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Academic Year
Dates and TimetableSchool History
General School InformationStudying at Pholwitaya
Parents PageTeaching at Pholwitaya
Teacher InformationWhat is Bilingual?
School Concepts|
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| So,what exactly is bilingual education, then? |
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| in Bilingual format |
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| Over the past few years, there has been a concentrated effort by the Thai Ministry of Education, and many others involved in education, to improve, update and modernize the country's schooling system. The aim of these modernized programs is to enable students to improve and advance their minds as much as possible, and to do this via teaching techniques that more fully involve them in their studies. This methodology alleviates boredom and frustration in the classroom. 'Bi' means two. Examples of English words that use 'bi' to denote the association of two may include; bicycle, biped, binoculars and bilateral. So studying in a bilingual school means studying using two languages. It is not simply learning English, but is using English and Thai to study a curriculum. Young children are very easily able to gain the use of more than one language if they are exposed to it constantly. At Pholwitaya Bilingual School, the two languages used are Thai, because it's the national language, and English, because it's the international language. The students, during their Primary education years for example, study a total of 35 periods per week, and of those periods, 21 are conducted in English and the other 14 are conducted in Thai. The 35 periods comprise of the normal school subjects, such as math, languages, science, art, sport etc., and with the addition of some subjects that are particular to modern education, such as Creative Thinking Skills. Researh has shown that children who participate in a bilingual learning atmosphere are subject to greater stimulation of the brain cells, thereby leading them to become more active and more interested in their studies. Consider also that in Pholwitaya Bilingual, the class makeup is different to a regular Thai school. Each Primary class has a total of only 25 students maximum (often less), and there are two teachers for this class. Each Kindergarten class has only 20 students maximum, and still has two teachers. This student:teacher ratio enables each teacher to pay more attention to individual students, and because the teachers job is a little easier than if he or she had 50 students as in most regular Thai schools, then the teachers performance is also enhanced. The cost of education is always a factor in any parents' decision as to where to send their child to study. With the student:teacher ratio, and with all the other advantages of a modern facility and teaching tools, of course our school fees are more expensive. However, if our fees are compared to those of an International school, and at the same time compared to those of a regular school, then it can be seen that Pholwitaya Bilingual offers excellent value. As well as being substantially cheaper than International schools, we are also easily able to preserve the many facets of Thai culture and heritage during a child's education here. |
| HatYai,Songkhla |
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| Visitors: 01113 |