This was the first mid-term exam at one of the more famous schools in Bangkok. We prepared the questions, the answer keys and gave everything to the Thai administrators. After the exams were over, we received computer printouts of the exam results. The maximum score was 20 points. More than 60% of the students had 0-10 points, and the Thais told us that they all had to get a minimum of 10 points. And we had to correct the scores manually. So a student who got 3 points (out of 20) suddenly had 10 points. A student who had 7 points (out of 20) suddenly had 10 points. The only exceptions were those students who did not take the exam at all. They actually got 0 points.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, it doesn't matter how inflated your ego is, it doesn't matter if you like Filipino teachers, native speakers, Europeans, whatever. In the end, we're all stuck in the same circus anyway, and we're all exactly the same clowns. And no, don't kid yourself that "in my school you can fail students". Yeah, yeah, homie. If you believe in something like that, you must be an idiot. This also explains why Thai schools are riddled with corruption and the agencies do whatever they want: in fact, any education here is of no consequence at all and teachers do nothing but act as kindergarten teachers and warm bodies in the classroom.

If you want to be a real teacher, look for another country.

Bobby