Mother-of-two Tanyathorn, 45, and her company executive husband want the best education for their children and are lucky enough to be able to afford it.
Her eldest daughter, 16, was enrolled at the exclusive all-girls Catholic school Mater Dei in Bangkok from kindergarten to junior high level. She has now moved to Shrewsbury International School where she will complete her secondary education.
Ms Tanyathorn’s son, 13, is a student at Satit Patumwan School, overseen by Srinakharinwirot University. He is planning to go to boarding school in England later this year after passing an admission test.
Their mother is grateful that the English-language environment they have been educated in means there has been no need for private tutoring so far. She is also pleased about the “rigorous” education her children have received at the schools. “They are the best schools,” she said.
Other parents see the logic in placing their children in Thailand’s best schools, not only for the education, but also the connections they will make for the rest of their lives and the status of a “brand-name education”.
“Parents think of choosing schools for their children as a social investment, because the children will meet classmates who they will share professional or social circles with in the future,” said Education Ministry official Chalermchai Panlert, who oversees basic education schemes.
But social critic and intellectual Sulak Sivaraksa says the Thai education system teaches students to make connections at the right school, rather than endowing them with knowledge. “Everybody is addicted to the brand names,” he said.
From kindergarten, to primary and secondary schools, Spectrum investigated the paths that students and parents take to try and ensure their children make it to the best universities in Thailand and overseas.
NEVER TOO YOUNG: Danai Laoprayoonsiri runs a tutoring school which caters for children aged four to six.
START THEM YOUNG
Danai Laoprayoonsiri, 60, has run the Baan Satit tutor school in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao area for seven years. It caters specifically for children aged four to six, wishing to sit a highly competitive examination for a place at a satit, or demonstration, primary school.
Satit schools are run by the teaching faculties of tertiary institutions, and include prestigious universities such as Chulalongkorn, Kasetsart and Srinakharinwirot. Since being accepted into a satit school often smooths entry into the overseeing university, families from around the country are eager to find a place for their children.
Famous alumni include former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who spent his primary years at Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Elementary School, known informally as Satit Chula, prior to finishing his education in the United Kingdom.
In a recent nationwide university admissions entrance test, the student with the highest score was from Satit Patumwan.
The business of preparing youngsters for the satit exam can be lucrative. The satit entrance exams are held in mid-March before the school year starts in June.
The battle for places at the top satit schools is highly competitive, Mr Danai said, because only 10% of the youngsters who sit the exam are accepted to their first-choice primary school.
Many places are already set aside for the children of university staff, while some parents are happy to make donations to the schools.
Mr Danai said exam day is an anxious time for the children who are often upset at being separated from their parents, and who don’t realise the importance the outcome may play in their future.
The entrance exams consist of 40-70 multiple-choice questions intended to test a child’s basic knowledge. Students, for instance, could be asked to pick an item that doesn’t fit in a particular group, or discern between objects that float or sink.
“Thai parents have become more concerned about their children’s education,” Mr Danai said. “Especially as the examinations approach, the more stressed they are.”
He said the three most prestigious satit schools — Satit Chula, Satit Kaset and Satit Prasarnmit— hold entrance exams on the same day and at almost the same time.
“Satit Chula has two rounds of examinations over the day, to accommodate around 3,000 young participants each year, while the other two hold the entrance test in the morning,” Mr Danai said.
“Examination day means I have to drive back and forth between the three institutions to provide encouragement for the kids and their parents.”
Mr Danai’s young students fared quite well in this year’s tests: 36 of them gained a place at Satit Kaset, 13 at Satit Chula, 12 at Satit Prasarnmit and seven at Satit Ongkharak.
But not all of Mr Danai’s young students can enrol at the satit school of their choice. On its website, Baan Satit says former pupils who failed to get into a satit institution have made it to other good schools such as Rachawinit, Bangkok Christian College, St Gabriel’s College, St Francis Xavier School, St Joseph Convent School, Rajini School and Chitralada School.
Satit schools do not offer English courses to students below Prathom 3 because studies have found there is no correlation between early exposure to English and the learner’s language skills in later life.
Mr Danai said this means that many parents actually prefer to place their children in Christian schools, which offer English courses from the start.
LOST IN THE CROWD: Thousands of students sit an exam in a bid to gain direct admission to a top university. Attending the university’s feeder school can help students gain an edge over the competition.
BAND OF BROTHERS
Walking into the Bang Rak campus of the all-boys Assumption College Bangkok, one of the country's leading private schools, visitors cannot help but be impressed by the surroundings. The church overlooks a basketball court where students practise after school. Its buildings, well-tended gardens and playing field are a far cry from the modest origins of the school set up in 1885 by French priest Emile August Colombet to offer education to the poor.
It is one of the most academically-intensive schools in the country and boasts an impressive network of alumni in business, academia and politics.
“It is clear we value connection here,” said Brother Dechachai Sripicharn, the college director. “We have 129 classes of alumni which are tied together under the concept of brotherhood or fraternity.”
Flipping through the pages of the alumni book celebrating the college’s 125th anniversary in 2010, some of the biggest names in Thai business leap out: Sophonpanich of Bangkok Bank, Jiaravanont of CP, Chirathivat of the Central Group, Phornprapha of Siam Motors Group, Sirivadhanabhakdi of ThaiBev, Chokwatana of Sahapat and Prasarttong-Osoth of Bangkok Airways.
Political figures range from Kittiratt Na-Ranong and Anutin Charnvirakul to Chaipattana Foundation secretary-general Sumet Tantivejakul.
“It is clear that as students move on to university or the professional world, they are supported by their Assumption brothers. This is our culture,” said Brother Dechachai.
