Posts

MOE at KSTVS

An interview with Koh Samui Language School

Founder and Director, Dave Belcher, talks about Koh Samui, schools, and ED visas

 

“When did you first open the school?”

 

We opened the school in 2003 in Chaweng, Koh Samui. We were working in Samui’s first international school. We opened a Saturday school for children and ran summer camps for 2 years. We ran children’s classes on Saturdays and on week days. At that time there was no other international school or foreign language programmes in Samui. These classes were very popular. Particularly with children studying at the government schools in Samui, for example St Joseph’s and Tipparat.

 

“Where did you run these classes?”

 

Originally we used the classrooms and campus at Bencaja school in Chaweng. We used the classrooms on Saturdays and after school on week days. We built up a base of children and return students during this time.

 

“What was your next step?”

 

In 2005 we rented a building in Maenam and opened the school where it still is today.  We applied for and received Ministry of Education licenses to teach both Thai and English language curriculums.

 

“What is the most important demand, ED visas or education?”

 

Well, there is a demand in Samui for language lessons. Especially for foreigners, for example Italians, German, and French people. But the most popular thing is to get an education visa and study at the same time. So I would say that most people who come to the school are looking for an education visa and then they choose to learn Thai or English. Of these, English is probably the most popular especially with the Russian community. The majority of our students are Russian, as Russian people seem to want to learn English more than other nationalities and are most interested in an education visa.

 

“How important is the quality of education on Samui?”

 

Education visas are a great way to stay in Thailand over the long term, up to one year and then longer than one year. An Education visa is easier, less hassle, and better than tourist visas over the long term. The quality of language lessons to support education visas is important. Of course when people spend their money to come and learn they are looking for the best quality classes and teachers they can find. Since there are a number of language schools in Samui which offer classes and education visas, it is important to provide the highest standards, the best course, the best teachers, and the best facilities.

 

“How do you find teachers? How often do they change? How do you assess their suitability for the job?”

 

Firstly, we advertise for positions on websites for example ajarn.com. We find teachers who want to come to Thailand or that are already in Thailand, for example in Bangkok, and would be interested in coming to Samui. Secondly, by word of mouth; a lot of people write us emails or call us or come into the school because they heard from other people that we hire teachers. We have a good reputation and people know that we are a good school to work for.

 

Teachers do change quite a lot, it is the nature of the island that most people do not live here for a long time or permanently. Most people will stay here 6 months to one year, possibly a little longer. The nature of teachers who come to Thailand is that they want to move around and travel and see the world and different places. So it is a challenge to get teachers to stay. We have been fortunate and had a few teachers who have stayed long term, for example 2 to 3 years is not uncommon. But it is a challenge and we have to address it by trying to make a good team and a good working environment and paying a competitive salary. For example our Headteacher for corporate lessons has already been with us 3 years. In the past we were lucky to have a teacher called Rose who also stayed with us 2 or 3 years, and several teachers before that also stayed more than 3 years.

 

We always hire native speakers, even though they are more expensive, so most of our teachers come from the UK, USA, South Africa, and Canada. We look for people with degrees and qualifications in education; the best is a degree in linguistics or a diploma in teaching English as a second language, or another kind of degree in education. But other than that we also always look for a recognized TEFL certificate, for example Cambridge Certificate of English Language teaching to adults is the best in the world, or something of similar quality. At the moment we are lucky enough to have a Headteacher who has a degree in education.

 

“Who are your students? Why does someone want to come to learn English in Thailand?”

 

As mentioned most of our students are Europeans and Russians. I think that most people want to study English in Thailand because they want to live in a beautiful tropical island with a great lifestyle and beautiful place to live. And after that it’s a good opportunity to learn English or Thai. The prices here are very competitive and much cheaper than back home in Europe or Russia. And obtaining an education visa and studying is a very convenient way to stay in Thailand.

 

“There are 8 language schools on Samui, why someone should come to KSTVS? What are you doing to improve your school and ensure you are the best school available?”

