Letter of the week

HAPPY HOLIDAY After I finished the midterm examinations, I felt very relaxed. My roommate persuaded me to travel to Mae Sai after the exam. It was the first time that I went there, so I was very excited to travel with my new friends. We divided into two groups. One group wanted to cross the border of Thailand and Myanmar, so I had a chance to cross over to another country. We saw a lot of things there and bought things that we wanted. We arranged to meet our other friends at a noodle shop, and I ate Burmese noodles for the first time. They were very delicious. All in all, it was a great new experience that made me feel good. It seemed to open a new door for me and I look forward to travelling to Mae Sai again when my family comes to pick me up in the New Year. Anchan Chaopa, Uthai Thani It sounds like you had a great holiday, Anchan, and that you'll be ready to face the new semester with a happy, refreshed mind. Mae Sai is a beautiful and interesting place. I went there once a few years ago, but I didn't make it across the border to Myanmar. I hope to get up there again sometime. — Editor

 

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SPACE INVADER

Hello Student Weekly! Did you see the big fireball that flew over Thailand recently? I was at home at the time so I didn't see it, but I saw it on the news and watched some videos of it flying over Bangkok.

In the news they said it was a large meteor from space. Some people might have thought that aliens were invading, but I think it was more likely just a big meteor.

Pang,
via email

I didn't actually see the meteor either, Pang, but like you I watched some footage of it on various news sites. Meteors breaking up in our planet's atmosphere are pretty rare and spectacular to see. It's always somehow reassuring to be reminded that Earth is just a tiny speck in an unimaginably large universe. — Editor

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SCHOOL RULES

Decreasing lesson hours and increasing extra-curricular classes is a new project of the Education Ministry led by Education Minister Dapong Ratanasuwan that is now running throughout the country. I am a rural elementary school teacher and I have something to share about this idea.

The idea of extra-curricular classes sounds smart for schools that are backed by rich parents. They already have modern equipment in those schools. But often when schools are surveyed, they don't look deeply at the problems schools have in the countryside.

Many students have to change schools often because their parents have to go wherever there are new jobs. They need intensive teaching before moving to a new school, and the new school might blame the old one for not giving the students basic knowledge.

Reducing class hours might make it even harder for students in this position.

Ajarn Supoj Jaraswimol,
Rayong

Thanks for your letter, Ajarn Supoj. There has been a lot of news lately about how much the education system in Thailand needs reforming. It seems to me that Thailand is such a diverse place that "one size fits all" policies probably aren't the best way to deal with something as important and complex as education. As you pointed out, schools in the countryside face very different problems and issues to schools in big cities like Bangkok. Hopefully with all the discussion about education going on at the moment things will eventually start to improve. — Editor

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