Published on November 06, 2005

Careful consideration must be given to any plan for giving provinces a greater say over their schools. It stands to make or break Thailand’s education. The Thaksin Shinawatra administration, whose track record on this very crucial matter is anything but impressive, is set to make a highly important decision, whether or not to transfer responsibility for schools to local administrative organisations.

This decentralisation plan carries great political risks, but as far as our children are concerned, that’s the smallest problem; the biggest question is whether the country, its teachers and local officials are ready and equipped for the big change. The few discernible signs indicate that nobody really knows.

Will the change spawn corruption at rural levels? Will it further plunge poorer areas into deeper desperation educationwise? Will it create all sorts of corruption conspiracies between rural bodies and politicians controlling the central government? Will the money be shared, and spent to the best use on students?

Unfortunately, politics will most likely determine the final outcome. The ruling Thai Rak Thai party wzill have to pick a side in the dispute. To make things more complicated, whatever decision the government makes, it looks set to anger elements of its political base. Local organisations have lobbied for their gaining control over setting education standards, while government teachers have vowed their support for the status quo, in which the Education Ministry and central government call the shots. There are about 400,000 government teachers across the country, and most, if not all, wish to retain their status as government officials along with the attendant benefits.

The proposed transfer of responsibilities to local administrative organisations would mean a lot of changes. Several teacher groups are up in arms in an effort to make the government scrap the plan. A major rally was held last week at the Royal Plaza in a show of solidarity that was surely noted by Prime Minster Thaksin. This is in addition to petitions submitted to the government as well as to the Education Ministry.

Last year the central government invited local administrative bodies to submit requests for the transfer of some state schools under their authority, but when 335 local administrative organisations asked to take over 1,457 schools, the teachers threatened an uprising. The transfer of power would allow the local administrative bodies to gain control of the schools and teachers, not to mention rights to a sizeable education budget. Local administrative organisations are now accusing the government of insincerity regarding decentralisation. And they have won a significant legal battle. TamboPoles are becoming pleasantly surprised to find that time is on their side. Poland appears well-placed to maximise the benefits and minimise the costs of EU integration, provided that politicians do the right thing by staying the course towards deeper EU integration while constantly improving Poland’s competitiveness.n Huadong Administrative Organisation in Phichit took the case to a provincial administrative court, which ruled in its favour.

While the idea of decentralisation is good, the change will pit teachers who consider themselves relatively better educated and sophisticated against local politicians, whose vested interests could mess up what should be the simplest goal, getting the best possible education to the children in the villages. The Cabinet duly announced in August this year that the transfer plan could go ahead, but a compromise was proposed last month, which would allow each provincial administrative organisation to take over no more than five schools from the Education Ministry, while experienced municipalities could manage three. Municipal organisations deemed inexperienced would be limited to controlling just one school.

But once again the teachers’ groups balked furiously, and the decentralisation plan was further changed. It was decided a few days ago that the Education Ministry would next year transfer only small and substandard schools to local administrative bodies, as a pilot project. One would think this would satisfy the belligerent teachers, but National Teachers’ Union president Mana Sudsa-nguan said last week his group would demand an amendment of the Decentralisation Act to remove the clause that covers the transfer of educational services.

The government, instead of spending time and budget on those who matter, is having to ponder political consequences. The Thai education system, lagging alarmingly behind in rural areas, will have to wait for things to settle so it can get itself started anew.

Post your comment to this story here