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St John’s International GCSE students have a number of science options. Here, department head Martyn Moore talks with students in a coordinated science course, a combination of biology, chemistry and physics. |
For most Thai students, the road to a local university passes through the national school system and ends at age 17 with the completion of Mattayom six.
In recent years, however, an increasing number of students have been following a different route. These students are meeting Thai university entrance requirements in the international school system and, in many cases, they are gaining entry a full year earlier than their counterparts in the national school system.
This is particularly true for students in international schools which follow the national curriculum of Great Britain. The Ministry of Education has deemed the years ten and 11 in the 13-year British system — known as "key stage four"— to be equivalent to Mattayom five and six. Students successfully completing this level are therefore eligible to apply for a place in a local university and, in most cases, it appears they are being accepted.
The GCSE
One of the best places to find out about the key stage four curriculum is St John’s International School which is located just off Vibhavadi Rangsit Road in the Lat Phrao district of Bangkok. St John’s was the first school to be established after the Thai government relaxed its restrictions on Thai students attending international schools in 1992.
St John’s International began as a primary school catering largely to Thai students. The school has added one grade each year and last year it graduated its first batch of year 11 students. Most of these students are now attending Thai universities.
Key stage four students at St John’s take between seven and ten two-year courses, some compulsory, others optional. Each course leads to one or more awards known as the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). To be eligible to apply to a Thai university, the students need at least five GCSE passes with grades no lower than C.
Both the curriculum and the examinations for GCSE courses are set by examination boards in the United Kingdom. The examinations are generally held in May and June of the second year and they, too, are sent to the UK for grading.
 David Wakefield |
Coursework is also an important component in the final grade. "The amount of coursework varies from subject to subject," says assistant head teacher David Wakefield, "but the minimum is usually about 25 percent. Coursework is evaluated by the teachers at school, but then work has to be sent back to the UK where the examiners will compare our students’ work with work which comes in from other schools. This is to make sure there is consistency across all the schools that are taking the exams."
St John’s currently uses two exam boards, Cambridge University and Edexcel. Many of the Cambridge courses taught at St John’s and other international schools delivering the British curriculum are internationalised versions (known as "IGCSE") of the courses taken by students in the UK. The Edexcel courses on the other hand, tend to be identical to those offered in the UK.
 Bruce Gamwell |
According to St John’s International head teacher Bruce Gamwell, the IGCSE courses are particularly suitable in areas outside of maths and science. "The international courses are much more appropriate for a subject like history or geography," he explains, "because they are more generalised in what they’re trying to get the children to achieve. You don’t have to do the Lake District in England, for example. You can do more local studies."
Equivalent, but different
While key stage four courses may be equivalent to Mattayom five and six, their delivery is very British. "We bring in the vast majority of our teachers from overseas," Gamwell says. "We’ve got 45 professionals on our teaching staff of which 42 are British. They come from all over Britain: Scotland, Wales and England."
This, says Gamwell, is a major attraction for Thai parents. "I think the parents who send their children here are most interested in a British curriculum."
But, he continues, "a lot of the Thai parents are also concerned that their children continue to have their Thainess. We value that and we celebrate the Thai culture. We deliver the national curriculum from England, but we do it with sensitivity towards Thai culture and Thailand in general."
Another attraction, of course, is the English skills students develop while in the programme. Any student reaching the key stage four level must necessarily be highly proficient in English. The Cambridge examination board does offer a IGCSE ESL qualification, but that is about the extent of the concessions made for non-native speakers.
Interestingly, most St John’s students have opted for first-language English as well as ESL. They also take an equally demanding literature course. Thus far, they have done surprisingly well.
"Last year in literature we got the most A’s of all subjects at St John’s," says department head Michael Roberts. "I think about 15 of them did it and nine of them got A’s. That is very good."
All three English courses are IGCSE courses. In literature, the students study novels, drama and poetry. Among the texts covered last year were the American novel Of Mice and Men, a Shakespeare play, George Orwell’s Animal Farm and a collection of World War I poetry.
According to Roberts, coursework figures heavily in both courses. That is particularly true in first-language English where it accounts for 40 percent of the grade.
"For first language, they do three pieces of course work. First they do a piece of non-fiction – a topic like transport in Bangkok or holiday destinations. The students choose. I just aim them in the right direction. The assessment is based on how they can write a piece of informative non-fiction."
Secondly, says Roberts, the students do a piece of creative writing in which they are given the first line of a story to finish. The final piece is often based on material covered in their literature course.
Science and history
The first batch of key stage four students had a choice of two science courses, a basic course known as combined science and a more advanced course known as coordinated science.
