School made us hand over money, say parents

A school in Lop Buri will face an investigation into claims it forced parents to surrender their Bt500 student uniform subsidy.

"Why doesn't the school think about our financial situation? Has it ever considered we may need that money too?" one parent said yesterday on condition of anonymity.

After she complained the school made her to sign a form stating her intention to turn over the whole amount to the school, the Lop Buri Educational Service Area I office vowed to launch a probe.

"We will have to find out the truth. If the school really does that as alleged, it has done wrong," deputy office director Chon Panichchob said.

Every parent has the right to decide whether to take the money, but if the right to this subsidy is waived, the money must go to the Education Ministry, he said.

"It's not something the school can keep," he said.

The uniform subsidy varies according to the educational level of the student - Bt500 for senior secondary, B450 for junior secondary, Bt350 for primary and Bt300 for kindergarten.

Parents can forfeit their subsidy so the money can go to small schools, of which there are about 600 in the country, most with very limited resources.

The ministry plans to allocate more funds for the development of small schools, if some parents will agree to relinquish their subsidy.

Education Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said so far 60,000-70,000 parents had foregone their subsidy.

"I believe the number will be higher," Jurin said during his working visit to Maha Vajiravudh School in Songkhla. "We will manage the money transparently."

Supawan Huekharn, whose child is in kindergarten, said that although the state grant did not fully cover the actual cost, it helped ease her financial burden.

Fifthgrader Pattinee Kongpradit was delighted that the government had started offering financial aid to all parents to buy uniforms.

"I had to wait for handmedowns from my relatives all along. But now I'm going to get brandnew clothes to wear," she said happily.