Farang teachers crackdown !(no cowboys)

[quote]

Foreign teachers: eligible bachelors only need apply
Crackdown is likely to affect Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket

PHUKET: -- Schools across the island will ask Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit to petition the Ministry of Education (MoE) to ease

its not surprising with all the perverts that have found employment in schools ,how many more are lurking in the woodwork ?

its not surprising with all the perverts that have found employment in schools ,how many more are lurking in the woodwork ?

Curious Izzix: Where are you getting your statistics about "all the perverts?"

How many falangs have been charged with or convicted of being a "pervert" with any of their students?

izzix wrote:its not surprising with all the perverts that have found employment in schools ,how many more are lurking in the woodwork ?

Taking that comment to its logical conclusion are we to assume that those with university degrees are unlikely to be perverts.?

izzix wrote:its not surprising with all the perverts that have found employment in schools ,how many more are lurking in the woodwork ?

Unfortunately it only takes one or two 'preverts' to be unearthed to taint us all.

I think the John Mark Karr incident brought all this on. A knee jerk reaction from the gnmt I'm afraid.

From my own experience at AUA the numerous teachers I have worked with over the years in Bangkok and now Udon have all been highly professional and of the utmost virtue.

izzix wrote:its not surprising with all the perverts that have found employment in schools ,how many more are lurking in the woodwork ?

Actually I think there are more falang perverts who are NOT teachers living in Thailand than teachers.

I think the gov. should start doing background checks on sexpats who have been living in Thailand on tourist visa's - there's more chance these losers are perverts than people with jobs and work permits.

from what I've heard it's not easy to get a job and work permit as a teacher as it is without these new regulations.

izzix - be careful what you say please, I have some friends who are teachers in LOS and they are nice respectable people.

don't know about the pervert issue, sure there are more out there than we want, one is way to many. but this:
[quote]The new policy requires that all foreign teachers possess at least a bachelor

laphanphon wrote:the other rules, here's a tough one:

The name of the teacher must match that on his/her passport and academic degree

maybe they should move these people to immigration

[quote/]does someone actually have to be told to make sure they are one in the same, yikes. taking into consideration, these are university trained people working in schools and universities, and these are the instructions presented to them. scary.[/quote]

It's not for the schools sake, it's for the labour office and immi. If there is ANY discrepancy between someone's degree, passport and/or certificate they will refuse it.

If for example your passport says James Alan Riddick, and your degree says James Riddick (or James A. Riddick even), they probably will decline it - they are THAT strict when it comes to work permits. You would have to get a letter from the embassy saying you are the same person.

That's why they are saying what they are saying.

I am not a school teacher myself but I would imagine that anyone with a

If all the teachers leave that don't meet the stated requirements,they will still have to many teachers for the Thai students actually interested in learning English anyway.Only the Hi So that can afford to go to other countries to get a real education have much interest in learning English and they get tutors!
The Thai Gov't mandates that English be taught,it doesn't mandate that it be learnt!Students have several English classes a week for their entire time in school.I would guess that less than 10% can have any kind of conversation.Most that can only speak a few simple phrases or words and understand even less.
If the Gov't continues the mandate to teach English,they will fill the slots with Indians and Fillipinos.Then the few students interested will say their simple little phrase with heavy accents

BKKSTAN wrote::lol: If all the teachers leave that don't meet the stated requirements,they will still have to many teachers for the Thai students actually interested in learning English anyway.Only the Hi So that can afford to go to other countries to get a real education have much interest in learning English and they get tutors!
The Thai Gov't mandates that English be taught,it doesn't mandate that it be learnt!Students have several English classes a week for their entire time in school.I would guess that less than 10% can have any kind of conversation.Most that can only speak a few simple phrases or words and understand even less.
If the Gov't continues the mandate to teach English,they will fill the slots with Indians and Fillipinos.Then the few students interested will say their simple little phrase with heavy accents

Very well spoken,
The Thai community at any level of society take the learning of English very seriously, whether a rice farmer or a

Er, what's all that got to do with teachers needing a degree???

Harry1534 wrote:Er, what's all that got to do with teachers needing a degree???

1st section was if you read it?..second section was just an added humoured addition which was to try and educate new comers to Thailand, so each time I go out for a pint I dont need to listen and sympathise with their sicken grief and losses......its nearly every day now..

anyway..if going off subject what has perverts got to do with this thread? (5 postings since 1st post about this) pervert problem is worldwide.....not just associated with countrys that can't control it......again..nothing to do with teaching.

apologies again for truth being said...

Not quite sure where this entire thread is going but I reckon that I need to weigh in on a couple, three points.

1. [Low pay[/b] No one - any place in the world thinks that they get paid enough. Whether Falang teachers in LOS are getting paid enough is going to be subjective. The average Falang English teacher is earning in the neighborhood of 30,000 Baht per month for about 20 hours work per week. Technically - that is part time work. Some government schools pay this amount year round - even when school isn't in session. Not too bad for a part time job in my opinion - especially if one works only 8 - 9 months a year.

A Falang English teacher that works full time can expect to earn around 60,000 plus per month. Not too shabby by Thai standards, especially when one considers that new Thai teachers - just out of the University start at 7,000 per month. A full time teacher with a lot of tenure is going to max out at around 31,000 per month. So, even a part time Falang teacher is doing better or at least as well as a full time Thai teacher.

Figure 400 Baht per hour - that comes out to almost US $11 per hour. It's about 5 times cheaper to live in Thailand than in the States - so that comes out to the equivalent of $55 per hour. There are teachers in the States that would kill for money like that.

Whether Falang teachers are underpaid is all subjective. Sure, I'd like more money - but then again, I have to be realistic. 30K a month for part time work in Udon is not difficult to live on by Falang standards.

