The Education Department have estimated that there are over 200,000 students in mainstream school who have some form of learning difficulty.
These can come in many forms and are particularly evident in language skills and mathematics. Without special attention, these students will underachieve and have a very unhappy school life.
As I have mentioned in previous articles, I was a teacher in the UK for 34 years and I had first-hand experience of children with specific learning difficulties.
It was only in the middle seventies to early eighties that these problems became widely acknowledged in the UK. Up until then, these children were regarded as stupid or just plain lazy.
It pains me to this day to think of the thousands of children who went through school being punished and ridiculed for being “thick”. Ironically, the exact opposite was the case, with the majority of these children being of above average intelligence.
This made it even more fustrating for them as they couldn’t understand why they found basic reading skills and elementary maths calculations so difficult.
This often led to withdrawn or anti-social behaviour as their frustration became too much to bear. The breakthrough came when these problems became recognised and steps were developed to deal with them.
Many people know the term dyslexia but it covers a huge area of problems. Dyslexia is usually associated with reading and spelling difficulties . As stated before, it is not caused by lack of intelligence but by the brain getting messages muddled up.
This is perhaps an oversimplification but it best describes what’s going on. There is no “cure” but “sufferers” can be taught processes to get round the problem, enabling them to read and write to a much higher level.
I almost used the word “normally” but it is a word I try to avoid when dealing with this subject. Learning difficulties affect all ages and there are numerous adults who have hidden their problem(my father) as they were embarrassed.
It is never too late to do something about them but obviously the earlier they are identified , the better. One of the highlights of my long career was when I suspected that two brothers were having these problems.
I arranged for the appropiate tests and when the results confirmed my suspicions, the change in these two young boys had to be seen to be believed. They developed self-confidence and self-esteem. They were “NOT THICK” like they believed.
It turned out their father had the same problem and he litterally worked with them and all three made fantastic progress. These problems can be genetic and passed down from parents. They are much more evident in boys than girls.
The Thai authorities have taken the first step by recognising the problem. They are creating tests to screen the children and then provide appropiate help for those who need it.
Teachers will need to be trained so that they can recognise the tell-tale signs that children have learning difficulties. It is a specialist skill and requires extensive training.
Then, the REALLY hard work begins. It is not simply a matter of taking these children out of mainstream school and “lumping” them all together. Yes, they will have to have their extra help away from the other pupils, but it is vital that they remain with their peers in mainstream school as much as possible.
They should not be identified as “different” and their classmates need to be educated about exactly what is going on. Children can be cruel but not once did I ever see a child who was being helped , made fun of by other pupils in my school.
Another MAJOR problem is the size of the classes here in Thailand. Make no mistake, this is a huge undertaking but it does give some hope to the thousands of children who are underachieving through no fault of their own.
Everyone concerned has my sincere best wishes.