Comments on: Chinorotwittayalai School Bangkok Thailand

By: Brian_Q

Brian_Q — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 02:56:43 +0000

I would regard the Intensive English Program at Chinorotwittayalai School in Bangok as a model program that other schools would do well to follow. The curriculum is strong, relevant and rigorous. The quality of the teaching staff is quite high (no fakes here)and they are paid at least 25% more than the farang in the Regular English program which is nothing to write home about. The founding School Director as well as the two School Directors that followed him were very supportive of the development of the program which seemed to increase resentment by the Thai faculty–which persists in attempting to undermine the IEP (particularly faculty members from the Regular English program and Science Department). I found that in the time I was there, all provisions of my contract were met and done so in a timely fashion. Students in the first M-6 class to go from the IEP to university were accepted at higher level universities which does say a lot about the program. Exposure to western pedagogy and teaching methods has resulted in students who tend to demand more of their Thai teachers who, unfortunately, are not trained to deliver teaching and learning experiences that are modern in concept or student centered. Dependence on the Thai national curriculum in the Regular program, large class sizes and lack of modern facilities contribute to a very poor experience for students in the Regular program however, the IEP has shown its worth. If the current School Director allows more autonomy to the IEP, it will continue to flourish. Should he cave in to the petty jealousies of the regular faculty, it will be a sad and unfortunate experience for the IEP.

By: Contributor

Contributor — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 06:29:14 +0000

I teach in the regular English program too, with an average of 36 students per class (rated 2), friendly staff (rated 4) but with an average support in the classroom (rated 3). The truth, however, about salary is that none of the teachers in this program is paid 40,000 B/month: 35,000; 30,000; 25,000; and 20;000 B/month (rated 2). Three out of four teachers left with their own personal reasons by the end of the first term last year (rated 2). There is no work permit provided for the three new teachers for second term for a reason that work permit is usually given at the first term of the school year (rated 2). The management is slow to fulfill promises indicated in the contract, such as teacher’s license and work permit (rated 2). On the other hand, teachers in the Intensive English program teach in an average of 2 years for good reasons including work permit (rated 4), but must be paid lower than 40,000 B/month, with at least one of six left the job before the end of the contract (rated 3). In total, if my judgment is correct, the school can be rated 2.67.

By: ds

ds — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:08:54 +0000

Norrad, how long have you been there ? What’s the foreign staff turnover like ? Do they provide work permit ? Do they pay you all of the 40,000 B per month they get from the govt or keep some for themselves ? These things usually reveal more than 1 person’s opinion.

By: Norrad

Norrad — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 23:58:07 +0000

I teach in the regular english program and have quite big classes. I rate the school quite high. The staff are friendly and very supportive.