THE INTERNATIONAL
EDUCATION BOOM

It is no longer unusual to find international schools where the majority of students are Thai. — TERRY FREDRICKSON

ISAT President M.L. Pariyada Diskul — NEIL STONEHAM

Fifty years ago, there were only a handful of international schools in Thailand. Each was a fairly small institution and opened exclusively to educate the children of the country's expatriate population. This remained the case for many years but the last decade has seen an explosion in the number of emerging international schools, a trend which shows no sign of abating.

It is easy to see why. Thailand itself has become highly prized as an Asian base by a growing number of multinational companies and the expatriate population has skyrocketed as a result. Another reason is that Thais who would normally send their children abroad for a higher quality of education are now seeking the same from institutions capable of providing just that on their own soil.

Back in 1994, the International Schools Association of Thailand (ISAT) was formed to both promote international education in Thailand and ensure that standards remain high. M.L. Pariyada Diskul, also known as Khun Parry, is the current president of ISAT as well as being Executive Director at Bangkok Patana School and a mother of international school students. She has been instrumental in the achievement of the Association's goals since the very beginning.

“At that time, there were so many obstacles to running an international school such as teachers’ work permits and foreign teacher quotas,” remembers Khun Parry, “so some of us from the four main international schools got together and had some informal meetings where we would discuss the obstacles that were often very restrictive. As an association, we had a more powerful voice to raise issues with the government.”

And the government listened. The prime minister back then, Anand Panyarachun, had been a diplomat so he was aware of the needs and expectations of the average expatriate family. Once many of the obstacles had been removed, the association shifted its focus and began to work alongside the government, establishing criteria for quality assurance whilst still acting as a voice for the growing number of members. Today, ISAT has over seventy institutions on its membership books. Half are smallish schools designed for kindergarten-age children. Others range from 100 to 2000 students in size.

Whilst most international schools teach in English and follow either a British or American curriculum, there are other notable schools that teach in a variety of languages to suit the diversity of Thailand's expatriate community. For example, there are schools that teach their curriculum predominantly in French, German or Japanese and many of these are also members of ISAT.

Even with the overwhelming choice of international schools available to parents, demand continues to far outstrip supply and many schools have long waiting lists. The current total student body within Thailand's international school community stands at over 20,000 and is expected to rise much more over the coming years.

Many Thai parents have opted to keep their children here in Thailand where they can now find institutions of comparable quality to those abroad. — TERRY FREDRICKSON

Khun Parry suggests that much of the growth in international schools stems from the desire for wealthy Thai families to have their children educated here at home instead of sending them abroad. “Many of the original international schools could not cater for children who do not have the basic knowledge of English because, when they opened, the law stated that Thais were not allowed to be educated in them,” she points out. “The newer international schools have been able to cater for beginners by opening special language centres. This is especially important because of the information age. And because Thai educational reform has been so slow, the quickest way to learn English is to go to an international school and that is why they are so popular.”

Keeping Thai students in the country will also benefit the economy in the same way as opening up education to expatriates. “At the moment, there are 75,000 Thai students studying abroad. If you work it out, the money Thais spend on education abroad is the same as we receive in the export of rice! So we have to look at that and try to attract them to stay in the country. This shouldn't be too difficult because we already have schools with excellent facilities, well-qualified teachers and good results. The tuition fees are much cheaper here too.”

Thais currently account for 35 percent of all international school students and make up a large proportion of students on waiting lists.

All ISAT member schools serve as training centres for Thai teachers in line with current educational reforms. Within Thai education, there is a much-publicised move away from rote learning towards a more child-centred approach. Thai teachers are required to observe these measures in action to inspire their own teaching. This, according to Khun Parry, works well. “It's very popular. When they see child-centred education for themselves, they get excited as they've only read the theory in a book. But when they see it, they can learn and go back to their own classrooms and change.”

But this initiative will take time to filter through and many at the top end of education are a little frustrated at the pace. “Until recently, it was the law that teachers could only be trained in state-run schools,” notes Khun Parry.

