I have been teaching in Thailand for over 6 years now and I feel qualified to make a few observations and even point to a few changes that could make a difference. In the face of increasing frustration I feel compelled to put my opinion out there in the forlorn hope that someone in authority will take some notice. My frustration stems from three distinct areas.

1. Wishful thinking. Laws have been passed that require foreign teachers to have at least a university degree to qualify for a teacher’s license. Highly skilled teachers with diplomas, teaching certificates and experience are rejected outright or have to teach illegally for peanuts. While this on the face of it, is an attempt to get the best possible teachers, it is totally unrealistic. There is simply no incentive to teach in Thailand long term. Teachers in their own countries generally get more money, access to health insurance, superannuation and legal representation than here.

2. Lack of support. Without a suitable teacher’s union non-Thai teachers are at a disadvantage for a start. The Thai teacher council based in Bangkok has proved to me to be extremely difficult to communicate with. Telephones are only answered intermittently and then by non-English speakers. No English language pamphlets are available because the rules are changed regularly and no-one seems willing to act as spokesperson except to give the most sketchy of explanations. This does not sit well.

3. Discrimination. Those few who do stay the distance and have put down roots generally have Thai families to support. They are exploited through discrimination on visas, work permits, home ownership and even entry charges to national parks and entertainment venues. This certainly does not sit well.

All this happens in a climate of desperation as schools try to staff their English departments with skilled native speaking teachers. When these are not available the second choice is of course non-native speakers who teach with often difficult to understand accents. The government knows this yet they persist with the same strategy. They must know these policies do not work and are counterproductive. They must be doing this for a reason because those in power are not stupid.

I am sure that at the root of this is the belief that Thai culture will be threatened if the English language gets a foothold in Thailand. This was proved to me by the previous government’s rejection of English as the official “ second Language”. (Bangkok Post) I am convinced otherwise, for like Holland (where Dutch and English co-exist to enable the Dutch to take advantage of the language of commerce) Thailand can gain the same access to commercial opportunities for its citizens without endangering their treasured culture.

The incoming government has a chance to change the policies that retard English acquisition in the community. I wonder if they consider that a priority? I certainly won’t be holding my breath.

Ajarn Robert

Peelie is right, the damage to the education of Thai children is mostly the result of Thai action and policy, not the work of the "evil" unqualified falangs. You say that unqualified teachers like Raphaella could not get a job in another country?, Well, you know that is probably not true. Schools in Laos,Cambodia and many African countries and elsewhere would gladly accept a dedicated person such as Raphaela, and probably reward her with a better standard of living for her efforts.

Actually, I have worked in Germany, where private language schools accept unqualifed native speakers, so I would imagine that is true of many countries, given how officious the Germans are. However, the main point is how do unqualified teachers get a job in Thailand? They are employed by Thais. Any problems that you claim are due to unqualified foreign teachers are ultimately caused by them being recruited by Thais. If Thailand had the same systems as other countries, then the unqualified teachers would be rejected in the recruitment process.

Assuming Thailand adopted such a policy, it still is not going to attract many well-qualified experienced teachers. They are going to go where there is a better deal, ie higher pay, better conditions, reasonable holidays etc. Even 60k a month is not going to attract enough qualified foreign teachers to Thailand, partly because that would be reduced to 40k by the time the administrators and school owners get their cut. If you have studied 7 years to get your qualifications, as you say, would you really think 60k (or less) was a just reward for all that hard work?

Also, even if Thailand changed the way it recruits and only accepted qualified teachers for school positions, it is unlikely enough money would be spent on recruitment to attract qualified quality teachers anyway. The Thai mentality for the most part is driven by an over-riding desire to make and save money. If Thais can recruit locally more cheaply, they will do so. Moreoever, the misguided perception that youth and caucasion features equate to a good teacher means Thais often opt for someone on arbitary criteria rather than teaching qualifications and skills. That is the Thais fault, not teachers like Raphaela's.

They say countries get the government they deserve and I say schools get the teachers they deserve. As Peelie said "Isaan doesn't need more qualified foreign teachers, it needs to set realistic standards". Thailand, and Isaan in particular, does not have the financial resources to attract enough qualified teachers, so the schools there should be thankful that people like Raphaela are willing to put in the effort to help to meet the shortfall of qualified teachers.

