Jon

What does your kid in Thailand do after leaving school and having no IGCSEs? Can't do uni in UK, can only get minimum wage in UK, can you afford to put them through Thai uni or set them up in work and aren't their international horizons already limited, even if they can speak English? The world isn't their oyster, unless they're very fortunate. Some will be happy to stay in Thailand but do they really have much choice and would they rather have been able to make a choice? Or maybe I'm being too negative? Don't know of many examples who have reached adulthood

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columbia

My plan for my daughter (she's P.6 now) is maybe M.4 and further education in OZ or the like for sure. Not a chance she's going to study uni here (and I say that as an occasional teacher in a B.A. programme)

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It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no Interior Minister of Thailand's son.

kenkannif

What does a kid in the UK do in the same scenario Jon???

Fair enough....although personally I think a Brit/Thai kid can do well here and worldwide with the right parenting/extra education. I'd hope that me raising my kid in an 'English' (both language and 'culture') would give him a bit of a head start....he already does very well at school....and luckily I don't work too many hours so have a lot of time to spend with him...talking and that....he seems pretty savvy compared to other Thai kids his age (and a lot older)....but maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.

There are some good normal schools here mate....agreed not tons....but some.

Also is it not possible to take IGCSEs if you don't go to an international school?

I hear what you're all saying....and it's probably a combination of not as good as I think here...but not half as bad as others do.

So many good things about raising a kid here....other than it seems the education...but then in the UK you get that okay.....but (certainly where I live) the attitude and other outside influences seem to negate the advantages of that....very fucking hard really....but I might send him back for a year or two......I'm really not sure at the moment!!!

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Riddle me this brother can you handle it
Your style to my style you can't hold a candle to it
Equinox symmetry and the balance is right
Smokin' and drinkin' on a Tuesday night
It's not how you play the game it's how you win it
I cheat and steal and sin and I'm a cynic

Jon

Most kids in the UK, and especially the kids of intelligent people such as ourselves will leave school with some GCSEs, and there are many paths that lead onto some form of higher education, including degrees, even with poorer school exam results, via interim exams. I wager not many of our kids will be in the situation of having no qualifications, and what's better and more 'usuable' internationally, UK or Thai qualifications? If we let our kiddies stay at home then they can earn reasonable wonga and save money for independent international travel, car, etc, which is surely harder in Thailand? My daughter's working full time in a shop all summer earning above minimum wage and not paying to live at home, which isn't unusual these days, so she's got loadsamoney ...wouldn't be so easy in Thailand. Not that there's anything wrong with bringing up kids in Thailand...just maybe the average UK teenager/school leaver will have more freedom and options

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Sur votre bicyclette, mate.

kenkannif

I would say a Thai qualification would be helpful in Thailand Jon mate and surely having two languages isn't a bad thing? And to be honest in my experience a degree is basically a degree worldwide (other than some of the dodgy doctor ones). Most Thais here don't seem to know what a GCSE is even. I assume it's the same in many Asian countries! Although I don't see any reason why my kid wouldn't be able to get his GCSEs (IGCSEs or whatever they're called now...actually from Googling it looks like IGCSEs are better thought of than plain old GCSEs....cool!!!) and go on to study here or elsewhere? I think that's a bit of a misnomer......no?

I actually think with a basic education here in Thailand but the Western savvy all things said and done you can do better here than in the UK.....than with the same in the UK. Not so much competition here you know

I know Thai/Brits in the UK from Thailand earning above minimum wage as well mate.....so really don't see that much of a difference.

I sort of see where you're coming from....but with the right parenting....I honestly don't think there's a lot in it....and as far as doing well here, and there being more opportunities for reasonably well adjusted Brit/Thai maybe a tad better off.

Then again I suppose most people will think what they're doing is for the best all said and done. Although money to me isn't the major issue....more quality of life which I don't think England can offer as well as Thailand can....but again just my personal opinion

I shall see what happens in the future though....might be worth sending him home for a year or two...but don't really want too much of England to rub off on him personally!!!

__________________


Riddle me this brother can you handle it
Your style to my style you can't hold a candle to it
Equinox symmetry and the balance is right
Smokin' and drinkin' on a Tuesday night
It's not how you play the game it's how you win it
I cheat and steal and sin and I'm a cynic

Cyrille

But ken, very very few people have the option really of sending a child back to the UK for a year or two. Therefore the choice is more fundamental and is preferably made before secondary school.


At 16 with no IGCSEs?
Mostly, not a lot I'd imagine.

If you're not talking about either of those things as factors then I'm a bit unclear what you are saying, tbh.

kenkannif

Really mate? Fuck another good thing about Thailand....at least the families help each other often. I'm surprised...even my little Sis would look after him.


I knew/know quite a few mate....and even when I was working in the UK I was never asked to show them (actually had nothing to show).

I do understand what you lot are saying...but again I think their are more things to think about than just exams that can be taken here anyway???

__________________


Riddle me this brother can you handle it
Your style to my style you can't hold a candle to it
Equinox symmetry and the balance is right
Smokin' and drinkin' on a Tuesday night
It's not how you play the game it's how you win it
I cheat and steal and sin and I'm a cynic

Jasper

Yep. I went off topic a little. Re-read the OP and he is talking specifically about schools. I was trying to pick up on Tick Tock's more general reasons for returning to Blighty with kids. Basically, I think, on balance, Blighty gives you (your kids) better opportunity to do things - clubs, studying abroad, career choices, wider outlook, etc.

Hamster

Not strictly true AO. The EP I work for offers all of those courses. Literature four periods per week for all students from M4 through M6. There are six different compulsory social studies courses taken during the last three years of high school: World History, SE Asia Studies, Geography, Physical and Economic Geography, Issues in Modern Society, I forget the rest. The textbooks are all top notch American books from Holt, McGraw-Hill, Houghton-Mifflin, etc. The science instruction is good - all teachers of science have degrees in the subjects they teach. Science would be excellent if there were more equipment in the lab. The mathematics instruction is excellent. SAT and SAT II prep courses offered free of charge. Remedial classes for struggling students are free. Advanced classes for gifted students offered free. Football field, swimming pool, drama, music and choir options. School football and basketball teams. Parent-teacher meetings four times a year. Student-teacher ratio of about 25:1 for M1 to M3, and 15:1 for M4 to M6. All in all it is a well-run program in a much better than average school.

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Mr. Hales

agree with both.

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i1der

No matter where parents stay, as long as they're happy, their children will be happy too.

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Cream

Just read the first page but your nephew sounds more like 8 special needs classes

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Michael J

He's just had his AS level results through, 2 C's and a B.

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