This, she suggests, makes it very difficult for new methods to be taught, since those teaching new teachers only have knowledge and experience of the old-fashioned system. In order to move forward on this issue, ISAT has been lobbying prominent universities to establish a Faculty of Education and the campaign is still ongoing. “The whole system has to change,” insists Khun Parry. “The curriculum has been broadened but teachers don't teach it any differently because they don't know how.”

A few years ago, the Ministry of Education demanded that students spend at least one hour a week studying Thai culture and language and this also applied to Thai students in international schools. Even before the ruling, Thai language was often on the curriculum in international schools, so how do native Thai teachers fare when working in these very different environments?

“It's so difficult to find a Thai teacher who can teach the way international schools do because they don't know the methods,” replies Khun Parry. “So ISAT has trained a group of Thai teachers who have been given the resources to develop their own curriculum and then they integrate that into the Western curriculum. If you try to teach international kids the Thai way, they just won't listen. But the training programme we provide has proven to be quite successful.”

Since most international schools are designed for the wealthy, particularly by Thai standards, there is always the possibility that unscrupulous businesspeople could seize the opportunity to make a fast buck at the expense of hearts and minds. To counter this, ISAT has provided the government with a rigorous set of criteria and helps to regulate standards within the international system.

“It's not too easy to set up an international school. You have to get a license first and to obtain that we need to see all the right documentation that sets out the amount of land, what curriculum you are going to use, qualifications of the teachers, financial statements, things like that. Then you have to go through a committee and we screen all the proposals to make sure those in charge are serious about what they are doing. After three years the school has to be accredited by the Education Ministry and by an external body after five years.”

It is encouraging for parents to see such a rigorous approach in action and this too has helped ISAT to bring confidence in the system to the international community. Indeed, the committee has rejected certain proposals in the past. “Some people just want to develop their land and set up an international school as a magnet,” says Khun Parry. “But they don't know how to do it, so you get a very confusing proposal and we reject those.”

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is keen to promote Thailand as the regional hub of international education and Khun Parry cites a number of factors the country has in its favour in this regard.

“Many countries in our region suffer from instability. This makes investors who are Westerners feel insecure and once they have suffered a problem there, they won't go back. Instead they come here because we are stable and quite safe. From a parent's point of view, once they decide they are going to move to a third world country, the first thing they ask is 'is the school good for my children?' The quality of housing comes second and then security and hospitals. I think we can provide all these things.”

Bangkok's cosmopolitan appeal also gives Thailand the edge according to Khun Parry who notes that many of the country's universities are now seen as attractive by those in the immediate vicinity such as China.

The competitive edge that Thailand enjoys, however, is often challenged when it comes to checks and balances. Since most international school educators are 'imported' from countries such as the UK, Australia and America, costs can be dictated by outside forces. For instance, in the UK, teacher salaries have increased substantially over the last five years and British teachers abroad expect to be remunerated in line with their peers back home. Since 80 percent of a school's budget is spent on staff salaries, that has quite an impact on tuition fees. “Even so,” says Khun Parry, “we cannot achieve quality without these costs. Most parents want their children to be taught by people whose mother tongue is English. They want the original.”

Khun Parry is optimistic about the prospects for future development. “We are a booming country,” she enthuses. “If the economy keeps growing, then international schools will continue to prosper. Currently, our international student community is growing by 20 percent each year and the government wants to promote this growth. In February, the Department of Export Promotion will host a Thailand International Education Fair.”

There can be no doubt that, as Thailand's economy grows and the Kingdom plays an increasingly important role on the world stage, the quality of international education will continue to be a major factor in attracting further investment and Khun Parry sees no reason to be pessimistic that global influences will upset the market. “I always say that, if there is a major disaster in this country, two things will survive – the food industry and education,” she says, “because people need to eat and children are the most precious things a parent has, so you will always provide for them in the best way you can.”