Don Bosco school

[boes]

I have been looking for some up to date info about Don Bosco School but unfortunately not succeeded. All info on the map seems to be back from 2006....
We have 2 kids looking for school 9 and 10 yo.
Their website is in Thai only.
What are the criterias for entering ?
Annual fees ?
Admission tests ?
Drop out rates ?
"hidden costs"
Thanks for any serious replies / Boes

[Doodoo]

Another thing to ask is "How is the traffic for dropping off and picking up my children each day?"

[samuel]

Another thing to ask is "How is the traffic for dropping off and picking up my children each day?"

right question man.
at don bosco (nong sim) a daily nightmare for all involved.

[Drunk Monkey]

I have been looking for some up to date info about Don Bosco School but unfortunately not succeeded. All info on the map seems to be back from 2006....
We have 2 kids looking for school 9 and 10 yo.
Their website is in Thai only.
What are the criterias for entering ?
Annual fees ?
Admission tests ?
Drop out rates ?
"hidden costs"
Thanks for any serious replies / Boes

10 years ago i visited Don Bosco school to find out the same criteria your refering to , this was then for my son who was 7 yrs old , non of my direct questions were answered sufficiently by a guy in an office NOT THE DIRECTOR , i was given a form to fill out and it was pointed out that i could fill in this form to get my son on a waiting list as all places were at that time full ... i was then told to go to the last section on the form which basically said .. are you willing to make a money donation to the school if so how much .. TO GET ON A WAITING LIST ?? or simply the larger the donation the easier n quicker the route into the school would become .. i declined and walked out in disgust .

The traffic is horrendous BTW.

[stattointhailand]

There are already threads with comments on the forum just type Don Bosco into the search option and get 16 pages worth of comments. There appears to be a varied selection, with some giving good points, whilst others tell of being asked to pay B50,000 to continue to the next year after seemingly failing an end of year exam.

[Newmy]

I have been looking for some up to date info about Don Bosco School but unfortunately not succeeded. All info on the map seems to be back from 2006....
We have 2 kids looking for school 9 and 10 yo.
Their website is in Thai only.
What are the criterias for entering ?
Annual fees ?
Admission tests ?
Drop out rates ?
"hidden costs"
Thanks for any serious replies / Boes

10 years ago i visited Don Bosco school to find out the same criteria your refering to , this was then for my son who was 7 yrs old , non of my direct questions were answered sufficiently by a guy in an office NOT THE DIRECTOR , i was given a form to fill out and it was pointed out that i could fill in this form to get my son on a waiting list as all places were at that time full ... i was then told to go to the last section on the form which basically said .. are you willing to make a money donation to the school if so how much .. TO GET ON A WAITING LIST ?? or simply the larger the donation the easier n quicker the route into the school would become .. i declined and walked out in disgust .

The traffic is horrendous BTW.

Where did you end up sending him to school then?

[Brian Davis]

. are you willing to make a money donation to the school if so how much .. TO GET ON A WAITING LIST ?? or simply the larger the donation the easier n quicker the route into the school would become .. i declined and walked out in disgust .

Good for you, DM. I'd hope to do the same and teach my son to resist such in his life - on the basis that any school doing that, isn't worth getting into anyway. Perhaps I'm being naive in Thailand? Cutting one's own throat? I'd actually value a school which put the applicants who answered 'no' top of the pile, but dream on. Of course, is the donation improving school facilities, or the Director's bank account?

[rct]

My two two children were in Don Bosco Primary school for five years. In general I liked the culture and the people, and did not find the traffic all that bothersome (was traffic for sure, but kept things moving) , timed my afternoon arrivals accordingly in order to get parking. Usually our kids learned "extra" after school so this probably eased the parking issue.

The main negative to me, was the large class sizes that could be 40-50 students in one room. Kids had lots of friends!

[vincemunday]

We have some Thai friends who have sent both of their girls to DB, both of them are doing incredibly well in their studies and I’ve never heard them complain about any aspect of the school, in fact it’s quite the opposite, they constantly praise it, maybe they’re just lucky.

[stattointhailand]

We have some Thai friends who have sent both of their girls to DB, both of them are doing incredibly well in their studies and I’ve never heard them complain about any aspect of the school, in fact it’s quite the opposite, they constantly praise it, maybe they’re just lucky.