He said most of the families of Assumption alumni are prominent in the business sector rather than the political sphere. This might have something to do with the school’s location at the junction of Silom and Charoen Krung roads — the country’s main business district for centuries. Brother Dechachai said students who come from military families traditionally prefer to enrol in the 95-year-old St Gabriel's School in the Dusit area of Bangkok, where various army headquarters are situated.
Assumption’s student body is ethnically diverse, reflecting the characteristics of Silom. Chinese and Indian businesses have long been established in the area, alongside local firms and the missionaries who sought to educate without discrimination when the college was founded.
Brother Dechachai said there is an old saying that refers to pupils from Assumption as “gentlemen” and girls from neighbouring St Joseph’s as “ladies”. “This refers to two of the oldest catholic schools in the Silom area and tells of the sort of qualities expected from the students of these schools,” he said.
‘We value connection’: Assumption College director Dechachai Sripicharn.
NOTHING IS FREE
Assumption welcomes children from all backgrounds through its entrance examination. Parents are also interviewed to see if their attitudes fit with the school’s values and traditions. Students whose fathers or grandfathers went to Assumption are given priority.
Alumni Phra Paisal Visalo spent his formative years at Assumption during the height of student activism in Thailand in the 1970s. He played a major role in promoting the concept of a volunteer camp to the brothers and his peers, in which students from the capital were sent to rural areas to do social work.
In the 125th anniversary book, Thai PBS executive Wanchai Tantiwitthayapitak says that although he came from a poor background, he was given the same opportunities as others which contributed to his successful life and career.
But an Assumption education comes at price. A general semester fee starts at around 40,000 baht. Students who enrol in the English programme pay an estimated 100,000 baht fee per semester.
Not all those featured in Assumption’s anniversary book were glowing about the Thai education system. Mr Sulak, the 82-year-old intellectual and former student, said education in Thailand is more about making connections than anything else. He graduated from Assumption College in 1952 before taking up a university education in Wales.
“Thai education offers lame and boring content as we all know,” Mr Sulak told Spectrum. “Assumption is not exempt from this.”
In Mr Sulak’s days, students looked up to the previous generation including diplomat Direk Jayanama and former Bank of Thailand governor and Thammasat rector Puey Ungpakorn.
Today, Mr Sulak views the school’s image as a triumph of branding. Thailand’s four elite boys schools — Assumption, Bangkok Christian, Suan Kularb and Thepsirin — are known as the Jaturamitr, or four friends.
“This Jaturamitr banner is nothing more than a marketing scheme,” Mr Sulak said. “It is the same with the Chula-Thammasat or Oxbridge banners. Just as people buy the best shoes from the best brands, the same thing goes for choosing a school.”
Entry point: Some parents are critical of the education system’s heavy focus on university entrance, saying many students arrive at university without having developed critical thinking skills.
FORMULA FOR SUCCESS
Manus Onsang, the editor of Dek-d.com, the largest website for Thai high school students, has noticed a trend in recent years of pupils planning long-term for university places.
The highly-regarded senior high school, Triam Udom Suksa, is a popular choice to help achieve their higher education goals. Other favoured senior high schools include the three satit schools, the four Jaturamitr boys schools and half a dozen all-girls private schools in Bangkok.
Although Triam Udom Suksa is a public school, it has a high academic standard and many potential students are willing to take the entrance exam more than once.
“For many students, if they fail the entrance test to enrol in Triam Udom Suksa School they are willing to take a gap year and resit the test the following year,” Mr Manus said.
“Enrolling in Triam Udom can mean you are halfway into university because for several years, 100% of Triam Udom students have gained admission to the university of their choice.”
Students who enrol in Triam Udom must prepare for hard work. Mr Danai’s eldest daughter moved from Satit Kaset to Triam Udom for her last three years of high school. His younger daughter remained at Satit Kaset until high school graduation, discouraged by the stress her sister shouldered. Both eventually completed medical degrees.
University admissions are based on a formula. A student’s Grade Point Average from school accounts for 20% of the score, with 30% for their Ordinary National Entrance Test results. The remaining 50% comes from a technical test called GAT-PAT, offered by each university faculty that the student applies to. Mr Manus said there were about 300,000 Mathayom 6 students in Thailand last year. Of those, 124,648 applied for university places. The number of successful admissions will be revealed next month.
Early education: Manus Onsang says students are planning their future from a younger age.
PARENTAL GUIDANCE RATING
Dek-d.com offers an SMS news subscription service with updates on university admissions. Among the 30,000 subscribers, some 9,000 identify as parents.
“Parents seem to want their kids to focus on study alone, while they help out in other areas, including finding information and selecting the university for them,” Mr Manus said.
Despite the competitive nature of finding the right school for their children and the inevitable expenses incurred along the way, many parents still believe that the education system is short-changing them.
Ms Tanyathorn said that even though her two children have gone to the best possible schools, both will likely need outside tutoring if they want to undertake tertiary studies.
She also criticised the system of high school education for not being broad enough and not encouraging independent thinking. Instead the focus is on subjects that will lead to high-paying jobs, such as medicine and architecture, she said.
“Eventually, my children will be unable to avoid having to go to tutoring schools as they near their university admissions,” she said. “The system makes tutor schools a necessity because it wants students to do well in certain subjects like maths, when they can be good at other things too.
“Everybody going through the Thai education system comes out the same because thinking differently is seen as wrong.”
But Mr Manus said it is natural for students to be competitive and inspired by those of their classmates who have gone on to wear a university uniform.
“Students enrol in the top schools because they want the assurance that they can pass a university admissions test,” he said.
“When they see their former school seniors wearing the Chulalongkorn University uniform, they want that too, even though it is an image. They only want the best for themselves.” n