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Hi All,
I am wondering how you guys feel about private education. I saw the below article on BBS and it made me wonder. And it made me wonder about private education in general. Not the fee increases discussed in the article.
www.bbc.com
I am a Dutch citizen living in Thailand, and we have 3 children of which one I am the father.
In The Netherlands, private education is considered for rich people only and few people in The Netherlands are able to afford private education. When I got older I started to look at things a little bit differently. The strange thing is, here in Thailand, it seems to be normal for kids to go to private schools, and this is a developing country! Something does not make sense, right? I struggled with this.
I first got confronted with education in Vietnam where a young boy I knew was in a public school and got hit by the teacher. I was shocked and I was so mad that I asked the police to come to my house and explain to me if this is acceptable or not and if anything can be done about this. This already shows that you are in a different culture, because you do not just call the police to your house in a normal country I think, but this is what happened. What can I say...
I now know that it is still common practice for teachers to correct kids in the class; with a ruler.... In Vietnam I was told that this was not legal, but that the kid would suffer in school if I resisted to the teachers doing this. This was in a public school.
Back to Thailand. Because of my experience in Vietnam, I started to look differently at education. I also saw my wife's children in public school, and I was not impressed. A lot of time is spend on teaching things that are not important I think. I mean how much time do you need to spend daily about the king, the fatherland, and the national anthem? I also saw with her kids that 'bribes' have to be paid for additional lessons so that they learn enough to pass the exam. It is my impression, but I fail to back this up with evidence, that they deliberately do not teach certain lessons at school to force the kids to take additional lessons, hence creating additional income.
After my son was born we started to talk about school for him as well. We have had to move a few times and had trouble with schools, which results in our son having been at 4 different schools in 3 years, and that is of course not good. I got the impression one time that he was hit by the teacher. My son was scared to go to school and only wanted to go if one teacher was not there. I spoke to the management, and explained very carefully that I was concerned, and that I expect them to not hit my child. I did not accuse them, but I made it very clear I was concerned about that. I got the impression that they acted on that, but that is more a feeling. But this was also a private school. We later moved him to an other school. Also a private school. He loves this place. He is looking forward every day to go to school and almost always comes back a happy boy. However, he did tell me that the teacher hits the kids. When I asked him if they hit him, he simply sad; No daddy, I'm a good boy. So I need to keep an eye on that.
But what also puzzles me is the cost of private schools. Yes sure, it would not be fair to compare Thailand with the Netherlands. But the difference is obvious and big. In the Netherlands it costs some serious money to send you kids to school. But here in Thailand it appears as if most parent put their kids in private schools. The reality is slightly different I know, but with 0.3% of the population in the Netherlands getting private education vs. 20-30% in Thailand, there is obviously something going on here. Education is cheap here. It is basically free for public schooling, but you still need to buy books and uniforms I think. Whatever the costs are, he is now in a private school and this costs about 100USD/months. I have recently struggled a lot and I even found the teacher giving us clothes for our son when we needed some help.
I am very curious as to your thoughts. Costs vs. quality of education. But also how acceptable this is in your home country. I understand most of us are westerners here, but if any of you live or have lived in developing countries, please respond. And if you live in the west and have gotten private education, please let us know as well your experience. Do you think it was worth it? And not just the money. Especially in the west many private schools also require you to live there internally. This has a huge impact on the development of the kids because they are separated from their parents. And the costs as well.
I struggle to form an opinion. Just genuinely looking forward to ideas, thoughts, and considerations.
Joey
I am wondering how you guys feel about private education. I saw the below article on BBS and it made me wonder. And it made me wonder about private education in general. Not the fee increases discussed in the article.

Delhi: Rising school fees push Indian families to the brink
Parents accuse private schools of steep fee raises which are stretching budgets to breaking point.

I am a Dutch citizen living in Thailand, and we have 3 children of which one I am the father.
In The Netherlands, private education is considered for rich people only and few people in The Netherlands are able to afford private education. When I got older I started to look at things a little bit differently. The strange thing is, here in Thailand, it seems to be normal for kids to go to private schools, and this is a developing country! Something does not make sense, right? I struggled with this.
I first got confronted with education in Vietnam where a young boy I knew was in a public school and got hit by the teacher. I was shocked and I was so mad that I asked the police to come to my house and explain to me if this is acceptable or not and if anything can be done about this. This already shows that you are in a different culture, because you do not just call the police to your house in a normal country I think, but this is what happened. What can I say...
I now know that it is still common practice for teachers to correct kids in the class; with a ruler.... In Vietnam I was told that this was not legal, but that the kid would suffer in school if I resisted to the teachers doing this. This was in a public school.
Back to Thailand. Because of my experience in Vietnam, I started to look differently at education. I also saw my wife's children in public school, and I was not impressed. A lot of time is spend on teaching things that are not important I think. I mean how much time do you need to spend daily about the king, the fatherland, and the national anthem? I also saw with her kids that 'bribes' have to be paid for additional lessons so that they learn enough to pass the exam. It is my impression, but I fail to back this up with evidence, that they deliberately do not teach certain lessons at school to force the kids to take additional lessons, hence creating additional income.
After my son was born we started to talk about school for him as well. We have had to move a few times and had trouble with schools, which results in our son having been at 4 different schools in 3 years, and that is of course not good. I got the impression one time that he was hit by the teacher. My son was scared to go to school and only wanted to go if one teacher was not there. I spoke to the management, and explained very carefully that I was concerned, and that I expect them to not hit my child. I did not accuse them, but I made it very clear I was concerned about that. I got the impression that they acted on that, but that is more a feeling. But this was also a private school. We later moved him to an other school. Also a private school. He loves this place. He is looking forward every day to go to school and almost always comes back a happy boy. However, he did tell me that the teacher hits the kids. When I asked him if they hit him, he simply sad; No daddy, I'm a good boy. So I need to keep an eye on that.
But what also puzzles me is the cost of private schools. Yes sure, it would not be fair to compare Thailand with the Netherlands. But the difference is obvious and big. In the Netherlands it costs some serious money to send you kids to school. But here in Thailand it appears as if most parent put their kids in private schools. The reality is slightly different I know, but with 0.3% of the population in the Netherlands getting private education vs. 20-30% in Thailand, there is obviously something going on here. Education is cheap here. It is basically free for public schooling, but you still need to buy books and uniforms I think. Whatever the costs are, he is now in a private school and this costs about 100USD/months. I have recently struggled a lot and I even found the teacher giving us clothes for our son when we needed some help.
I am very curious as to your thoughts. Costs vs. quality of education. But also how acceptable this is in your home country. I understand most of us are westerners here, but if any of you live or have lived in developing countries, please respond. And if you live in the west and have gotten private education, please let us know as well your experience. Do you think it was worth it? And not just the money. Especially in the west many private schools also require you to live there internally. This has a huge impact on the development of the kids because they are separated from their parents. And the costs as well.
I struggle to form an opinion. Just genuinely looking forward to ideas, thoughts, and considerations.
Joey