Kids quitting school to follow a sporting dream, Thailand.

I read this interesting article in a Thai paper in the education section. I won’t print it in its entirety but just the main parts of the article. My comments are in green.

Quitting school to play sports is every kid's dream. Some parents with deep pockets have opted to withdraw their children from schools and instead invest in developing their sporting talents.

This is true; a girl at the school where I work has just taken up golf. She is in year 8 and as you could imagine a beginner at this very difficult game. Her mother offered her the option to quit school and concentrate on golf fulltime, insane I believe!

Rattapop Wattanakul decided to let his two sons quit their well-known private school last year so they could develop their potential in golf and tennis.

He believes that the ordinary education system cannot make his sons specialists and move up any faster in their social and career advancement than the rest. So he decided to reject the formal schooling system and invest a huge sum in developing the sports talents of his sons. He asked them to study at home, in a programme offered by the Office of Non-formal Education instead, so that the family would have more time for sports training.

Okay, the father is giving his children a chance of a lifetime, is he trying to live a dream he never fulfilled through his children. How good his children are remains to be seen, but if they were showing any promise in their prospective sports they would have already been scouted as potential champions and would usually be under the guidance of a government programme our being nurtured by a school that speacialises in the sport of choice.

He is spot on about the education system, I myself a teacher and like so many others not just foreigners but many Thai teachers all say that the current education system is a shambles and a joke and needs an overhaul.

A growing number of parents and students are choosing not to complete regular schooling, graduate and hunt for normal jobs. They believe they have a better chance to earn a living by specialising and honing their talents. The riches earned by Thailand's most outstanding athletes like Paradorn Sricharphan (Tennis player Highest world ranking 9th Career prize money $3,458,000 US), Tamarine Tanasugarn (tennis player Highest world ranking 19th Career prize money $2,562,000 US) and Danai Udomchok (tennis player Highest World Ranking 77th Career prize money $690,000 US ) have sparked a trend among middle- and upper-class families. They find that classroom learning is not the only choice for their children and are inspired to focus on their children's sporting, rather than academic, potential.

The money above is a lot to a Thai, but these people are extreme exceptions here. Education in Thailand isn’t important in a career choice if your family has money as they can buy you into anything you want, everything is for sale in Thailand, and there is nothing that cannot be bought for the right price.