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All students at Yothin Burana assemble for the annual Khao Phansa ceremony. Whether they are in the Thai programme or the English stream, maintaining Thai culture is an important part of school life. |
What does all this mean? The answer is simply that English is not adequately taught during those many years at schools and universities. This accounts for the recent mushrooming of private international schools in Thailand.
The good news is that the Ministry of Education has, since 1998, stepped in to fill this vacuum, first starting off with a pilot project of a special English programme at the 67-year-old Yothin Burana School, which is under the Ministry of Education’s General Education Department.
The brainchild of Dr Kowit Vorapipatana, former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and former Director General of the General Education Department, Yothin Burana started its "bi-ed" programme in 1998 as an experimental project. Dr Kowit had asked: "What can we do to upgrade the standard of Thai students and give them the opportunity to compete with students from other parts of the world?" He was aware that Thai students excelled in mathematics and science but at international competitions, the main obstacle was their English proficiency.
Since he had already retired, he advised the then director general of the General Education Department, Kwang Robkob, to find a Mathayom school with high standards to start a pilot project. Yothin Burana was selected and the administrators made necessary adjustments.
They decided to set up the Exceptional Science and Mathematics Project whereby one programme would be taught in the English language and the other, in the Thai language. This became the first bi-ed programme in the country.
Students must have a 3.5 grade point average before taking the entrance examination for the English programme while those in the Thai programme must have a 3.8 grade point average prior to examinations.
The English programme examination comprises English language multiple choice questions, identifying vocabulary and writing an essay. However, the mathematics examination is in the Thai language. The Thai programme examination is similar but in Thai, of course.
Presently 654 students attend the English programme while 1,327 students attend the Thai programme. Most of the rest of the students come from nearby vicinities.
Dr Kasama Varavarn na Ayudya, Director General of the Department of General Education, gave her full support for the school and legalised it in the year 2000, making it a model, rather than just an experimental project.
Yothin Burana administrators and teachers have helped set up seven more "bi-ed" schools in the country, namely in Rayong, Chiang Rai, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Songkhla, Chumpon, and the latest one in Bangkok.
"Many people think that Yothin Burana has an international curriculum but that is not the case," said Wisarut Sontichai, Yothin Burana’s director.
"We follow the curriculum regulated by the Curriculum and Instruction Development Department, except that our English Program Section is implemented in English." The advantage of following a Thai curriculum in the English language is that, after the students graduate, they can choose to enter a Thai language university or an international university in Thailand or abroad.
About 20 native speakers from the UK, the US, and Canada teach English. An American chemistry teacher and an American social studies teacher also teach in the English programme.
When Yothin Burana English programme students enter government-sponsored competitions in English, they score highly, Mr Wisarut said. The English programme, with its 650 students, has a teaching staff of 95 while the regular Thai section has 2,995 students and 147 teachers. English programme students are charged a maintenance fee of 100,000 baht for the total six years which covers the air conditioning and school equipment such as computers and science lab equipment. From Mathayom 1 to 3, the tuition fee is 35,500 baht per term; from Mathayom 4 to 6, it is 45,000 baht per term.
When compared to tuition fees at Ruam Rudi — 150,000 baht per term for grades nine to twelve, and the Bangkok Patana School — 130,200 baht per term for years seven to nine; and 140,700 baht for years twelve and thirteen, plus the annual capital fee of 10,000 baht and perhaps an extra 24,000 baht for ESL, Yothin Burana’s fees are very reasonable. The tuition fee for the Thai language students is like any other government school, 375 baht per term.
In the first term, when newly graduated Pathom 6 students enter the Mathayom 1 English programme, they are gradually adjusted to instruction in the English language. That is, 70 percent of the instruction is in Thai and 30 percent in English. In the second term, it’s 60 percent Thai and 40 percent English. When they go into Mathayom 2, it’s 20 percent instruction in Thai and 80 percent in English. In the second term, the instruction is 100 percent in English and this continues until students graduate after Mathayom 6.
Preserving Thai art and culture
 The Khao Phansa festival at Yothin Burana is part of the school's programme to preserve Thai culture. |
All the students are exposed to a great deal of traditional Thai culture. Ms Lumpowsiri Siriruek, a teacher of Buddhism and head of the Traditional Thai Arts and Culture Centre, organises a variety of activities for the students. A monk comes regularly to teach meditation to about two hundred students. Monks from various temples come to teach the Dhamma. After each session, the students write an essay about what they learned and every week a prize is given to the best essay writer.
This writer witnessed the school’s annual Khao Phansa or Buddhist Lent ceremony attended by about 3,600 Mathayom students, about 240 teachers and several invited guests. In traditional Thai costumes, the long drum band performed a rousing number as they paraded around the school compound. Since ancient times, the Thai people have paraded to the temples to offer grains, dried foods, candles and cloths. However, for Yothin Burana School, monks from Wat Pradoo Thanmatipat were invited so as to avoid creating traffic jams on busy Samsen Road.
