Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat yesterday gave permission for the directors of 12 schools near red-shirt protest sites in Bangkok to close their institutions today despite it being examination time.
However, only Sarawittaya School postponed its competitive exam for Mathayom 1 and 4 students, until tomorrow.
Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) secretary-general Chinnapat Bhumirat said the competitive examinations for these groups of students at schools in eight provinces of the central region would be held today as scheduled, and that the exam sites would not be changed.
The eight provinces are Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Nakhon Pathom, Ayutthaya and Chachoengsao.
Chinnaworn said he had also ordered the directors of Bangkok's schools to keep a close watch on the red-shirt protest today and to prepare a Plan B for the students' exams.
"If necessary, the directors can adjust their plans for holding the competitions and I told them to find other places as spare exam sites. If there are any changes, the directors have to rush to inform parents, particularly when changing the exam sites. Parents must know where the new sites are by Sunday morning," the minister said.
He urged parents to follow the ministry's declarations and the protesters' movements closely.
Obec deputy secretary-general Somkiat Chorbpol said only Sarawittaya School, which is located near the 11th Infantry Regiment where red-shirt protesters plan to rally today, had postponed its exam out of safety concerns.
Chinnapat suggested parents and students should start their journeys two hours early to avoid traffic congestion. He said each school had already coordinated with the police, requesting them to guard the students today.
