Improved teaching, more free play seen as cure

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readerc54

Improved teaching, more free play seen as cure

Post by readerc54 »

From Bangkok Post

Whose fault is it that our Mathayom 6 (12th grade) students failed four out of five subjects on average in the latest round of the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-Net)? Most scored under 50% in mathematics, English, social studies and general sciences, and just scraped through on the fifth subject, Thai language.

This reflects a nagging problem with Thailand's education system that governments past and present have failed to resolve despite dedicating much of the national budget to the Education Ministry over the years.

In a bid to address this perennial problem, Thammasat University's Faculty of Liberal Arts recently invited two well-known experts from Finland over to share their expertise. The main problem is the "inequity" of educational opportunities available for children in urban and rural areas, according to one of the invitees, Pasi Sahlberg.

He suggested Thai schools allow youngsters to spend more time outside the classroom in "unstructured outdoor play", where they can use and nurture their imagination as well as construct their leadership and collaboration skills.

He also identified a shortage of well-prepared educators as a second major problem hamstringing the nation's efforts. By this he said he was referring to teachers who can recognise and enhance the capabilities of their students.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... -education
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Gaybutton
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Re: Improved teaching, more free play seen as cure

Post by Gaybutton »

I've had many boys tell me their English teachers actually can't speak a word of English. They do little more than just hand out the books. And yet somehow a good number of the boys can handle simple English quite well. Assuming what they tell me is really the way it is, I admire them for being able to speak any English at all.
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