Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
The Education Ministry recently found 1.58 million online ads for homework help and services which it believes could harm the country’s education system.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more the ministry’s response to this discovery.
The ministry believes that the ballooning of the homework help industry is a result of too much difficult homework being given to students. This will see more students passing off their school work for other people to do, damaging their education as a result.
AFTER-SCHOOL SERVICE
A search online by ministry officials discovered a total of 1,580,000 listings on websites, blogs, Facebook and Instagram advertising homework services, permanent secretary for education Suthasri Wongsamarn said on September 1. Suthasri said that the ministry is looking at ways to regulate these services.
“These services can weaken young people’s ability to acquire knowledge and undermine the education system,” Suthasri said. “This in turn could have a detrimental effect on the workforce and damage national security.”
MINISTRY ACTION
The ministry will forward the listings to the Information and Communication Technology Ministry to help block them. If any advertisers are teachers, they will face disciplinary action, Suthasri said.
“Teachers are being urged to make sure students receive the right amount of homework, that it is not overly taxing for them and that it is handwritten, rather than typed,” Suthasri added.
SMARTER STUDY
Kamol Rodklai, secretary-general of the Office of the Basic Education Commission, recently asked teachers to encourage study groups and projects instead of giving out individual homework.
“Study groups or project work allows kids to work more as a team and exchange opinions, which is more in line with real life situations,” he said. “Homework is good for kids as it allows them to revise what they have learned in class and train their minds.”
However, Kamol added that students should not be overburdened or given homework that is too difficult, making them feel they have to hire others to do it for them.
“Personally, I think that students should spend only an hour a day on homework.”
Exercises
Read the story. Then, specify whether each of the following words is used in the story as an adverb, verb or adjective.
1. exchange ………………
2. personally ………………
3. individual ………………
4. handwritten ………………
Vocabulary
- balloon (v): to suddenly get bigger
detrimental (n): harmful
disciplinary (adj): connected with the punishment of people who break rules
taxing (adj): needing a great amount of physical or mental effort
overburden (v): to give somebody more work, worry, etc. than they can deal with
