experiences of korat schools

[joefarang]

I have two kids both in Marrie Vittiya school, one is in the English programme and one in the Thai programme, personally I am not to impressed by either however from doing a fair bit of research on what school to send them to this is where they ended up. Both of my kids attended international schools in various country's in both the UK and American system before returning to Korat, is there a difference, very much so however is it going to affect their chances of further education, me, I do not think so. I, like everyone else only want the best for my kids however i firmly believe that further education, ie. university is what matters for their future. So I asked myself the question, can they gain access to an accredited university for example abroad or in Bangkok through graduating from a Thai high school, the answer is yes. I pretty much decided to keep any money that I would otherwise spend on an international school for their further education. Both the kids still talk about their old schools and how they miss them, I believe the curriculum in an international school is much more varied and children friendly, however if they learn the basics of reading and writing here in Korat I am happy enough, common sense and realizing that their is a world out side of Thailand is something they will learn from me and their travels. Another point to consider is all the Thai professionals that we see daily, doctors, lawyers, dentists, etc.....how many of them were educated in an international school or for that matter abroad during primary and secondary years, probably not many, however maybe a few were for their university education, maybe. I worked for a large multinational company a few years back, many of the senior managers in Asia and throughout the world were Thai, I only knew one person who went to university in the US, the rest were educated for the most part locally and then later attended university in Bangkok. I have quite a few friends here in Thailand who's children are now at the age of finishing high school, these are kids with Farang fathers, two of them have been educated throughout their high school years at international schools, one in Bangkok and one abroad, despite the parents wishes neither will leave school with much in the way of qualifications and neither have any interest in further education, waste of money?, depends how you look at it, they were given the opportunity but never took advantage of it. Another friend's son will go to Canada to attend college, he was at a Thai private school in Chonburi.
I have debated taking the kids to Bangkok for school and still think about it, the main reason being that I am not totally happy with their current school, I will probably wait until my daughter is ready for high school however I'm pretty sure that the school will be a Thai school and not an international one. With better management the some of the schools here in Korat could be fine however like many things here there is no foresight, for example, the English programme that my kid attends will finish at year 5 I believe, the school give the poor excuse of not being able to find teachers for each subject and suggest that the kids can go study abroad instead which is pretty unrealistic. So basically a class of kids educated in the ep programme will need to either join back in to the Thai programme or find an alternate school. This alone annoys me and is a typical example of a poorly managed system and is not fair on the kids. Anyway, bit of a ramble from me here but just some thoughts. Cheers.

yep kev, i agree with many of the points you make there and sentiments you express.

i also think that the home environment is as important if not more important during a child's education and their performance academically can be very much influenced by how happy and balanced and encouraging their home life is - they can then thrive in even a not so good school.

i am away a lot working offshore and am not there to mentor them, to assist with their studies and to supervise what is going on day-to-day, so i'm prepared to pay for the knowledge that their teachers are a cut above the norm

also not to put to fine a point on it i am also concerned with getting my kids exposed to some of the elements of western life - not just the language and i think the international school might offer that.

on a slightly different note :  i've been reasding some pretty encouraging stuff about st stephen's international school in khao yai which is just round the corner from us in pak chong.   be interested to hear if anyone has heard anything or had any experiences of that school.

thanks for all the posts so far guys - all have been very useful to read, it's good of you to take the time.

george

[Vinnie]

on a slightly different note :  i've been reasding some pretty encouraging stuff about st stephen's international school in khao yai which is just round the corner from us in pak chong.   be interested to hear if anyone has heard anything or had any experiences of that school.

george

I don't want to add to your doubts/confusion about where to send your kids to school but most of the stuff I've read about St Stephen's has been negative! Monumentally expensive, cliquey, a place for troubled rich kids etc.

If your main concern is your kids' English ability then I wouldn't worry about what school they go to from Monday to Friday but get them in a language school (ECC, AUA, ELC, IEEC etc etc) early on. I teach in one of these and all the kids that speak the best English are the ones that started earliest. The school they attend from Mon-Fri seems to make no difference. I teach ten and eleven year olds who go to a variety of schools - Assumption, Muang NR, Suranaree W, - and I can hold a normal conversation, using my natural speech, with many of them. But all of the ones who are at that level have been in the school since they were 4 or 5.
I have a ten month old daughter who will attend her local village school complete with its laughable English lessons. But she will get sent to a language school at weekends from the age of 3 or 4, and from my experience I know her English ability will not be an area of concern.

[joefarang]

on a slightly different note :  i've been reasding some pretty encouraging stuff about st stephen's international school in khao yai which is just round the corner from us in pak chong.   be interested to hear if anyone has heard anything or had any experiences of that school.

george

I don't want to add to your doubts/confusion about where to send your kids to school but most of the stuff I've read about St Stephen's has been negative! Monumentally expensive, cliquey, a place for troubled rich kids etc.

