Subsidies considered for autonomous universities

"We believe the new formula should be introduced to these universities first as a pivotal process," secretarygeneral for the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) Tossaporn Sirisampha said at a national conference yesterday.

According to him, OPDC is preparing to draft relevant regulations for the new subsidy formula in consultation with the secretarygeneral of Higher Education Commission, director of Budget Bureau, director of Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (Onesqa) as well as some legal experts.

"We will work out a fair scheme," Tossaporn said, adding that a committee would also be set up to allocate the subsidy for each university in line with the formula. Each university's performance will count in the allocation.

"We will ensure that the duties of this committee do not overlap with those of the Budget Bureau," he added.  

Tossaporn said relevant authorities would monitor the implementation of the formula at the 13 autonomous institutions for three years before deciding if the scheme should be applied to the other 67 universities as well.

"If they decide it should be done then an act will be legislated for this purpose," Tossaporn said.

Onesqa director Somwang Pitiyanuwat suggested that research universities should receive adequate funding, while Rajabhat universities get given funds to develop the local communities they were serving.

On April 28, the Cabinet approved OPCD's proposal that a subsidy be allocated to each institute based either on the seats available or on the number of students wishing to enrol.

Dhurakij Pundit University's emeritus president Dr Boonserm Weesakul said each year there was about Bt134 billion circulated in the highereducation sector.

"Of this money, about 65 per cent comes from the state coffers and the rest from students at both private and state universities," he said, adding that the government should first assess each institute's resources before going ahead with the financial restructuring.

"The Office of Higher Education Commission can lead these assessments," he said.