CALL FOR OVERHAUL OF EDUCATION
- Published: 16/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
A child-centred education system cannot be realised in Thailand without the dedication of the country's teachers, educators and parents say.
Today is Teachers' Day, which has been celebrated since 1957 to acknowledge the important role of teachers in shaping young minds.
Nisarat Posanacharoen, a 54-year-old school teacher at a government-run elementary school in Nonthaburi, said teachers must adapt their methods to deal with the changing times.
Children are faster learners now due to advanced information and communications technology and teachers must adapt their methods to suit them, she said.
"Pupils in the past were more docile and less questioning, but today they are more outspoken and expressive," said Ms Nisarat.
The devotion of teachers to helping the young is more important than ever due to the increasing number of broken families in Thailand, which could cause emotional problems for students, said Ms Nisarat, who has 25 years of teaching experience.
"Teachers must not only pay attention to the IQ of their pupils, but also their EQ [emotional quotient], as families today are more fragmented.
"They may lack warmth at home, so we have to be very patient and understanding in the classroom," said Ms Nisarat.
She said that apart from teachers, the Education Ministry must play a leading role in bringing about a child-centred education system, where teaching methods are geared toward the needs of students.
Ms Nisarat said class overcrowding is another major obstacle to adopting a child-centred approach and called on the ministry to take action.
"The ministry's policy to integrate kids with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders into a normal class is impractical because we have too many pupils in one classroom," she said.
Veera Kingkaew, director of Petchaburi Panyanukul School, a facility for children with special needs, echoed the sentiment.
He said the teacher-student ratio at his school was 1:8, but the ideal ratio was 1:4, as mentally handicapped children require closer attention from teachers.
He said there were also an inadequate number of teachers specialising in education for special needs children.
"Colleges and universities have failed to produce sufficient numbers of this specific type of teacher," said Mr Veera.
"Half of our teachers are not specially educated in this field."
However, he noted that teachers of children with special needs are now receiving greater recognition from the government and wider society.
"Their special allowance has recently increased from 400 baht [in addition to the regular monthly salary] to 2,000 baht," Mr Veera said.
"However, teachers today do not seem to possess the same dedication and willingness to sacrifice as those in the past."
Mai, a mother of two children studying at a government school who did not provide her surname, also complained about the lack of dedication shown by teachers.
She said an initiative to bring about child-based learning in Thailand was launched several years ago, but little has been achieved.
"It's child-centred education in form only, not in substance, as teachers do not seem to understand how to deliver it," said the 42-year-old mother.
"Pupils are deserted or ignored as teachers rush through their tasks to ensure they don't exceed their working hours, if not actually skipping classes," she said.
"I feel kids today know little about basic education like maths and the Thai language, not to mention the English language," she said.
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