You WONT here them complain either vince? Talk about losing "face"

[vincemunday]

Yeah I see where you’re coming from Stats but they had already sent one girl there for 4 years or so, would they still have sent the second one there after if it had been rubbish? They’re not worried about big face, they own the steelworks on the ring road after Tesco’s so they’ve got a few bob. DM knows them too, Fon and Lee, they used to drink in the Tap with him from time to time, their lives completely revolve around the girls and wouldn’t go second best by choice.

[Drunk Monkey]

I cannot so will not comment on DB school from an academic point of view as obviously we made another choice years back

i CAN however comment honestly and accurately on my own experiences whilst in the school office and the donation issue that arose and on the traffic as i had a business and lived a few hundred meters away.

DM

[Drunk Monkey]

I have been looking for some up to date info about Don Bosco School but unfortunately not succeeded. All info on the map seems to be back from 2006....
We have 2 kids looking for school 9 and 10 yo.
Their website is in Thai only.
What are the criterias for entering ?
Annual fees ?
Admission tests ?
Drop out rates ?
"hidden costs"
Thanks for any serious replies / Boes

10 years ago i visited Don Bosco school to find out the same criteria your refering to , this was then for my son who was 7 yrs old , non of my direct questions were answered sufficiently by a guy in an office NOT THE DIRECTOR , i was given a form to fill out and it was pointed out that i could fill in this form to get my son on a waiting list as all places were at that time full ... i was then told to go to the last section on the form which basically said .. are you willing to make a money donation to the school if so how much .. TO GET ON A WAITING LIST ?? or simply the larger the donation the easier n quicker the route into the school would become .. i declined and walked out in disgust .

The traffic is horrendous BTW.

Where did you end up sending him to school then?

Udon Christain school

Statts ..who lost face ????

[tamada]

I don't think that a +10 year-old DB experience has much relevance these days. Our experience never got past even being short-listed as we were told pretty much up-front that the intake in 2011 was oversubscribed. There wasn't any request for an extra 'consideration'. However, much more recently, an acquaintance of Mrs tam who already has children at DB has advised of having a close friendship with 'the owner' and if we wished to enroll our lad now, it would be a mere formality. This also goes hand-in-hand with their known policy of prioritizing enrollments of the siblings of students already attending DB.

Unless someone can post about a much more recent enrollment experience, this may have more value for the OP. But it is only valid if like DM or myself, the respondent personally attended the entire application and enrollment procedure and knows exactly what was discussed, how much was asked to be paid and for what.

DB is arguably the only school in Udon that retains the social cache of Thai parents being able to say, "My kids go to DB." I am pretty sure that like in all schools, some pupils will do better than others regardless of class size and having many friends but once again, only the parent that is actively involved in following the child's progress and the annual fees paid can realistically comment on how appropriate the school is for someone else's kids.

Besides the lamentable DB drop-off and pick-up situation; which really isn't the school's fault, if someone can also pass comment on recent class sizes and also the skills and nationality of the teaching staff and how many teachers per class. Regrettably, a web presence is something that even universities tend to ignore in LOS so regardless if relevant information does appear here, the only way for the OP to get the facts is make a list of questions, make an appointment and when there, ask more questions, take notes and ask to see a 'class in action'.

Good luck.

[12345]

My daughter graduated from DB (2017), after transferring over from St Mary's. She applied herself to the studies, with a wee bit of extra, almost mandatory.

She had her choice of any Uni after graduation, and chose Thammasat Uni, ranked top 5 ish in Thailand, and doing quite well there. Had test scores good enough for Chula and another, both ranked #1, depending which ranking you looked at.

DB has a deal with KKU, another top rated Uni, for so many students a year to be admitted.

Expect about >20k per semester, all in.

AND ......... NEVER A MENTION OF TEA MONEY / DONATION, for position on waiting list. Traffic is traffic, if you go when everyone else goes, you'll be in rush hour. Timing, is everything, everywhere, and never a problem to/from, when leaving house when supposed to. Same as above, extra classes helped with later pickup, less traffic.

