English as a second or foreign language

Cliff Sloane

  Bangkok Post May 17, 1996
 
                   POLICY ON ENGLISH TO BE TEST OF SCHOOLS
                                     
  by Sirikul Bunnag
 
 
  PRIMARY schools have had to prepare for radical change since Education
  Minister Sukavich Rangsitpol enforced a policy requiring them to teach
  English from Pathom 1 in the forthcoming semester.
 
  In the past, the Education Ministry did not permit schools to teach
  very young students English for fear the shortage of qualified
  teachers and materials might cause incorrect learning.
 
  Therefore, students wanting to enrol in public secondary schools have
  not had to take English tests in the entrance examination for decades.
  However, the ministry has allowed private schools to choose whether to
  include English tests in their entrance exams or not.
 
  Officials of many schools and agencies responsible for implementing
  the policy accept they need more time to prepare the curriculum,
  teachers and equipment for teaching English.
 
  Mr Sukavich said more than 50 percent of primary schools had the
  ability to offer English courses but schools that are not ready need
  not implement the policy in the 1996 academic year.
 
  On criticisms that teachers lacked the time and knowledge to teach
  English well, Mr Sukavich said the reform programme, which requires
  schools to supply several teachers for each class and schools with
  materials and language laboratories can solve this problem.
 
  Director-General of the Curriculum and Instruction Development
  Department Kasama Varavan expected problems in the first few years
  because 10 percent of primary schools are ready.
 
  However, the National Primary Education Commission Office said most of
  its 30,000 schools would be ready for the new semester, she said.
 
  She said the department found many schools wanting to teach English
  were not well prepared because they still had problems of teacher
  quality and a shortage of equipment and handbooks.
 
  Directors of these schools accepted the policy even though they were
  not ready because they had been pressed by parents who prefer
  enrolling children in schools with English courses. Those directors,
  she said, could jeopardise their promotion if their schools have few
  students.
 
  The department will propose the National Primary Education Commission
  have every school use the test paper created by the department for
  measuring teachers' knowledge of English and establish a consulting
  centre for English teachers in every province, she said.
 
  Suwat Ngerncham, deputy secretary-general of the National Primary
  Education Commission Office, said the agency had been informed by
  28,000 schools, or 92 percent of all schools, that they were ready to
  teach English. The office has already spent 200 million baht training
  38,000 English teachers nationwide.
 
  A total of 12,540 teachers who attended the training courses were
  required to guide the other 25,460 teachers who would be trained via
  satellite television by the Non-formal Education Department for nine
  days starting this month, he said.
 
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  Last Modified: Fri, May 17, 1996

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