Thai children's IQ average low

[Chlp]

Not exactly recent news, but worth noting...

 

The Nation, Wed, July 19, 2006

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/07/19/headlines/headlines_30009114.php

 

[color:brown]Thai children's IQ average low[/color]

 

The average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Thai children, somewhere between 87 and 88 points, remains in the "low average" category when ranked internationally, Vice Minister for Education Watchara Phanchet said on Wednesday.

 

He said this at a seminar on how to make children smart, and cited a survey conducted in 2002 as the source of his information.

 

"We have to develop children both intellectually and physically because they are our country's future," Watchara said.

 

He was speaking to more than 800 educators, health professionals, parents and representatives of a network for disadvantaged children at the seminar held by the Mental Health Department's Rajanukul Institute.

 

The 2002 survey found that only 80 per cent of children under five years old had normal visual, muscular and touchperception development, he said. It also found that the average IQ of children between six and 12 was 87 points.

 

The average IQ for children between 13 and 18 was 88 IQ points, the study found.

 

In a 2001 survey, children from six to 12 were found to have low levels of patience, discipline, concentration and selfreliance, while those between 13 and 18 had insufficient creativity, analytical ability, conscience, problemsolving skills and emotional control.

 

Watchara said these problems were the result of parents leaving teachers in charge of their children's development. Teachers are not trained to maximise children's potential at the right age, he said.

 

"We plan to raise Thai children's [average] IQ to at least 100 by 2008," he said.

 

Mental Health Department chief ML Somchai Chakraphan said those with IQs in the 70 to 79 point range were in a borderline group as an IQ below 70 points signalled mental disability.

 

In a bid to boost children's IQ, Somchai said his department last year launched a fiveyear intellectual development plan for children in 20 provinces. "We have passed on useful knowhow to nursery and kindergarten teachers," he said.

 

Somchai said mothers could boost their children's IQ by eating nutritious food during pregnancy and stimulating their children's development at the right age.

 

"Some parents tend to carry their babies in their arms all the time out of concerns that their babies might fall and hurt themselves. That's not right. If it's time for your babies to start crawling or running, let them do so because it encourages their development," he said.

 

The Nation

[OCgringo]

"We plan to raise Thai children's [average] IQ to at least 100 by 2008," he said. "

 

and how are you going to do that in one year ????

 

 

"Somchai said mothers could boost their children's IQ by eating nutritious food during pregnancy and stimulating their children's development at the right age."

 

problem is that the mothers do not have the education to teach the kids,

 

In the USA they would blame the test , maybe the Thais can do that

 

OC

[Pescator]

Mayby a result of the all too common thai parenting which often involves the parents to have their offspring living with whoever will look after them while the fathers work as construction workers/cab drivers in bkk and the mothers work as dancing queens in PTY/BKK or abroad.

 

[Chlp]

Actually, IQ is more or less a physiological attribute that is very little affected by upbringing, education, and other factors.

 

One of the problems is that in Isaan (I don't know about other parts of Thailand) the mothers after they deliver a baby are put on a diet consisting mostly of rice soup. Little or no vegetables, little or no fruits. No milk. Very little meat. They stay on this diet for weeks and months, and often the diet is terminated only after the woman's hair starts falling out.

 

This has to have a severe impact on the baby, who is effectively being malnutritioned for the first several months of its life. Is it any wonder they are mentally retarded?

 

Thais are all aware of this, although they are very hesitant to talk to a farang about it. But every single Thai that I talked to, often only after a lot of prodding, admitted that this is a wide-spread practice.

[MooNoi]

Mayby a result of the all too common thai parenting which often involves the parents to have their offspring living with whoever will look after them while the fathers work as construction workers/cab drivers in bkk and the mothers work as dancing queens in PTY/BKK or abroad.

 

With all due respect, HN, when looking at the Thai population who are parents as a whole, the percentage of mothers who work in the BKK/PTY dancing queen industry would be quite low.

 

I don't know how you can use this relatively small socio-economic group as a basis for comment on this.

 

There are so many more Thai families who do bring up their own kids in their own home in a traditional family environment.

 

And finally, (this is not commenting at you HN, just generally), as this is a board mainly based around nightlife in LOS, it is understandable, yet annoys me that so many people here think that the lifestyles of Thais in and associated with the bar/nightlife scene are representative of the majority of Thais living in Thailand. It is NOT.

 

I realise that the only Thais most people who come to LOS for sanuk meet are involved in the P4P scene or its associated businesses - hotels, etc. Especially those who come on holidays only and don't live here. That's not really their fault.

 

But please don't think the vast majority of Thais live a lifestyle similar to what the working girls or their families so.

 

Not all Thai babies are being taken care of by a drunk-on-whiskey grandpa, parasitic grandma, both watching a big-screen TV with a brand-new pick-up that no-one can drive sitting out the front of their new house in Issan. (Yes, a generalisation, I know... just trying to make a point).

 

[Khun_Kong]

80-90: ranked dull-dull normal

[Flashermac]

<< There are so many more Thai families who do bring up their own kids in their own home in a traditional family environment. >>

 

Which means no books, no one interested in anything except the TV soaps etc. Plus the Thai teaching system is still largely by rote. I suspect the students are given the IQ tests without any preparation on how to take the test, which can make a big difference. Even so, an IQ score in the 80s at home gets one put in "special education" classes. Something is strange here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

<< Todayâ??s ranking of IQ scores was developed by Lewis Terman in 1916 as a way of categorizing intelligence levels. The ranking of typical ranges of IQ scores and what they mean are summarized below:

 

 

Over 140 - Genius or near genius

120 - 140 - Very superior intelligence

110 - 119 - Superior intelligence

90 - 109 - Normal or average intelligence

80 - 89 - Dullness

70 - 79 - Borderline deficiency

Under 70 - Definite feeble-mindedness >>

 

http://www.2h.com/iq-score-relevance.html

 

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"Which means no books, no one interested in anything except the TV soaps etc. "

 

I know

It's really infuriating.

 

I've tried taking my wife's kids to bookstores telling them they can pick any book they want. Neither chose one; not interested at all.

 

Sanuk!

 

[Flashermac]

A colleague years ago had been a Peace Corps secondary school teacher. He told me his school back then had had a fine library - with the books all under lock and key. He asked them how the students were supposed to read the books. The reply: "Oh, we don't let the students read the books!"

 

WTF???