[Drunk Monkey]

I don't think that a +10 year-old DB experience has much relevance these days. Our experience never got past even being short-listed as we were told pretty much up-front that the intake in 2011 was oversubscribed. There wasn't any request for an extra 'consideration'. However, much more recently, an acquaintance of Mrs tam who already has children at DB has advised of having a close friendship with 'the owner' and if we wished to enroll our lad now, it would be a mere formality. This also goes hand-in-hand with their known policy of prioritizing enrollments of the siblings of students already attending DB.

Unless someone can post about a much more recent enrollment experience, this may have more value for the OP. But it is only valid if like DM or myself, the respondent personally attended the entire application and enrollment procedure and knows exactly what was discussed, how much was asked to be paid and for what.

DB is arguably the only school in Udon that retains the social cache of Thai parents being able to say, "My kids go to DB." I am pretty sure that like in all schools, some pupils will do better than others regardless of class size and having many friends but once again, only the parent that is actively involved in following the child's progress and the annual fees paid can realistically comment on how appropriate the school is for someone else's kids.

Besides the lamentable DB drop-off and pick-up situation; which really isn't the school's fault, if someone can also pass comment on recent class sizes and also the skills and nationality of the teaching staff and how many teachers per class. Regrettably, a web presence is something that even universities tend to ignore in LOS so regardless if relevant information does appear here, the only way for the OP to get the facts is make a list of questions, make an appointment and when there, ask more questions, take notes and ask to see a 'class in action'.

Good luck.

Good post Tam

I am happy for all parents with kids at DB who are having great academic experiences ..

As i said i can only comment on my actual experience ref enrollment , payments etc 10 years back , im sure things have indeed changed since . I do know a government employee here who donated 50k to get his son in DB ..his choice of course...for me simply not an option and IMO the school is full line is used to receive donations then hey presto a place can be found depending on the size of the donation (bribe) .... or of course you know or are a friend of the owner as in Tams post ..... to add

I took a Thai friend with me 10 years ago ( a teacher) when i asked her what the donation amount should be he said up to you some people give 5k some 10k some more , it was rumoured there was a 1mil donation that went towards the new sports hall .
So cash in an envelope without a receipt not knowing where it was going , this to get my son ON A WAITING LIST with a chance of a place NOT GUARANTEED .. NO THANK YOU VERY MUCH i was just setting up a business here and could not afford to throw money away like that ...

Talk about losing ""face"" .. so refusing to pay a bribe , coruption , oiling the wheels , under the table call it what you wish is considered losing face .. i know it will never go away as its embedded in all walks of life here some choose to pay some dont ..suffice to say my principals simply said no and i chose to keep my money in my pocket n move on .

DM

[stattointhailand]

DM my reply to vince was re his Thai friends .....and also my Thai neighbours, many of whom make a thing of telling friends/family and anyone else who will listen that their kids go to DB the most expensive school, and therefore would never let any faults or problems get in their way of "gloating"

[Drunk Monkey]

DM my reply to vince was re his Thai friends .....and also my Thai neighbours, many of whom make a thing of telling friends/family and anyone else who will listen that their kids go to DB the most expensive school, and therefore would never let any faults or problems get in their way of "gloating"

Khao jai lao krap... i just couldnt work out how not paying a bribe was a loss of face i realise Thais go out their way to tell others they have bla bala bala

It helped being from the Jewish quarter of Scunthorpe i never wavered ..i was so close to donating several mils of Baht for a new school wing ..or Merc for the director .. at the last mo i changed my mind n thought dam i could buy SUFC for that and get change ... ref DB do you remember Adrian aka Alien the English teacher , nice bloke i liked him but enjoyed a few too many shandys in his spare time .... i think he got deported but might be wrong .

[mortsyn]

I have two kids in Don Bosco. Both started in Kindergarten at the age of 3. Today they are in grade 1 and grade 4. The used to be in the EPS program, basically Thai classes but extra English, Science and Math, up to 40 kids/class. The fee was around 17,000bath/semester including lunch, excluding books and uniform. This year they started in the new English Program (EP) where all education in English, except Thai and Chinese, with foreign teachers even in PE. The classes are max 30 students. The fee is 35,000bath/semester including books, lunch for grade 1-3, excluding uniforms. The young english PE teachers runs a soccer-class a few times a week (we pay 500bath/month) for the 4th graders. So far I am very happy with the EP program.

[boes]

Thanks Mortsyn !!
Exactly the info i've been waiting for.. thanks again !
More info is very welcome...