Thursday, February 2, 2012

Grace C. Lapinig: Educational System in Thailand

Education in Thailand is provided mainly by the Thai government through the Ministry of Education from pre-school to senior high school. A free basic education of twelve years is guaranteed by the constitution, and a minimum of nine years' school attendance is mandatory.

Formal education consists of at least twelve years of basic education, and higher education. Basic education is divided into six years of primary education and six years of secondary education, the latter being further divided into three years of lower- and upper-secondary levels. Kindergarten levels of pre-primary education, also part of the basic education level, span 2–3 years depending on the locale, and are variably provided. Non-formal education is also supported by the state. Independent schools contribute significantly to the general education infrastructure.

Government or public schools are free for Thai nationals. Children that have at least one Thai parent are considered Thai nationals if their birth was registered in Thailand by the Thai parent. As a Thai national, they are able to register in a Thai public school and receive all of the educational benefits allocated to a Thai national. The only documents required when registering are a birth certificate and House Registration Document (Tabien Baan).

Parents are required to pay a nominal fee for books and necessities. They are also required to buy a school uniform. All schools have to be externally accredited by law to ensure they follow set procedures and meet standards. NEASC, ECIS, WASC and CIS are all accepted accrediting organisations in Thailand. Typically, teachers teach in their native language.

Mother Tongue Based Instruction
Both Singapore and Thailand employ the mother tongue based instruction in their educational system. Mother tongue instruction generally refers to the use of the learners’ mother tongue as the medium of instruction. Additionally, it can refer to the mother tongue as a subject of instruction. It is considered to be an important component of quality education, particularly in the early years. The expert view is that mother tongue instruction should cover both the teaching of and the teaching through this language.

The term ‘mother tongue’, though widely used, may refer to several different situations. Definitions often include the following elements: the language(s) that one has learnt first; the language(s) one identifies with or is
identified as a native speaker of by others; the language(s) one knows best and the language(s) one uses most. ‘Mother tongue’ may also be referred to as ‘primary’ or ‘first language’. The term ‘mother tongue’ is commonly used in policy statements and in the general discourse on educational issues. It is retained in this document for that reason, although it is to be noted that the use of the term ‘mother tongue’ often fails to discriminate between all the variants of a language used by a native speaker, ranging from hinterland varieties to urban-based standard languages used as school mother tongue. A child’s earliest first-hand experiences in native speech do not necessarily correspond to the formal school version of the so-called mother tongue.
It is an obvious yet not generally recognized truism that learning in a language which is not one’s own provides a double set of challenges, not only is there the challenge of learning a new language but also that of learning
new knowledge contained in that language. These challenges may be further exacerbated in the case of certain groups are already in situations of educational risk or stress such as illiterates, minorities and refugees. Gender considerations cross cut these situations of educational risk, for girls and women may be in a particularly disadvantaged position. In most traditional societies, it is the girls and women who tend to be monolingual, being less exposed either through schooling, salaried labour, or migration to the national language, than their sons, brothers or husbands.
Studies have shown that, in many cases, instruction in the mother tongue is
beneficial to language competencies in the first language, achievement in other subject areas, and second language learning. The application of the principle of mother tongue instruction nevertheless is far from being the rule. Some of the difficulties encountered by the use of mother tongues as languages of instruction may include the following:
o sometimes the mother tongue may be an unwritten language;
o sometimes the language may not even be generally recognized as constituting a legitimate language;
o the appropriate terminology for education purposes may still have to be developed;
o there may be a shortage of educational materials in the language;
o the multiplicity of languages may exacerbate the difficulty of providing schooling in each mother tongue;
o there may be a lack of appropriately trained teachers;
o there may be resistance to schooling in the mother tongue by students, parents and teachers.
In the Philippines, these lessons and findings of various local initiatives and international studies in basic education have validated the superiority of the use of the learners mother tongue or first language in improving learning outcomes and promoting Education for All (EFA).

DepEd Order No. 74, s. 2009 further explained that the preponderance of local and international research consistent with the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) recommendations affirms the benefits and relevance of MLE. Notable empirical studies like the Lingua Project and Lubuagan First Language Component show that:
o First, learners learn to read more quickly when in their first language
o Second, pupils who have learned to read and write in their first language, learn to speak, read and write in a second language and third language more quickly than those who are taught in the second or third language;
o Third, in terms of cognitive development and its effect in other academic areas, pupils taught to write in their first language acquire such competencies more quickly.

The Philippine educational system emphasized English and Filipino as the languages of instruction and textbooks, regardless of a child’s background. But a policy shift in 2009 opened the door for mother tongue based instruction in early primary years.

To put the policy into action for kids nationwide, the agency in February 2009 also conducted preliminary activities including a formative research on language perception and use in communities, a formation of Language Advisory Committees at the regional/community levels and other activities to raise awareness and prepare communities. They organized teacher training on curriculum adaptation and materials development, as well as making “culturally-appropriate” teaching materials such as alphabet primers, alphabet charts and books in the three languages.

References:

http://www.sinothaiyouth.com/education/thai/200703/t20070321_526162.htm
Thailand - Educational System—overview - Schools, Public, Ministry, and Private - StateUniversity.com http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1526/Thailand-EDUCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html#ixzz1kcbzt3y5
http://www.heritagecruise.net/thailand/thailand-facts/thailand-education-system.html
http://www.thai-farang.com/education/esystem.htm
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090918-168627.html
http://school-principal.blogspot.com/2011/01/multilingual-education.html

2 comments:

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