Job Discussion Forums

[Volodiya]

For those considering Thailand as a place to live and work, have a look.
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FOREIGN TEACHERS: Thousands to be recruited
Published on May 23, 2005

10,000 native speakers needed to boost primary level English-language skills

The Education Ministry is to recruit 10,000 native English speakers to teach primary school students at government schools nationwide.

Advertisements will be posted on the ministry�s website, with Thai embassies assisting in selecting candidates. Applicants must at least hold a bachelor�s degree.

�We offer a one-year contract and free accommodation,� Education Minister Adisai Bodharamik said yesterday. The expatriate teachers would be sent to upcountry schools, he said.

They would mainly be sent to primary schools with less than 200 students, he added.

�During their one-year contract, we will rotate [them] to new schools four times so that they will see new things every few months and won�t get bored while staying here,� he said. He also believed that students would pay fresh attention to their class when new teachers arrive.

Adisai said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra agreed in principle with the plan to employ native English speakers because it would help boost students� command of English. So far, he said budget for the plan had not yet been finalised.

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[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

I can see it all clearly now:





MOE is now accepting applications for TIT. (Teaching in Thailand)

We could call it ... MOE TIT.


Seriously though, thanks for posting that, Volodiya!


Sounds like good news to me.

[Volodiya]

Hmmm, MOE TIT? Got a nice ring to it. That could catch on, Kent. Maybe also as a name for a future BTS station.
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What's unclear to me from the newspaper article is whether the Education Minister was, in effect, just bragging to the Vietnamese about the great plans Thailand has for the future; or, whether this was a comment about a serious plan that had been in the works for some time.

It sounded as if a budget for this had not yet been established, and the cost will be astronomical. Of course, they could phase it in, little by little- a process that would occur naturally anyway because they simply will not be able to find this many people with university degrees who are willing and able to come to Thailand to teach for the modest wages that will be on offer.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hi Joe!

In a sense, they're already offering the program through the website below.

Maybe they're just planning to expand on it?

http://www.moe.go.th/Twolanguage_School/ (MOE :: Two Language Schools)

[kenkannif]

Tried it before, it won't happen.....sounds good though!

[Volodiya]

Here's another web address for the program, previously mentioned by Kent, for those who'd like to get a few more details and/or start the application process.

http://www.moe.go.th/icpmoe/Twolanguage_School/ As of the last update, it looked to me like schools were advertising just about sixty current openings.

The application process seems to consist of your first posting a "preliminary" application: this information then appears on their website, where schools may take a look at it.

There is a statement in the website that might make you think you should then wait to be contacted, where it reads, "Schools will contact registered applicants by themselves"; but, I'm confident they meant schools may contact registered applicants directly: for my reasoning, see below, quoting from another portion of the page:

[Volodiya]

If you've tried and failed to access the link I mentioned in the previous post, you're not alone.

I'm in China, now, and find I cannot access it, here. Someone who knows more about the use of computers and the internet may be able to explain why that happens.

[kenkannif]

Maybe wait for them to actually get a budget and maybe give them time to actually sit down and think about what they're saying

It ain't going to happen.

As someone said on TV or Ajarn, it's like the old joke:

How do you leave Thailand a millionaire?

Come with 10 million.

So how do you get 10,000 teachers here?

Start with a 100,000!

[Volodiya]

Kenkannif, I may not have been clear about this, I haven't been able to access the site from China: I had no trouble accessing the site when I was in Thailand. This is not the only website that has failed to perform for me, in China, and worked well elsewhere.

Perhaps those from other countries can post and let us know if they have been able to reach the Ed Min website.

[kenkannif]

Duh, sorry!

Will check it out now...yes it opens okay for me. What would you like to know?

[Volodiya]

Thanks, Kenkannif, for giving this a look. It's a technical question, really.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hi Joe! (a.k.a. Volodiya)

The Chinese authorities must be censoring that link (or domain) for some reason.

Both links are working fine on this end, fyi.

[Henry_Cowell]

Volodiya's link includes the following page that lists all "foreign applicants" for positions (as of 31st May):

http://www.moe.go.th/icpmoe/Twolanguage_School/foreign_applicants.xls

The list includes their names, nationalities, e-mail addresses, degrees and subjects studied, subjects desired for teaching position, and location desired. I've never seen such a list available to the public! The only thing missing is a photograph.

[Volodiya]

Well, whatever the cause of the problem with the link (when trying to access it from China) has been resolved, and I'm again able to reach it from here. Thanks to everyone who tried to respond regarding this problem.