Finally, of course unqualifed personnel in any field are undesirable and even a liability. The level of undesirability, however, is related to the level of expertise required to do a job. Given that half of a TEFLer's required skills are knowing his / her own language, then i would imagine that being qualified for the job with certification is not as crucial as it would be for say a dentist or an airline pilot. I think you are elevating English language teaching above its station. It is not a profession, it is a job requiring some skills, like a cooper or blacksmith, but dont equate it to a profession.

Bob the black poet

The damage that unqualified foreign teachers do to the Thai system is minimal. All the damage is done by the Thais themselves. When they can't produce a curriculum written in English, can't provide basic resources and can't teach their kids to read English to a basic level in Pratom, what hope have we got - qualified or not?

There are schools out there who know what they are doing. Demonstration schools, many international schools know how to teach but this knowledge is not shared at the government school level.

I challenge any fully qualified teacher to teach in a rural govenrment school where 80% can't read and class sizes are in excess of 40 plus. Similarly put an unqualified teacher in a motivated class of 20 in an international school with training, the kids are still going to learn.

I personally know Raphaella (the teacher coming under attack in previous letters) She is outgoing, confident and works hard to give her students a good education. The problem is she teaches 15 classes of 50 plus kids once a week - the vast majority unable to read basic English.

You are wrong to think there is a budget available of 60,000 baht per teacher open to schools. Isaan doesn't need more qualified foreign teachers, it needs to set realistic standards, teach Pratom kids to read and most of all there needs to be a reason for kids to learn English up here.

Peelie

In response to Bob The Black Poet (The great Isaan teacher shortage, Postbox 9th August) You have totally missed the point, misunderstood, misconstrued and quoted me out of context. Firstly, to answer your question. Yes I am presently working in a small town in Khorat!! I tried the swanning around Bangkok thingy for a short time but, I couldn't handle being tarred with the same brush as all of the sex-tourist farang teachers in the big smoke that are working soley to extend their tourist visas.

It's nice to see that you agree that there is a desperate need for "qualified" teachers up here. That is the main point I was trying to make. Specifically, as long as there is a supply of unqualified personnel to fill the demand, misguided and confused people such as Rapheala will continue to facilitate unscrupulous agencies and schools to "bend the rules". This is basic business logic, generally accepted worldwide.

Please re-read my comment concerning the government agenda. The Thai government has allocated 60,000 Thai Baht per teacher to ensure that every school in Thailand has at least one N.E.S. teacher!! This is a big temptation for schools to hire people willing to work illegaly for a fraction of this amount and pocket the rest. However, if there wasn't a supply of illegal workers, a way for them to circumvent the rules, and they had to offer the full amount to attract a qualified teacher, then I would surmise that there would be many willing to accept employment in rural areas.

Of course "the number of qualified teachers willing to work in Isaan falls far short of the number required." It takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and dedication to attend university for 7 plus years in order to become a qualified teacher. Is it fair that one should have to compete with individuals such as Raphealla for employment? He/she is not providing anyone, least of all the students, any benefit.

I stand by my original point. Unqualified personnel, in any field, willing to work for a stipend of what the market will bear, create a condition whereby qualified personnel can not or will not seek employment in said field. I hope that answers your question as to exactly whose job Raphealla is taking. One final question. If these teachers of which we speak are qualified then why are they working in a country that facilitates there employment illegaly? Could it be that they wouldn't be allowed to work in any other country? (O.K. that's 2 questions, so sue me already)

David

As we all sit and cast blame around, a thought occurred to me. Actually, it’s been simmering for some time and having read the letters, perhaps now is the time to put forward my own views on the quality of a teacher’s life. I have not been teaching here for ever, I don’t hold a Masters degree in education and I don’t for a moment pretend that I know it all. I don’t therefore have the latest fashionable theory that promises to solve all the problems of teaching within the pages of one book. Like many, I became a teacher out of necessity but yes, I do have a Masters degree, (other), a TEFL and a work permit.

I have worked in two schools, one government and one private. The government school being slightly better; not concerning conditions, but in the student’s being willing to learn. Disruption within the classroom, a non willingness to learn, managerial corruption and altering exam scores so that everyone passes – it’s what we’re all used to, but beneath all that I think most teachers and certainly the ones that I know, do genuinely care.