If your main concern is your kids' English ability then I wouldn't worry about what school they go to from Monday to Friday but get them in a language school (ECC, AUA, ELC, IEEC etc etc) early on. I teach in one of these and all the kids that speak the best English are the ones that started earliest. The school they attend from Mon-Fri seems to make no difference. I teach ten and eleven year olds who go to a variety of schools - Assumption, Muang NR, Suranaree W, - and I can hold a normal conversation, using my natural speech, with many of them. But all of the ones who are at that level have been in the school since they were 4 or 5.
I have a ten month old daughter who will attend her local village school complete with its laughable English lessons. But she will get sent to a language school at weekends from the age of 3 or 4, and from my experience I know her English ability will not be an area of concern.

good points vinnie and well made, thx for the input there.

it's certainly a valid option to school the kids in a decent local thai school and get supplementary english lessons.

(btw - i get onshore and back to pak chong next week and will see if i can find out something about the stadium you asked about)

[Vinnie]

on a slightly different note :  i've been reasding some pretty encouraging stuff about st stephen's international school in khao yai which is just round the corner from us in pak chong.   be interested to hear if anyone has heard anything or had any experiences of that school.

george

I don't want to add to your doubts/confusion about where to send your kids to school but most of the stuff I've read about St Stephen's has been negative! Monumentally expensive, cliquey, a place for troubled rich kids etc.

If your main concern is your kids' English ability then I wouldn't worry about what school they go to from Monday to Friday but get them in a language school (ECC, AUA, ELC, IEEC etc etc) early on. I teach in one of these and all the kids that speak the best English are the ones that started earliest. The school they attend from Mon-Fri seems to make no difference. I teach ten and eleven year olds who go to a variety of schools - Assumption, Muang NR, Suranaree W, - and I can hold a normal conversation, using my natural speech, with many of them. But all of the ones who are at that level have been in the school since they were 4 or 5.
I have a ten month old daughter who will attend her local village school complete with its laughable English lessons. But she will get sent to a language school at weekends from the age of 3 or 4, and from my experience I know her English ability will not be an area of concern.

good points vinnie and well made, thx for the input there.

it's certainly a valid option to school the kids in a decent local thai school and get supplementary english lessons.

(btw - i get onshore and back to pak chong next week and will see if i can find out something about the stadium you asked about)

I'd forgotten all about that! Good man!

[soihok]

Hello again.
The school is a worry. As you know we left Korat end of last year as I have landed a contract in Singapore for a few years. Eldest is 7 and a half now, she has a mental disability and was,nt in school in Korat for the 9 months she was there.
She is in school again now here in Singapore, the little 'un is 2 and jusy starting a play group. Its a tricky subject the choice of school. I have also considered a move back to the UK for schools, for about 2 seconds, wife dont want to go and neither do I.
We will be moving back to Korat once this job finishes and if another will not follow on, then I will be on the case of schools again.

Changing the subject. I got a Triumph Street Triple R in the end.....cracking bike

[Loz]

No Question, it is hard to find a school that y
ou are going to be happy with.

The diploma mill approach is understandable but you should be aware that the O net and A net exams needed to go to university are not administered by the teachers the kids count of for their term grades. Its done at set sites out side your own school in many cases. I would just hope that unlike the internal exams, teachers don't walk out of the room for 20 minutes which may in some rare rare cases result in kids cheating.

If your kid is going to need to make his own way in this world, educate abroad.
If you can provide a secure future for your kid (take over the family firm/farm) then local is fine.

Education here is really a far cry from what you get in the west. If you are going to go local. You'll need to think about teaching your kid your own values and how to keep them when others are presented to them.

That said, the two mixed race guys I know were both home schooled and they seemed ok.

[Charles]

i am going to have the same problem, my lil girl is 14 months ,, and we are already talking about what to do in the case,,i don't have alot of options living where i live, Nondingdeang,, except send her to a international school that boards, or hire the best teacher in town that is fluent in English for tutor,,i hear there is a wonderful international school in Chiag Mai,, but she would have to board there,,and possible come home on some weekends,, not a life for a child,,

I also work like you joefarang,, 8 weeks in Nigeria and 3 weeks off at home,,i have been joking around the house with the wife saying there is going to be a problem,,, her grandmother rattleing off thai to her all day,, but my house is almost finished so she will be alone with the wife more and she speaks english good,, still needs some practice,,i will continue taking alook at this subject,, thanks

[homey]

I have been following this post from the start and wish to relate my experience and feelings on my boy's education up to this point.