"Coordinated science is the generally recommended course option in the UK for students in government-run schools," says department head Martyn Moore. "It’s what’s called a double-award subject because it counts as two (GCSEs). It’s twice the teaching time, twice the workload, twice the content of other subjects.
"The scheme of work is divided up into biology, chemistry and physics components, so it can be taught – and it is taught here – by three specialists. That is quite normal. But there are links between the biology, chemistry and physics, so it is coordinated in that sense. There are themes running through all different topics."
Moore teaches the biology component. "It’s mainly human biology," he explains, "dealing with human life processes: the heart and circulation, digesting food and some health issues, reproduction and the nervous system.
"Altogether that’s about half the course. The other half covers plant reproduction, general cell biology as well as topics on genetics, evolution and the interrelation of living things and their environment."
This year, St John’s students have a third science option. They will be able to take biology, chemistry and physics as separate GCSE science courses.
"There’s a demand from both the parents and the universities for some science students to have more knowledge," Moore explains. "For a Thai university to accept GCSE for entry into medicine or engineering courses, they demand three separate GCSE sciences or an advanced level (A-level) qualification."
Unlike English and science, history is an optional course and classes tend to be quite small. "We get about six students in year ten and 11," says department head James Barrett.
"It’s basically modern world history and it runs from the end of the First World War Treaty of Versailles and it goes through the Second World War with a focus on Nazi Germany. Then it’s the Cold War – the big issues like the Berlin Wall, the Cuban crisis, the Vietnam War right up to the breakup of the Soviet Union and Soviet control over Eastern Europe ending with Gorbachov."
The presentation, says Barrett, is a balance between the traditional approach to history – the learning of facts, revision and testing – and more modern approaches. "The teaching of history over the last fifteen years focuses more on the skills of the historian," he explains, "which are similar to those used in detective or police work or in courts of law: looking at evidence, evaluating evidence, and detecting bias."
Exam time
 Joseph Pechiti |
Joseph Pechiri finished his last examination on June 21st. "It was the IT (information technology) exam," he says. "It was not complicated – just the basics – but it was still quite difficult."
According to Joseph, there were no multiple-choice questions. Instead, students were asked to explain various processes. For example, the exam asked for the steps in scanning a picture. "We had to explain what the computer did in order to bring a picture from a book into the PC and display it on the monitor."
Only forty percent of the final grade came from the examination. The rest, Joseph says, was based on coursework. This included database projects, work with spreadsheets, word processing and desktop publishing.
Altogether, Joseph had nine examinations. Apart from IT, he had exams in geography, Thai, maths as well as two exams in coordinated science. He also had three English exams. (Note: This year, students will take only two English courses, choosing between first language English and ESL.)
"I will get my five passes," Joseph says confidently, "but I don’t know what grades I’ll get. My goal is to get into any public university in Thailand or (any university) in the US. Right now, I’m taking a course to prepare for the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test).
"If I’m accepted to a Thai university, I will go right away, but I’m still studying for the SAT just in case," he says.
Too young?
Isn’t age 16 a bit too young to be entering the university? "We think far too young," says Gamwell. "In all western countries, in Australia, in New Zealand, Europe, North America, the students would be required to take an extra two years of school.
"I think a lot of the thinking here is that the students can do a first degree in Thailand and then look perhaps to go and do a masters overseas. But whether they are old enough, mature enough to cope with a university education at 16 is certainly a question that you would want to raise. And we do raise it."
St John’s offers the two-year university preparatory curriculum known as AS (Advanced Subsidiary) and A-levels, but it has not yet met with much success.
"Last year, explains Gamwell, it ran for the first term, but by the end of that term, the students who had got their GCSEs, got placement in Thai universities and that’s where they went."
One obvious reason, says Joseph, is cost. "We all want to stay for A-levels but the cost for all international schools is so high."
But there has also been another compelling reason for Thai-university-bound students to pass up their final two years of international school. Unlike most universities elsewhere in the world, Thai universities have not granted credit for A-level or similar qualifications like the IB diploma or advanced placement in the American system.
That is about to change. Last July, University Affairs Minister Suwat Liptapallop announced that from next year, graduates of international schools with 13-year curricula will be allowed to transfer their credits and continue their studies as second-year students at Thai universities.
Gamwell welcomes the ministry decision. "It will make the A-level option a more attractive one for parents and students," he says. "We would strongly recommend that students stay on to take the A-level courses both because of the academic rigour of those courses and to enable the student to develop and mature for an additional two years before entering University."
terryfrd@ksc15.th.com |