We face an impossible task. You can’t force someone to learn and I flatly refuse to accept that it is all the teacher’s fault. The schools and managers would certainly have you believe that and it is in their own interests to do so. Students become ‘paying customers’, parents become ‘esteemed financers’ and the teachers, the maximum hours + and ‘performers’. It’s all one jolly company in which very few learn anything, but everyone involved makes a living out of and therefore everyone should be happy. Fail your exams? No problem, you know you’re going to get a 50% pass, don’t you. Disrupt the classroom? No problem, you know I can’t do anything about it anyway. Complain to the manager(s) and you’re told, ‘you’re the teacher, it’s your problem’.

I don’t know if we’re in general agreement here, but I’m seeing teachers with years and years of experience gradually being reduced to tears with the stress of it. In fact I no longer wonder why there is a gradual shortage of teachers, because the ones I know of are seriously thinking about, or have already gone to places like China and Vietnam.

Yes, it’s a gripe, but a serious one? Why is Thailand continually at the bottom of any league table in education? Why do many of its classrooms resemble playgrounds? Why are many of the student’s regarded by the government itself as having low I.Q’s? Happy doesn’t always mean good and ‘too serious’ is perhaps another term for ‘I can’t be bothered’. Is that the teacher’s fault? I regularly hold classes in which students of 16 years of age don’t even know where Thailand is on a map and can’t name the four countries adjoining it and what is more, a sizeable majority don’t care. The answer is to load on yet more classes and the up to 24 hours teaching then turns into 24 hours teaching, plus all the exam marking, preparation, homework, reading time . . . . . I don’t think it’s simply about the money, I’m seeing some pretty burned out teachers at the moment. Quantity over quality?!

I want to teach. I actually get a kick out of students grasping the finer points of English grammar, or in any of the other add on subjects that I’m required to teach. I genuinely feel for the student’s who are told that because they have paid a lot of money they will now have no problem attending university in places like the U.K. I already know they have the core subject level of a 12 year old, but I’m not allowed to say so.

Perhaps I’m wrong, but I have a strange feeling the ones who will largely disagree are the directors, managers and or recruiters who are too busy feathering their own nests and looking to put the blame on others for this continuation of affairs. Am I telling you what you already know, or is this a surprise?

James

The letters about teaching in Issan without degrees are wide of the mark. For one thing Issan isn't the "out in the sticks" place that it used to be. Many of the schools here are hiring "native speakers". The salaries are now on a par with many schools in Bangkok. Also it is not a point of"oh this little place. Oh they cannot find qualified teachers so they have to go illegal."

If anyone took the time to read the Employment Departments requirements for a Native Speaker then they would know that the requirement is to show "education certificates". On top of this it is required for the school to make a letter of recommendation.

I have been working legally here in Issan, by that I mean with visa and work permit, without a degree. Never has any money changed hands other than the required fees. I know this because I usually do all of the paperwork myself. And by the way I am working for a school that is currently ranked in the top 50 government schools in Thailand. Hardly a place that struggles to find teachers. So please let's cut the crap about how things happen in Issan.

Man in Issan

In response to David ('You are so confused' Postbox August 3rd) Your attack on Raphealla, while having the moral high ground, just shows how little falangs like you really know about the reality of life in Thailand. Why do you think the schools in Isaan bend the rules to employ teachers? Have you ever thought of going up there to offer your obviously guru-esque services? If you have, you are in a minority, but I expect you are swanning around Bangkok in your tie like a true professoinal. The reality is that there is a severe shortage of teachers up there and schools, in a state of almost desperation, will bend the rules to hire teachers. That's the reality of life in poor areas.

I agree, that everyone should be qualified for their job and pay their taxes, but attacking symptoms of the system only makes you look pernickety and petty. Raphealla is not the cause of the corruption, he / she is merely taking advantage of a situation that has multiple causes and is a matter for Thai Education Ministry to sort out, not for falangs like you and I. If you want to attack the root of the problem, why not send an e-mail to the recruiting agencies or the Ministry itelf?

You say that Raphealla and others working illegally taking a stipend, as you put it, are making it hard for those legally qualified to find work. Again, whose job is he / she taking? The number of qualified teachers willing to work in Isaan falls far short of the number required. He / she is taking an empty vacancy. It is the reality of supply and demand. The supply of teachers, qualified or unqualified, is low in Isaan and so it is a suppliers market.

As for you and your sort bleating on about qualfications, I was once a DOS in Bangkok, and I found so many teachers with degrees and these Mickey Mouse TEFL certificates from Thailand lacked a lot of basic knowledge about the language and teaching metholodolgy. A degree does not mean you are competent. It is well known in business and other fields, eg police, army, engineering, that those with the theory are useless when put in the field and have to start to learn their job properly when they leave university.

