Chronic lack of places keeps 10,000 kids out city high schools
City administrators and education bosses signed an agreement yesterday aimed at resolving the chronic shortage of seats for Year Seven students in Bangkok schools.
The deal, signed by Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin and Education Minister Wijit Srisa-an on behalf of the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC), will be considered by the Cabinet next Tuesday. It is expected to be approved shortly after and become a master plan for long-term education management across the country. In the long term, the BMA-run schools will boost the number of classes to accommodate students from the 7th to 9th grades, while the OBEC will focus on students in 10th to 12th grades, according to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed yesterday. Government and BMA-run schools have run out of seats to accommodate graduates of Grade 6 - the highest level of primary education - who wish to go on to upper high-school level. There are now around 10,000 Grade 6 graduates awaiting for places. They would need to be packed into existing classes - which would boost class numbers from the current 40-45 students to 50-60 - with the remainder needing to study at more expensive private schools. Under the MOU, the ministry will focus mainly on expanding upper high-school education, while the BMA will deal with compulsory levels - Grades 1 to 9. Currently, the OBEC runs 255 schools in Bangkok. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, meanwhile, runs 435 schools, 359 of which are primary schools for Grades 1 to 6. A further 71 teach children from Grade 1 to 9 and another five teach just Grades 10 to 12. Under the deal, privately run schools will be subsidised to expand their class and teaching capacity to accommodate up to 25 per cent of 6th grade graduates, up from the current 18 per cent, the minister explained. The OBEC needs around Bt1 billion to expand several projects to accommodate all Year 6 graduates in Bangkok. This includes building three new 2,000-seat schools - each costing around Bt200 million - next year. OBEC secretary-general Khunying Kasama Worrawan na Ayutthaya said the MOU terms include long-term evaluations of joint BMA-OBEC cooperation and planning to locate sites for new schools to accommodate all students living nearby.
Supinda na Mahachai The Nation
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