

and what trap would that be...my kids attend Bosco. My oldest is going on his 7yr there and IMO, it's not half as bad as Marshbags experience.

papaguido wrote:and what trap would that be...my kids attend Bosco. My oldest is going on his 7yr there and IMO, it's not half as bad as Marshbags experience.

The Swedish rockgroup ABBA made a song long time ago......they called the song: Money money money....and the chorus goes....for the rich mans world!.....aint that something about Don Basco makes people think about this song?

@Marshbags - Excellent report. We have our Precious in the "best" public school precisely because my wife heard the same things and our visit there did nothing to remedy the concerns raised. It was like watching the first few minutes of a movie we'd seen over and over again. Your report is validation we chose correctly and I thank you for it. Cheers!

kjellsnell wrote:

papaguido wrote:and what trap would that be...my kids attend Bosco. My oldest is going on his 7yr there and IMO, it's not half as bad as Marshbags experience.

The Swedish rockgroup ABBA made a song long time ago......they called the song: Money money money....and the chorus goes....for the rich mans world!.....aint that something about Don Basco makes people think about this song?

I know many Thai who have children who are students at Don Bosco and we also have friends working as teachers. As a matter of fact, our Thai family, most teachers so I know the values ​​that apply at Don Bosco.

I grew up in a society where everyone, regardless of background or economic, should have the same opportunities. I believe that Don Bosco values ​​are based on upper-class values ​​and this does not fit on the values ​​I carry and I want my children also to learn. Previously, St. Mary's an option that we have good experience in our family but it looks like it has lost its values ​​and slipped into the same path upper class values ​​that I do not like. This is for me and our family but it does for the sake not mean that Don Bosco and St. Mary may be an option for people who have a different value system than I have.

kjellsnell wrote:I know many Thai who have children who are students at Don Bosco and we also have friends working as teachers. As a matter of fact, our Thai family, most teachers so I know the values ​​that apply at Don Bosco.

I grew up in a society where everyone, regardless of background or economic, should have the same opportunities. I believe that Don Bosco values ​​are based on upper-class values ​​and this does not fit on the values ​​I carry and I want my children also to learn. Previously, St. Mary's an option that we have good experience in our family but it looks like it has lost its values ​​and slipped into the same path upper class values ​​that I do not like. This is for me and our family but it does for the sake not mean that Don Bosco and St. Mary may be an option for people who have a different value system than I have.

Okay I understand now. Well good luck to you.

Send your kids to school in Lao.

rufus wrote:Send your kids to school in Lao.

A good suggestion,if you can afford it.I understand that their International school is well respected!

One thing that amazes me is the lack of encouragement and willingness of these schools to take on board sensible suggestions on school / parent relationships.

The fact is that in St. Mary,s case and I say this without being racial or disrespectful, the Thai parents do not wish to be seen causing problems and are frightened to complain ( if that,s the word to use ) and this sadly makes it very difficult for individuals to approach the school with constructive observations that IMHO benefit both sides and create a genuine happy atmosphere while offering reassurances that are, going by this very important discussion, sadly lacking.

I have hesitated so long out of worry about being seen as moaner and thanks to this recent reactivating of the thread by our members has provided a just reason to post without perceived negativety.

Just maybe the schools we all support will get the message and start considering what is a positive for their students and encourage parental participation and take on board what could be great asset to teacher / pupil relationship.

Sadly I tried some time ago to kick start group discussion and participation but was ignored and treated with a it,s not your concern type of attitude and a complaining individual while most seemingly appear happy with their lot.

A bit like the wagging dog toy when visiting the school and communicating with the sisters / admin and the owners, oblivious to how good it could be if they also offered thoughts and truly cared about the children / parental / teacher relationships.

It is after all a two way thing benefit wise for everyone.


Our time at school is coming to it,s last few weeks now so I sincerely hope it gets better for those who we leave behind.

marshbags

Im a little confused, infact more confused now than i was before i read every single post on schooling in Udon. So could somebody give me some advise please.
I have a 4 year old son living in Udon, about 5 km from the center nor far from the airport.
We would like to put him in a new school and would like to no peoples veiws on the top 5 schools including private please.
The last thing i want is to move back to pattaya with all the fairy lights and idiots that are now there. I dont really want to relocate if i dont have to.

Thanks in advance

For more senior children I believe that it is really a toss up between St. Mary's & Don Bosco.
I think that is as good as it gets. If, on viewing, they are both substandard to your requirements then I don't think you are going to find what you want in Issan.
For a 4 year old I am told that Paramin School & Pattana Panya School are well worth a look. The only issue with these two is what do you do with your child, for education, when they have outgrown the school....but, who can predict what tomorrow will bring anyway.

@Bobhelm
Thankyou for you time, i think we are going to go with Pattana Panya School, and then try and move him to Don Bosco at a later date.

Chris&YUI wrote:Im a little confused, infact more confused now than i was before i read every single post on schooling in Udon. So could somebody give me some advise please.
I have a 4 year old son living in Udon, about 5 km from the center nor far from the airport.
We would like to put him in a new school and would like to no peoples veiws on the top 5 schools including private please.
The last thing i want is to move back to pattaya with all the fairy lights and idiots that are now there. I dont really want to relocate if i dont have to.

Thanks in advance

As Bob says it seems like a toss up between St. Mary,s and Don Bosco.

St. Mary,s is of course a girls only school from Pathom One whereby Don Bosco is mixed.

Don Bosco I was told several times is more reasonable and stable with the add ons, baht wise, and several respected teachers who I know reckon it is the better of the two at present.

Again as Bob says, all you can do is visit both of them and take a look ( in St. Mary,s case you can always stand on the flyover that crosses from the school to Macro.)

It,s an ideal place to do an unofficial observation on behaviour ect., morning assemblies and break periods, start and ending of classes are good times when it really does provide an insight on behaviour and chaos.

There is by the way Udon Christian which has always been seen in a positive light by people and teachers I have talked to.

The down side there is that they only go up to a certain level ( year ) and then you have to go to another school
so worth a check if you want a place for younger children, up to a limited age.

There was talk that they where looking into extending and accomodating the later years so who knows maybe this could happen in the future.

Perhaps a member can kindly post actual stages / class years ect. in more detail as they are at present

marshbags