Bob The Black Poet

Foreign teachers need to be careful about choosing to work at a private school anywhere in Asia, because private schools are businesses first and educational institutions second. Many are unscrupulous and some are actually criminal. And here in Thailand, some are criminal according to even the vaguest Thai legal standards.

The teacher fire drill is a wonderful example of this. Fire drills are performed by a school when there is to be an inspection of that institution by a certain government department. Fire drills are not usually performed to allow people to practice their escape routes from burning buildings. That would be just silly.

The government department sends inspectors - upright and callously righteous inspectors of course - to inspect the employment records of teachers currently working at licensed schools to verify and validate the records of all concerned. But this only happens after a phone call to the school a few hours before the Inspectors arrive. This allows the school enough time to safely clear the airfield of teachers who are, well, neither above-board or on the board or even on the books at all. Being as happily corrupt as street walkers, as too many private schools are, someone has to pay tea money to someone in a monitoring position to stay in business. Welcome to Amazing Thailand.

We had a government fire drill last Friday. Five teachers vanished in the middle of their classes. One, a Brit teaching Matayom Physics at level 3, actually atomized. Another, a Dutch PE teacher, sprinted from the pitch in mid whistle-blow and broke a world record that is sadly never to be recognized. The locations of the other three were only clearly described in the negative afterwards, being declared either ‘not here’ or ‘whereabouts unknown’.

Here are the other ironies of it. There must be some teachers on the books to satisfy the understandable need for inspectors to justify their own jobs and keep the income streaming for all involved. Each of these teachers ideally has a degree and permit. They pay taxes. They follow the rules. Because the order of the law is for some, as maligned and incomprehensible as it often is in the West.

But others do not follow the rules, and for understandable reasons. These teachers lurk in the shadows. They don't pay taxes and of course that means they take home more pay. Don't even fret about the higher rate of pay that these artful dodgers receive. Cash is easier to hide in Thailand than a blackbird at midnight, and since some employees are paid cash, they are invisible and entirely loved by the administration staff. It keeps things simple.

And these illegal aliens skirting the law now get a day off from a fire drill - with pay! And you have to teach their classes while they head to the pub. And that’s in addition to the two day vacations they get every ninety days when they make a visa run and pretend to be tourists in perpetuity nauseum.

Come Monday, all is just swell again. The government department is happy, the school is happy, and everyone is happy - except the legal teachers, of course.
They know what happened. All is well nonetheless. It is sabai-sabai in its purest form.

My advice is to just have a good time, and keep your head down. Otherwise, you'll have to phone the parents and explain that things are so screwed up that you can't even begin to explain, and when you get home it will take a week just to remember what happened.

I'm not going to break my contract over it. I'm in Rome and do as the Romans do...after all, it doesn't mean that I am a part of the problem.

Does it?

Happy Jack

Why do some/many university degree holders think that people without a degree are not qualified to teach the English language? I don`t have a degree but I`m a native English speaker and I am TESL/TEFL certified. I`ve been teaching the English language for 7 years at all levels and students love me and think I`m a great language teacher. I didn`t have to learn the English language and then learn how to teach it, I only needed to learn how to teach the English language. I can`t see how I would need 3 years of study to do that. However, if I did go to university for three years or more I think I would aspire for a higher calling. There are more than 1 billion people in the world studying how to speak English so I think there`s plenty of room for us all. Pretty soon a person will need a degree to flip burgers at McDonalds if some people have their way. I wish the academics would get off their high horse and chill out a bit I think the thin air at high altitudes affects their grasp of reality. Live and let live.

D. Robinson

There seemed to be a time when 30-40,000 baht a month salaries were the norm, and I suppose like many teachers I felt that things were only going to get better. But what's going on in Thailand? We seem to be going backwards in terms of salaries on offer (at least from what I see on the ajarn jobs page and on other Thailand TEFL sites) Most positions seem to now be in the 20-30,000 baht a month bracket, How on earth do these schools think teachers survive on such a pittance? Oh yeah, we still earn four times the salary of a local Thai. I forgot that. But seriously, how are these schools offering 20K a month or 300 baht an hour managing to stay in business? Surely even the backpackers who desperately need the price of a ticket home won't work for that.

Martin Chilvers