Tutors fight back over class cuts
Students with poor grades may need extra tuition when classes in state schools are cut by two hours in November, warned Anusorn Siwakul, president of the Tutorial Schools Executives and Teachers Association.
While Thai students spent more hours in school compared to those in other countries, their Ordinary National Education Test (Onet) results showed their academic performance was still below satisfactory, Mr Anusorn said. If students have fewer classes, their performance might become even worse, he warned.
Students with poor grades could also be left behind if they don't take special tutorial courses after school to improve their performance, Mr Anusorn said.
Mr Anusorn suggested state schools under the pilot class reduction project should instead reduce the hours of less important subjects, while increasing the hours of major subjects.
Tutorial schools were now waiting for a clear statement from the Education Ministry on whether students would be allowed to leave schools at 2pm, or join elective classes until 4pm, he said. The schools were ready to readjust their timetables according to the new school schedule.
Earlier reports said students would have to attend extra curricular classes after school finishes at 2pm next term. However, the ministry's policy on whether all students have to remain in school until 4pm has not yet been finalised.
According to the Office of the Private Education Commission, 2,379 tutorial schools are registered with the Education Ministry. Some 200,000 students attend them to prepare for competitive entrance examinations to top schools and universities.
The tutorial school business in Thailand is worth nearly 10 billion baht a year. Each student using a tutorial service pays about 5,700 baht per year on average in Bangkok, and about 3,900 baht elsewhere.
Varakorn Samakoses, president of Dhurakij Pundit University, said the ministry should focus on developing critical thinking among students and improving teaching methods to encourage students to pay attention in class, instead of reducing classroom hours. This would improve students' performance, he said. "