 

We were the first school here, of course, but that does not mean that we don’t try to keep ahead of the competition and continually improve. We have the most experience and the best reputation. We’ve been here the longest and the reason for that is we’ve always been successful in supplying high quality language courses that customers are interested in. We are always looking to reinvest our profit in hiring better teachers and staff to improve the quality of our classes. We invest in our classrooms and resources, for example this year we have invested in projectors and tablets for providing eteaching material in the classroom, using a DVD version of our textbooks. We are now delivering lessons using an interactive format. In addition we are embracing technology by buying Active Teach student packages from the publisher Longmans, so that our students can complete workbook assignments online in their own time. We also invest a lot in our textbooks and research them carefully to ensure we get the best available. Our Thai text books come from England and are probably the best Thai text books you can find anywhere in the world. Our English textbooks are either Cutting Edge or New English File by Oxford University Press and Speak Out which we use for our conversation classes. In addition, we try to keep prices low and competitive as we believe it is better to have a wide range of students and a large body of students who are happy with the service and the value they receive than to charge people a lot of money and have unhappy customers.

 

“Do you have any plans for the future?”

 

Yes, we want to make online classes that would use the Longmans Active Teach online material and Microsoft learning tools like OneNote class notebooks. This would allow students to have an online tutor, use the same material, but study remotely from home and still have their work graded and reviewed by a teacher.

We would also like to arrange live internet sessions with the teacher using Skype and stream our classes live on the net for people to watch remotely.

We are planning to open a school in Krabi and Phuket, and possibly another branch here on Samui, perhaps in the south of the island in Lamai.

In the corporate world of teaching, we are working on our hospitality and hotels programs, which we are currently turning into e-learning material; both blended solutions for the classroom and apps that students can use by themselves if they are working in hotels.

Finally, we want to start Chinese classes in the school with ED visas.

 

Do you want to know more? Send us an email, phone us, or visit us in our office. We are always happy to answer your questions.

Update visa news

As everybody knows, visa requirements, rules and procedures keep changing. Therefore we would like to give you an update about the new requirements for the ED visa. The Thai ministry of education is requesting a criminal background check for new students and students getting a second-year ED visa. So, if you are a new student or applying for a new year this only applies to you.
The good news is that for most nationalities you can obtain this National Police Certificate online. When this is not possible for your nationality you must apply to the consular section of the nearest embassy of your country. So for example, if you are French you can obtain the police certificate online, but if you are Russian you have to visit the nearest Russian embassy.

 

Please find the websites below for nationalities that can apply online. 

Citizens of the United Kingdom
https://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

Citizens of France
https://www.cjn.justice.gouv.fr/cjn/b3/EJE20c 

Citizens of Germany
https://www.bundesjustizamt.de/EN/Home/homepage_node.html 

Citizens of Switzerland
https://www.bj.admin.ch/bj/en/home/publiservice/service/strafregister.html 

 

Please find the information for Russian citizens below. 

To obtain the Police Clearance Certificate the following documents are required.

* Copy of the main page of your current valid passport
* Copy of the main pages as well as registration pages of your domestic passport (for Russian Citizens only)
* Exact place of birth
* Previous names (in case you have changed them)
* Present citizenship
* Periods and places of stay while in Russia (for the citizens of other countries and Russian citizens without registration in Russia)

image

Latest visa news!

We would like to inform you about the new requirement for the ED visa. The Thai ministry of education is requesting a criminal background check for new students and students getting a second year ED visa. So if you are a new student or applying for a new year this only applies to you. The good news is that KSTVS can help you with this application and can get it for you in Koh Samui at the same time as applying for your other documents. If you already have this check, then we can translate it into Thai for you for free.

New rules are once again being rolled out through as immigration offices begin to impose a 90 day max extension to education visa, now while to most education visa holders this will be nothing new, there are immigration offices which have been known to give more, those offices are now under the watchful eye of the ‘clean-up force’.

Another aspect of this change is simply once you have been in Thailand for 1 year, since your first entry. You must leave, and then re-apply for an education visa. No matter what you used to do, you can now only have a maximum of 1 year in Thailand, from your first entry date.

While this isn’t a massive problem for most education visa holders, it does put you under the scrutiny of the border immigration officers, who have the power to refuse anyone entry, even if you have a valid visa, simply because they have suspicions you are not here using the correct visa. All fair I know, but unfortunately innocents get caught up along the way, and some perfectly legitimate students can be turned away from Thailand, playing havoc on their near future.

Finally the 8 hour a week study quota is being approved as I type, making students have to study for 8 hours a week, not the traditional 4 hours students have been used to up till now. This extra 8 hours, while not confirmed if you can have your lesson spread over 2 or 4 days, will for sure increase all fees for standards courses, simply due to the higher teacher hours, classroom hours, and increased course material necessary.

Original Source:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/750734-the-new-extension-rules-for-people-studying/