Topic: School Corruption in Thailand

[Thai Me Up]

RobRoy,
I do admit that most of my students come prepared to school with a badminton racket.  No textbook mind you, but a badminton racket.  No motivation to learn English, but a badminton racket.  No English skills after 9 years of study, but a badminton racket.

As for anecdotes about corruption, other than the mindless endless shameless cheating that is the modus operandi of all our students, I can't think of any good stories to share.  Oh, my Bangkok govt school doesn't have a CD player, rooms are filthy (no cleaning staff), language "labs" broke 30 years ago, no TVs or DVD players, no WB markers or erasers, no xerox machine...but I wear my "I love the King" shirt so everything's cool.

[Mods-Rockers]

No motivation to learn English, but a badminton racket.  No English skills after 9 years of study, but a badminton racket.

Tie me up, I do hope you don’t mind me slipping in on the side of this tête-à-tête, but it strikes me that one of the responsibilities of a teacher is to motivate them to learn and not to whine about their lack of motivation! Maybe the fact that they have no English skills after 9 years of study point more to non motivational teachers than to non motivated students!

[Mods-Rockers]

Oh, and before anyone tries to tear me a new asshole over the above, I am extremely pro teacher, but not pro charlatan teacher!

[Thai Me Up]

Oh Miss MR Havisham, dearie, have you considered that your Depends is now full and needs changing, because the shit has piled so high it's flowing out of your mouth again.

In my school, the director has decided that Mandarin is most important, so we now have 3 Mandarin teachers and only 1 farang teaching English - that's me.  The Mandarin teachers are subsidized by their own government, so the director only pays them lunch money as a salary.

Working conditions are deplorable - two open construction sites on either side of the building where I teach.  And yes, English is NOT promoted at my school, so the students are not motivated to study.  Some battlefields are meant to be abandoned, and this is one of those instances.

[Minxlady]

Yes, the cheating is shameless. When I worked at a leading public uni, it was rife in exam rooms. Direct eye copying as well as cribsheets, cuffs, etc.

Plagiarism when writing essays is universal. Various websites and cheatsites are used. The Thai teachers generally don't look for it, or penalise it.

I spent years fighting a one-woman battle against plags. I lost.

M

[Thai Me Up]

Yes, the cheating is shameless. When I worked at a leading public uni, it was rife in exam rooms. Direct eye copying as well as cribsheets, cuffs, etc.

Plagiarism when writing essays is universal. Various websites and cheatsites are used. The Thai teachers generally don't look for it, or penalise it.

I spent years fighting a one-woman battle against plags. I lost.

M

I've always believed in Maslow's hierarchy, the path towards self-actualization.  What I can't wrap my mind around is how polite my Thai students seem to be and how shame-free and guilt-free in their cheating.  How do I reconcile politeness and no sense of integrity?  Minxlady, I've succeeded in very difficult teaching situations, but some battles cannot be won.  Then it's time to pick up the tools and exit the battlefield.  How could you possibly win a war against plags in a society that prides itself on knock-offs.  I'm giving up on govt schools and looking towards FT corporate work now.  As for the expose on corruption, that's another war that will never be won in LOS.

[RobRoy]

TMU...with teachers like you don't you think the Thais would think Mandarin is a good idea?

[Mods-Rockers]

Oh Miss MR Havisham, dearie, have you considered that your Depends is now full and needs changing, because the shit has piled so high it's flowing out of your mouth again.

Ah yes a well crafted reply that fully addresses the point raised NOT!

In my school, the director has decided that Mandarin is most important, so we now have 3 Mandarin teachers and only 1 farang teaching English - that's me.  The Mandarin teachers are subsidized by their own government, so the director only pays them lunch money as a salary.

So you seem to be implying here that the fact that Mandarin has been emphasized at your school, and that additionally the outside funding provided to the Chinese teachers by their government totally absolves you of the necessity to motivate your students to learn the subject that you are employed to teach! You really do need to consider what RR says above!

Working conditions are deplorable - two open construction sites on either side of the building where I teach.  And yes, English is NOT promoted at my school, so the students are not motivated to study.  Some battlefields are meant to be abandoned, and this is one of those instances.

I totally agree, when the abilities of your troops are not up to the requirements of fighting the battle then a strategic withdrawal is the only option, giving needed time to regroup, retrain and thus be in a position to win the next battle.

[chuck_S]

And your point is....

[Mods-Rockers]

Well chuckie, if you cant work it out, WTF shou...

[7baht]

reading along this thread was good. I actually realized it wasnt just my school or me as a farang to notice heaps of goods and services being sliced up by the part time Supers and Henchmen.

The story will be a simple one. On 2 occasions i have had the pleasure of admiring how some officals make their extra money from school, barring the constant streams of mobile markets at the school doors. Fish ponds! nice method, sound reasoning,great business plan. Rent a back-hoe if need be, dig a hole , fill with water, purchase a few 1000 baht worth of baby fish , use school funding to feed the fish , use students to oversee the day to day operation of the fish ponds, then in a few months call ur buddy with the vaccum water truck from the city and hose up the fish and off to the market. Instant Gold. Students can write a summary on the adventure.

2nd story is less appealing, using students on a day trip that thier parents paid for to plant mangoes on the Super's family farm..lol..that one was very clever.