2. Unqualified or bad teachers Yes, there are many unqualified and bad teachers in Thailand. This goes for both Thai and Falang teachers. The difference is that a Falang teacher will be out of work a lot faster than a Thai teacher for being a bad or poor teacher. All it takes is for Thai students to complain about a Falang teacher, and he or she will be out of a job real quick. Every term, the Falang teacher is evaluated by the students and other teachers. So - the longest a bad teacher will stay in a school is going to be in the neighborhood of 4 months. A bad Thai teacher - once they have a couple years experience under their belt - will typically be reassigned to another class or subject - or at the worst - another school. As in any country - government employees are the hardest ones to get rid of no matter how incompetent they are.

3. Degree requirements Just because someone has a degree does not mean that they can teach anything. I know a lot of folks with degrees that tried teaching and failed very quickly. I know some with degrees that couldn't even make it through a 120 hour TEFL course - which teaches people how to teach English as a foreign language. It takes a certain kind of personality to be a teacher in any culture - but perhaps more so with Asian students. I know a lot of teachers that don't have degrees - but only a TEFL - that are quite effective and good teachers. Teaching is as much personality as it is knowledge of how to teach English as a foreign language. Ultimately - one's University degree - or lack of it - makes little difference at the end of the day.

4. Folks can't speak English even after going to private schools First, the private school that one goes to is important to consider. There are some good ones (only one in Udon as far as I am concerned - AUA) and there are some average to bad ones. As it is with the degree issue - it isn't so much as what is taught - but how it is taught.

A second factor that must be taken into consideration is how often a person speaks English. The same is true for any foreign language. If English is being spoken only once or twice a month at parties or whatever - the person is going to forget a he11 of a lot - and won't be able to carry on a decent conversation. I used to speak Spanish fairly fluently - but today I would be hard pressed to even carry on a half decent conversation in that language simply because I no longer am able to think in Spanish.

People coming back from an English speaking country after only a couple of years are certainly going to speak English quite well. The reason is simple: The were in, at a minimum, a 90% English immersion lifestyle. They hear - and have to speak English - the vast majority of the time. So naturally, they are going to pick up on it much quicker, and it will stay with them longer.

Here in Thailand - Falangs are not living in a 100% Thai language environment. You speak primarily English with your TW / TG. You seek out establishments and venues where the English is strong. If you were to have a basic knowledge of Thai - and then lived 90% in a Thai language environment - you too could speak Thai quite fluently. It would be harder for the older folks here - but it could be done.

5. Why Thai students can't speak English There are many reasons for this. Much of the blame must go to the Thai education system. We have Thai teachers - many of whom have minimal English skills of their own - teaching English. Unfortunately - the majority of Thai English teachers speak more Thai in the classroom than they do English. Mighty hard for a Thai student to learn English in that type of environment.

Class sizes are another issue. In most government schools, the class size is between 40 and 55 or 60 students. Hardly a good environment to learn in. Add to that, no air conditioning in the class rooms, a lot of noise from other class rooms and the outside environment (windows wide open) and inappropriate text books - and you have a recipe for very few students actually learning any demonstrable English.

Another problem - especially here in Issan - is that jobs that require English are few and far between - except for girls - and those that aren't quite sure of their sexuality. As a result, boys have little incentive to learn English. In the villages it is even more of a profound problem. Typically, in the high schools, the best English speakers are girls - they have incentive to learn English. They are most likely to go on to a University - all of which require a degree of English proficiency to get into. Another part of it is culture - a boy is going to be expected to get out of school and go and get a job some place. The girl is the one that is expected to support the rest of the family - so it is more important for her to have the tools to get ahead. Look at the local Universities - female enrollment is much higher than male enrollment. (Look in general guys - not at the girls!) The same goes for enrollment in the private English schools. Mostly females - about 30 to 1.

6. Getting off my soap box now... Everyone has their opinions about education. Few people that express their opinions have any direct experience in the field of education. Before I came to Thailand, I had no experience in teaching. After teaching here for three years - in both private and government schools, I've learned a lot about not only teaching but also education in general. I have been fortunate in that the school I teach at has invested quite a bit of time and money in my teaching education. I know that today I am a much better teacher than I was when I started out - and ironically, I thought that I was a damned good teacher back then. Looking back - I know that I certainly wasn't.

Education - especially teaching English - is not an easy subject to tackle - and it is even harder to teach English to any foreign student. What makes it harder here is that once a student walks out of a class room, they generally aren't going to speak - or probably hear - a word of English until they walk back into the class room. Eventually the teaching of English in Thailand will get better. Thai teachers are slowly being required to improve their skills - both in speaking and in teaching.

Unfortunately, the requirements being suggested or implemented with Falang teachers is not going to improve the quality of teachers that teach here in Thailand. Thailand will continue to have the "transient teachers" who are funding their tour of the world - as well as those who try to skirt the regulations. The reason is that schools - especially the government schools - are desperate for native English speakers. Any type of draconian bureaucracy will only hurt education.

Paying teachers more money will not bring in better qualified teachers. The more money that is paid to a teacher - the more work that will be required. That is true in any business - and education is a business no matter how you cut it, slice it or dice it. As a result, teachers will continue to whinge and complain that they are underpaid.

What is needed are Falang teachers who take pride in what they do and are dedicated. The pride and dedication of a teacher is what motivates their students. This goes for both Thai and Falang teachers. I personally cringe every time a Thai teacher tells me how "dumb" a class of Thai students are. I hear that frequently. Ultimately, that tells me that the teacher is a bit of a failure...

Finished. (For now...)