‘PAYBACK’ TO VOTERS: PM kicks off new season of giving

Published on February 10, 2005

Scholarship fund to get more proceeds from a special lottery, new type of loans planned for university students

Buoyed by massive popular endorsement of his controversial policy platform, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has wasted no time in picking up where he left off, with scholarship funds set to get a big boost.

His new government is going to boost scholarships funded by a special state lottery and set up an agency to deal specifically with student loans, Cabinet members familiar with the plans said yesterday.

The scholarships would be raised to Bt6-7 billion, up from Bt5.3 billion at present.

“This money will go to poor children for educational purposes,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang after emerging from a meeting on the matter at Government House.

He said the scholarships, funded by proceeds from a special lottery modelled on the popular underground numbers game, would be distributed for at least three more years, with more than 400,000 needy students expected to benefit.

The special lottery has generated about Bt500 million a month, or Bt6 billion a year.

Chaturon said yesterday the government project to distribute one scholarship to students from each district for overseas studies would be halted next year to allow an assessment of its success.

At yesterday’s meeting, Cha-turon discussed the education plans with Thaksin, Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, Energy Minister Prommin Lert-suridej, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan, and other government figures.

Chaturon said the meeting also discussed setting up a fund to provide interest-free loans for students, involving at least Bt50 billion in an initial stage.

The plan for the so-called Income Contingent Loans (ICL) will be among government policies to be announced before Parliament prior to the new administration assuming office, he said.

Chaturon said he expected the new loans to be in place at the start of the 2006 academic year. Before that, legislation on setting up the ICL fund would be presented to Parliament for deliberation, he said.

Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Rattanakorn said yesterday that income contingent loans would be specifically for university students. The borrowers can start repaying their debts after they graduate and get a job, he said.

The rate of repayment for these loans will be based on the income students earn after graduating.

Chaturon said the meeting agreed to establish an agency to oversee ICLs, as proposed by the Commission of Higher Education.

But the new loans are unlikely to satisfy many people who prefer free education. An Abac Poll conducted after Sunday’s general election found that more than 89 per cent of respondents wanted free education from kindergarten to university.

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