{"id":700,"date":"2012-08-13T08:03:06","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T15:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rtw4four.com\/RTW4Four\/?p=700"},"modified":"2012-08-13T08:04:16","modified_gmt":"2012-08-13T15:04:16","slug":"going-to-school-in-thailand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rtw4four.com\/RTW4Four\/2012\/08\/13\/going-to-school-in-thailand\/","title":{"rendered":"Going to School in Thailand"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Thailand constitution guarantees children a free basic education for twelve years<\/strong>. However, it is not clear that the schooling is really free. We talked with the father of a high school student (one of the drivers we used for out-of-the-area trips) and he told us that he has to pay each year for his daughter to attend a government school. In addition to government-provided schools, there are a large number of private schools that offer some or all of the instruction on English. Children are required to attend school through the ninth grade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

School days<\/strong> are officially Monday through Friday, and we also saw quite a few students at middle and high schools on Saturdays. The school year<\/strong> begins in May and ends in March. Students have a break in September.<\/p>\n

Preschool through university students wear uniforms<\/strong>.\u00a0 The color and style of the clothing usually identifies which level of schooling the student is attending: pre-school, elementary, secondary, or university.\u00a0 Preschool and kindergarten boys and girls wear red\/pink shorts and shirt with an apron over the top. Starting with first grade, the standard girl\u2019s uniform is a knee-length dark blue or black skirt and a white or light blue blouse.\u00a0 Boys wear shorts or pants that are dark blue, black, or khaki and a white shirt.<\/p>\n

In addition to the standard uniform, students in elementary through high school also have 2 or three other uniforms that they wear during each week. These other uniforms include<\/p>\n