He is 51/2 years old is in his 2ed year of school and attends Larn ya mo Kindergarten school which is about 10k south of Korat. I was going to start him in one of the big schools that have a proper English program but when the wife found Larn ya mo I was so impressed with what I saw there I decided to send him there and see how it goes. They have a small English program and there is an American that teaches there on and off but my son has done all his English work there with the Thai teachers. He has learned to speak English from me a little but most of what he learned was from the TV, according to him at least. I made it a priority from the start to have the programs that he likes to watch on TV available only in English and I still do this. Another thing I did was to never speak Thai to my son or allow other native English speakers to speak Thai to him. It was not easy at first and it took a lot of patients but it did give him some motivation in the early days because he wanted to understand what dad was saying. With his only exposure to English being from me and the TV and everything else being Thai yes he spoke Thai 1st and still speaks better Thai than English but he is fluent in English and probably only a little bit behind a 5 year old that was raised in the states. At this point he knows the alphabet can read and write his name along with several other words and is learning more every day. He also thinks that the English language is a lot easier to learn than the Thai language is.

So at this point all things considered I am pleased with the education my boy has received to date and feel he will be well prepared for a higher education with what he is getting now. Of course these are early days and my opinion may change as time goes on but for now all is well.         

As I am living here my situation is a lot different than you guys on a contract but you do have enough time in Thailand to have a big influence on your children and their English skills. The most important part IMO is to be involved and active with their education when you are here speaking, reading and writing English with your children.   

[Mr Potter]

Homey, stick with that policy of only speaking English. My friends four year old son speaks English to me and Thai to my missus quite naturally and Im totally gobsmacked when I listen to him. Mind you he does go to a very good school in Bangkok but his Dad, prolific in Thai, never speaks Thai to him and
his mum never speaks English. If they did they would probably be teaching the kid the mistakes they make themselves in a foreign language.Stick to what youre doing.
Kids really are keen to learn and at this age who could possibly be better teachers than the parents. As they get older give them the best education you can afford. These are great days. Enjoy them.

[MrChokChai]

hi homey.

you got any more info on that school.

i am still looking for a good school for my son to start in may.

pratom 1.

thanks to anyone who can help.

mcc

[homey]

hi homey.

you got any more info on that school.

i am still looking for a good school for my son to start in may.

pratom 1.

thanks to anyone who can help.

mcc

Yes I sure do and will start you out with the phone # 044-358-184 they had a web site but they either moved it or is dead now.

To see the location of the school try this link http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=104162522383981548813.00047fd75868656d7bbe6&ll=14.89353,102.144871&spn=0.092569,0.144367&t=h&z=13&iwloc=00047fd7586dca1d15675 if it don't work do a search on Google maps using these references, 14.918467, 102.089948. If you need help with the directions just PM for my phone # (or if you want to talk about the school). I just could not figure out how to get the map from Google maps to this post but if you go the short way it is 16k from Dan Kwien to the school. If you do the direction thing the map will take you just about to town (22k) but there is a turnoff before the Suranaree industrial complex that cuts off several K.

1st year Jason went there it was Bt6,000 a term last term was Bt3,000 and right now they are not sure if next term will be Bt3,000 or Bt4,000. They have started taking deposits for next term so you should contact them soon to see if it fits your standards and you get to pick the best teacher before her class is full. Plus there is a program over the summer break for the new kids to get them used to being away from mom and dad but they handle the crying protesting kids pretty good if you pass on that one.   

What do they have there?

a pool with 1 day of swimming a week (weather permitting)

a small music program

a computer room but not sure they are using it

a small English program

The normal mom & dad need to come watch the kids and make home movies so they can show them when house guests overstay their welcome.

small classes =<25 kids per class

IMHO good teachers that are involved with and care about the kids.

I was going to send Jason to plookpanya  http://plookpanya.ac.th/index.php and there is a post with some info on it here,
http://koratfarang.com/board/index.php/topic,749.0.html  but decided to leave him where he is until he finishes the program at Larn ya mo next year.

Need English language teaching material? check out this site,

http://englishtips.org/index.php?lang=en

Big thanks to John for that link.

   

Edit added a link to a map, I think

[Vinnie]

If your kid is going to need to make his own way in this world, educate abroad.

I think that's a bit dramatic. As has been said earlier in this thread, Thailand produces its own doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers etc etc, the vast majority of whom won't have been educated abroad or even in an international school.

[ajaxied]

If your kid is going to need to make his own way in this world, educate abroad.

I think that's a bit dramatic. As has been said earlier in this thread, Thailand produces its own doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers etc etc, the vast majority of whom won't have been educated abroad or even in an international school.

You are absolutely right but let me give you some food for thought. One of my best friends at boarding school in Switzerland was a Thai guy from Bangkok. His parents owned one of the leading private schools of Bangkok yet all of their 3 sons were attending schools in Switzerland. I visited his parents years ago and asked them why they send their kids to Switzerland considering the fact that they owned a well known Bangkok private school. They told me that there were many reasons including the level of education, quality of teachers, alumni networking, extra curricular activities. However the most important factor was that it would greatly increase their odds into getting into an Oxbridge college or Ivy League university.

[Vinnie]

I have no doubt that a quality European education is desirable if a student wants to go to Harvard, Cambridge etc. But Loz only said "make his own way in the world". Surely that can be achieved by being solely educated in Thailand.

[MrChokChai]

thank you homey my wife is going to check it out.

mcc