A teaching class in the south
A teaching class in the south

The Thai government has commissioned the British Council to deliver a major primary sector teacher training programme in the South of Thailand. Following a successful pilot in 2012, the South Thailand Teacher Development Project began in earnest in April 2013.

The ongoing security situation in South Thailand has led to reduced opportunities for English teachers and learners to access high quality training and resources. This in turn has hampered pupils' achievement in English - limiting access to further education and employment opportunities.  It has also reduced the possibilities for engagement with other parts of Thailand, the ASEAN community of South East Asia and the wider world.

Through an innovative blended approach which uses traditional face-to-face training together with moderated online interaction and self-access components, over 120 English teachers from both state and Islamic sector schools will spend 240 hours over a six month period improving their own English language abilities and classroom methodology as well as their ICT skills.

The core materials for the training (British Council’s LearnEnglish Pathways, English for Teaching, Primary Essentials and Certificate in Secondary English Language Teaching) as well as the trainers will come from the British Council.  The project will take primary teachers English level from A2 to B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference and bring methodology up to a minimum standard.

The training model was designed to minimise the high costs of face-to-face training, to reach teachers living and working in areas where organising face-to-face training is difficult and to minimise the amount of time teachers will have to stay away from both their homes, their families and their schools, thus limiting disruption to school life.