Education Minister Wijit Srisa-an said yesterday he would next week tackle education complaints, student-recruitment procedures and secondary-school quotas for the children of school patrons in a bid to put a transparent system in place.

Following his latest policy that allows all secondary schools, except the 430 most popular, to admit all applicants next year, Wijit said he was now considering if the Mathayom-4 entrance exams were appropriate and would link them to university student-recruitment procedures.

Wijit said he would also make changes to allocate educational opportunities with transparency and fairness. What is unjust will be changed, he said, such as tea money for school placements, student intake via personal connections and the quota for the children of school patrons. These matters will be brought up at a meeting next week before the ministry announces new regulations.

Saying he had nothing against donations to schools, which were a good thing, Wijit said they should nonetheless not be traded for benefits. "I've no objection to school fund-raising via legal means and with clearly announced aims," he said.

Earlier, the president of the Khaniyom Sang Chat ("Promotion of Nation-building Values") Club, Amnuay Sunthornchot, wrote to the office of the Education Minister demanding the cancellation of orders that could lead to student intake via personal connections.

The 10-per-cent quota for children with special talents, many of whom are children of school patrons, should be halved this year, he said, so the school had no chance of taking in too many students, leading to crowded classes.

Preference for patrons' children is against inhumane, immoral and unconstitutional, Amnuay said, adding that he would seriously campaign against it this year and offer legal assistance for those who suffered by it.

The president of the Fellowship of Secondary School Students for Democracy, Phattaranan Limudomporn, said he agreed with the idea of scrapping the quota for the children of school patrons, as it was an easy channel for abuse on the part of school administrators.

However, he felt this should be on case-by-case basis. Parents who had a building constructed for a school should be exempt, he said.