Parents in Udon Thani are spoilt for choice when it comes to the schooling of their children; however, because there is so much choice, sometimes they find it difficult to decide what is best for their children.
All children are individuals, so it is difficult to offer advice on this subject, although as I have had to go through the process myself, I believe I have some ideas that you may find useful.
I chose to put my children through the rigors of a Catholic education. I am not Catholic; however, I remembered those old television programmes back in UK depicting children being bullied to study and decided that this would be the best policy for my children bearing in mind how lazy I was when I was their age.
As it turns out, the rod at these schools is spared possibly spoiling the child; however, there are no guarantees that this type of schooling is best for your child. Local government schools abound and there are some that have to fight off parents wanting to enrol their children as they only take the best.
There is a time honoured tradition of offering “tea money” to a school to ease the selection process. Be aware that it is illegal, although well practiced in the province, allowing students who have not passed the entry criteria to study at a school of their parents choosing. Armed with 30,000 baht plus, it is possible to obtain a place at the school of your choice for your child.
Rural schools are much more spread out and less claustrophobic; however, they tend to lack the same facilities as their inner city relations. The other problem is that most teachers want to teach in the city, resulting in some of the rural teachers not being so happy with their location and the facilities that are on offer. The ideal situation would be to have schools that are a mixture of both, but this is a piped dream and only exists in my head.
Some schools offer programmes for gifted children and those who want to concentrate on their English, science or sports. This obviously will cost more, although the benefits are clear to see as there are plenty of Thai children leaving after completing grade nine and going to Bangkok to further their studies somewhere else.
The reason for this is that their parents are concerned about the university that their child will be attending, so they prepare them early for the entrance tests that they will be facing and try to get them settled with a family member in the area ahead of time.
At the end of the day, parents can decide to use the free government education that is on offer or elect to send their children to a private school. The fees for a private school can be as little as 10,000 baht a year, but remember that it is the same in all countries around the world, this does not guarantee that you child receives a higher standard of education.
As always, it is best to follow “word of mouth” and see what kinds of educational adventures are on offer for your offspring.
Some of the city schools are quite grand and reasonably priced; however, it is better to ask local people their opinions concerning individual schools and their performance. (St. Mary’s School)
City schools differ greatly from rural schools in Udon Thani, resulting in some parents deciding to send their children from outlying areas to the city for their education. (Mariepithak School).
Rural schools tend to have more land available for the children to play on; however, it is difficult to recruit teachers to these far away places (Bantatprachanukoon School).
