School directors and high school teachers are under fire for their poor showing in the latest national tests. Recent reports in the Bangkok Post illustrate that in fact numerous Thai teachers are themselves in urgent need of assistance when it comes to their own areas of expertise.

Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakait asked recently in the Bangkok Post (8th June 2010) how was it possible to raise the quality of our students if even the teachers fail? This was in response to the results of recent tests undertaken by senior high school teachers.

Whilst the results for junior high school teachers were better, they were still nothing to write home about. This was the first time that teachers had been tested this way using funds from Thai Khem Khaeng (Thai strength). There is 1.4 billion baht available.

In addition, we are also informed (7th June 2010) that of 40,000 school directors and deputy directors were considered fair at administration and leadership; however, their performance was worse when it came to English and information and communications technology (ICT) despite having master’s degrees.

560 million baht is to be spent this year to improve the quality of school executives and teachers using money from the economic stimulation fund. Apparently, there is not a budget for English and ICT skills. But should that be a concern?

Not all master’s degrees are conducted in English. Whilst it is desirable to be fluent in English and possess good ICT skills, the job of directors and their deputies is to manage and administer. This is their primary function and is not undertaken as an additional task. I know many school directors that by their own admission do not possess the best English and ICT skills; however, they have around them a dedicated team that do.

The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) has spent 678 million baht on tests for teachers, but is this really going to improve educational standards? After all, tests tell us what we don’t know and I believe, like others, that this money could be better spent.

The American education system is inundated with tests and testing of their students. You only have to look at publications by well known linguist, educational researcher, and activist Steven Krashen to understand that there is a belief that there is too much testing and not enough time spent learning.

Krashen believes that lack of English skills can be based on variables like poverty. Poorer families do not have access to books. If you want to increase English vocabulary, make more books available. Spend money on libraries and encourage students to read what they want to read. To quote Krashen, “You can’t lead a horse to water if there isn’t any water in the first place.”

You would; however, expect teachers to have a sound knowledge of their chosen subject and have the ability to teach it. In my opinion, this is the main outcome from the tests conducted so far. It confirms anecdotal evidence from university students and needs to be addressed immediately if we are to produce university graduates of the required standard.

With all the stimulus money available, it would be wise to conduct hands on training, rather than lectures in order to address the shortfall in teachers’ knowledge. What I find particularly disturbing is that under the old teacher centred learning, students were supposed to listen to the expert teacher. Now we are being told that these teachers were not experts in the first place.

The new generation of pre-service English teachers from Udon Thani Rajabhat University looking forward to graduating and joining the knowledge pool.

(Unedited article published in the Bangkok Post 10th August 2010)