The school administrators took this occasion to present bouquets of flowers to students who had won scholarships to various countries around the world, the US, Canada, Mexico, Germany and France to name a few. Each year, on average, more than 25 students, mostly from the English programme, are awarded scholarships to study abroad. Last year, three students were awarded scholarships to study for their Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate degrees at the University of Penang.
A Thai sweets stand with traditional goodies such as khao niao sungkaya (egg custard with sweet sticky rice and tako (gelatin with horse chestnuts and coconut milk) are on sale at five baht a piece. The students put money in a box and this gives them practice in trust and honesty. With the fast food revolution in Thailand’s big cities, many children do not have the opportunity to taste or appreciate Thai sweets and this is one way of giving them traditional taste buds.
Apart from the Khao Phansa, other school events include the Wai Khru ceremony whereby the students pay homage to past and present teachers; Children’s Day; Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. On these occasions, Ms Lumpowsiri organises trips for groups of children to visit orphanages and elderly persons’ homes. They perform classical Thai music and dance, and donate money.
Understanding other societies
 Foreign teachers of the English programme attend the Khao Phansa ceremony, Thai style. |
David Reese, the English programme’s social studies teacher, also organises field trips, mostly to non-profit organisations which help underprivileged people.
"Although I have to follow guidelines," he explained, "I have the opportunity to inject a lot more into the programme."
He did not want his students to download something from the Internet for their homework and so for this term, he found two organisations in Thailand for them to observe. One is the Goodwill Group, an NGO that teaches English to women in the sex trade in order to give them the opportunity to find better jobs and more options in life. The other is a children’s educational fund which raises money to build classrooms and libraries, and to buy computers etc. for needy schools in rural areas. The students have to design projects which relate to these organisations.
According to Mr. Reese, most Thais think of people in terms of Thais and foreigners. His aim is to try to get his Mathayom 3 students to understand more than that. They were most interested in the American Indians and were surprised to find the great ethnic variety in the US.
However, he has observed that Yothin Burana students are more exposed to other cultures and that makes teaching an easy and enjoyable experience. They are presently studying the culture, government and economics of the US, Canada and Mexico. Later they will move on to South America, Australia and Africa.
He relates what he teaches to Thailand, for instance, the issue of immigration. Usually the students are able to keep the class going with some guidance. For instance, in one class on immigration, a student asked: "Why do people migrate to other countries?" The answers came from the other students: "They want a better life." "They want to make more money." "They want their children to have more opportunities."
Mr. Reese wants to make the students understand that in this world, there are so many different people with different coloured skin, different languages and religions, all living in different terrains.
Cultural exchange
 These proud students will soon be flying off on an exchange programme. |
With this kind of awareness and understanding of other cultures, it is easier for students who are awarded scholarships to adjust to their new environments. Yothin Burana’s English programme students have a great deal of opportunities to study overseas because of their English proficiency, although a few students from the Thai section also receive scholarships.
Sathida Kaewkhao, 18, a graduate of Yothin Burana and presently a first year student at Assumption University, was an American Field Service (AFS) student who went to study at Gesamtschule Vohwinkel secondary school in Wuppertal. It is a small town nestled in a valley in central Germany, known for its suspension railway which hangs over the River Wupper, 30 km from the River Rhine.
She attended Yothin Burana’s Khao Phansa ceremony with her parents Anongrak and Wirat, and her German host family who had come to visit her. Alfons Lueck-Lilienbeck, the principal of Albert-Einstein-Schule in Reinscheid, his wife, sister and two daughters, Katharina, 17 and Johanna, 15, were eager to see Thailand. Sathida, whose English is perfect, spoke a little German before she left for Germany at the beginning of last year. Now, with the help of her host family, she speaks German quite fluently.
For Sathida, it was not a matter of adjusting but one of enjoying.
"I didn’t miss my parents very much because I had to confront a lot of new things," said Sathida. "Everything was surprising and amazing — the language, the people, the food, the transportation…"
"We coordinated a programme with Sathida’s school and were able to come up with a special timetable whereby she could study English, French and Spanish as well," said Alfons. A special German language course was set up for four AFS students in the town.
Alfons and his family explained a lot of cultural aspects to Sathida so that she could understand the German as well as the family culture. She feels that her German host parents are friends whereas it is a different feeling with her Thai parents because Thai children are taught to respect elders.
For Sathida, the biggest difference in everyday life in Germany was that the first thing you say to everyone, even in the family, is "Guten morgan" and at night you have to get used to saying "Gutenacht" to all. In Thailand she does not have to greet members of her family morning and night.
She enjoyed playing badminton, volleyball and cycling with her host family and most of all, she enjoyed the picturesque outdoor scenery. During school holidays she travelled to the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, England and France.
She performed the "Ram Baisree" dance at her school in Germany and made a great many friends who she said, "often stared at me and always wanted to talk to me." "Especially the boys," said Alfons.
terryfrd@ksc15.th.com |