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Published on September 6, 2007

 If so, I would hope they would be open to suggestions. Here are a few for consideration:

1. Improve the present rote teaching system. Even though it is considered by many to be outdated, it is easier to train the teachers to be more effective within the present system than to try to get them retrained in a new system.

2. Reduce the number of classes. Teach each class 4-5 days a week or 3 days a week with 2 lab days for continuity, repetition, assistance and experimentation.

3. Foreign language classes should be elective and taught only by native speakers. This will reduce the class size for those interested and allow for attentive participation. Again, the classes should be taught at least 3 days in the week with lab classes for practice. Few students under the present compulsory system are able to speak and understand a foreign language conversation after many years of compulsory classes. This is a waste of time and resources.

4. Teachers should have a mandatory obligation to provide students with lesson plans that they can preview prior to class so the students are more aware of the material presented by the teacher in class. Taking notes during class and reviewing them for homework should be encouraged.

5. Stop the practice of "no failing". Students should be taught to take responsibility for their actions. Re-testing while assisting them with the answers takes away incentive to perform and teaches corruption.

6. Provide aides to classrooms, labs and study halls through students of teacher colleges doing intern work. This will provide some individual assistance for students, especially in large class settings. Students should be encouraged to ask questions and accept assistance.

7. Provide counsellors for all students so that their social problems, plus present and future academic concerns can be addressed. Students need someone to listen to them.

8. Provide incentive programmes for students to excel. Awards for excellence such as special commendations and awards at student assemblies for all students scoring 90 per cent grades in any subject, not just the top 2-3 students.

These are just a few suggestions I believe could be instituted without extra costs.

Stan Smith

NONG KHAI

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Foreigners ought to be eligible for top jobs

It looks like Airports of Thailand needs a new director due to the recent resignation of Ms Kulya Pakakrong. I would like to apply for the job. Is it so outlandish to consider a foreigner in such a position? Take a moment to consider that other countries sometimes appoint foreigners to run important affairs. Many national football teams, Thailand included, have coaches who are foreign. Most countries in the oil business have foreigners in charge of extraction. The largest department store in London, and major American ports, are run by foreigners.

As for a new top person at AOT, is there a Thai candidate who is not beholden to special interests? Or to a political party? Or who cannot be unduly influenced by powerful people in the shadows? I've got none of those drawbacks. If I were in charge at AOT, I would focus squarely on doing what's best to make the airport efficient, comfortable, secure, hassle free, and safe for passengers. I would ruffle a lot of feathers, but I don't mind. Where do I send my resume?

Ken Albertsen

CHIANG RAI

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Boat operator should be charged over deaths

Re: "Tourist dies as crowded boat sinks off Phi Phi", News, September 5.

The owner of the boat that capsized where one tourist died and another tourist nearly lost his legs, and all other passengers were thrown into the sea, should be put on trial for the death and made to pay high compensation to his passengers. He knew the dangers of high waves but out of sheer greed this man ignored the warnings and overloaded his boat. That is unacceptable and he should be made accountable to the families of these people by being put on trial.

CM 

BANGKOK

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Remove the military from politics now

De-politicising the selection of military chiefs is like belling the cat: we all know that it has to be done if Thailand is to progress from a military dictatorship towards democracy. We must bell the cat because in a vibrant democracy, it is we the people who rule The generals exist to advise and take orders from the civilian leadership on defending our borders from external enemies. It is not their job to decide if a leader is corrupt, disloyal, etc - that is the job of we the people, being politically aware and pro-active.

Thus, as in any other profession, we should establish a set of key performance indicators (KPI) that are transparent, measurable, and pre-announced for each senior military position. Class year and kinship are not job-relevant. The achievement scores for each officer's KPI, publicly posted, will help us develop the professional military we need, and it will be relatively easy to identify who really deserves the top job.

Who should bell the cat? PM Surayud professes to have no political ambitions, and with the top job comes weighty responsibilities - including this one. There is no time to start like the present, sir, and for you, there will be no other time. Get the military out of politics - starting with the nomination of our top brass, now. Let our democracy take wing.

Burin Kantabutra

BANGKOK

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Everest could be a trek too far for Thai team

While I never did any technical climbing, when I was younger I did several high altitude treks in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal. Watching a few TITV news clips of the Thai team currently in Nepal to try to climb Mount Everest, I couldn't help but feel very apprehensive. They seem totally unprepared and unfamiliar with the challenges that lie before them.

This is not a hike up Doi Inthanon - the summit of Mount Everest is four times higher than Doi Inthanon with extremes of weather that very few, if any, Thais are familiar with.

How fit are the personnel selected? Have they broken in their trekking boots and calloused their feet already? Have they ever spent time in high altitude, oxygen-deprived conditions? Have they ever been exposed to prolonged near- or sub-zero temperatures? Have they taken technical climbing courses and done other climbs by way of preparation? Are they familiar with the symptoms of frostbite or altitude sickness? Are they aware that people, some of them very fit, die of altitude sickness every trekking season?

I seriously doubt that the answer to all of these questions is yes. It is my opinion that the promoters and sponsors of this trip are acting in an unconscionable manner and I fear for the health, life and limb of the participants.

David Spillane

CHIANG MAI

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Creating a language environment no easy task

The French have a saying that loosely goes: "You cannot understand the country without understanding the language". The acquisition of language is such a daunting task that the student has to reinvent himself - literally as a student of the new country. To do this, I believe, the student has to be pulled out of his everyday life.

When I learned French, I was enthralled by everything French - the literature, the history and of course the food. When I said in my piece that English has no geographical centre (because it is the language of the Internet), I meant exactly this: we have to be pulled out of our mundane existence into another world.

Using English in circumstances as close to those as the student learned his native language in (as Mr Bill suggests in his letter "Opportunity to Use Languages is Essential") is a non-starter - except for the very young student. Carried to extremes it results in a pidgin English.

I think America's experience with bilingual education would also refute what (I think) he is advocating. And I know for a fact that what trips up students, whether they come from international high-schools or  mainstream American high-schools, is the ability to write, not the ability to express themselves verbally. Something beyond the ken of ESL programmes.

Would that the general public was as exercised about the state of Thai education as two retirees, Mr Bill and I, are.

Forrest Greenwood

NAKHON SAWAN

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