The scholarships were previous funded by income from the two- and three-digit lotteries.

But the government lotteries will no longer be able to directly fund scholarships.

Profit from ticket sales will now go to consolidated revenue and be allocated in the annual budget.

The two- and three-digit lotteries has been suspended until January 1 pending legal amendments on how its income is managed.

The Thaksin Shinawatra government launched the lotteries three years ago. It directed profits in many directions, including the scholarships and other initiatives.

Last week, the Council of State recommended changes after finding practices of the past three years breached the Government Lottery Office Act.

The move prompted concern existing scholarship winners might lose financial support.

But Education Minister Wijit Srisaarn announced yesterday: "We will ensure scholarship recipients suffer no adverse impact."

He declined to say if future scholarships would be awarded.

In a related development, a Govern-ment House source said yesterday the Education Ministry would seek a huge increase in subsidies for schools. The subsidies help schools provide services without collecting fees from students.

According to the source, the ministry will ask the Cabinet to consider two alternatives.

The first required Bt14.7 billion for the second term of this academic year and the first of next year.

The other alternative required Bt7.61 billion for the rest of this school year and the first half of 2007, plus an additional Bt14.7 billion for the subsequent two semesters. This money covered extra subsidies for small schools.