Private
Education
At present most private schools are proprietorial schools,
with a few prestigious schools still being
denominational. The Office of the Private Education
Commission, Ministry of Education, is given
authority to supervise and subsidize private
schools.
There are two categories of private schools: general education
schools which range from kindergartens to primary
schools, secondary schools, colleges and universities;
and vocational education schools or colleges.
The Ministry of Education also classifies private
schools into two categories:
- Non-subsidized
schools are private schools that are more
prosperous and can be self-supporting. The
government does not give any subsidy, and
consequently does not control the ceiling
of the school fees which the school may charge.
- Subsidized
schools are private schools which are still
dependent on financial support from the government.
These schools can be divided into two sub-categories:
those receiving 100% subsidy and those receiving
40% subsidy of the cost per head.
The subsidized schools predominate in the country at present.
Those private schools which receive 100% subsidy
are usually connected with charity and religious
foundations, whereas the 40% subsidized types
are proprietorial. Subsidized private schools
were set up before 1974. A Cabinet decision
excluded any private school set up after 1974
from the benefit of government subsidy. The
total annual subsidy which the government grants
to private schools has been increasing from
366.7 million baht in 1977 to 4,083.8 million
in 1998.
Private education used
to have a significant role in the provision
of pre-primary, lower and upper secondary education,
and relieved the government of the burden of
educational financial resources. But the share
of private students in pre-primary and secondary
education considerably decreased while the
share of higher education students (diploma
in vocational education and bachelor’s
degree) has substantially increased. A reduction
in the role of private education has been due
to the control of tuition fees, and the expansion
of public schools in both urban and rural areas.
Since 1979, the Ministry of University Affairs has been the
co-ordinating unit between the government and
private higher institutions. The Office of
the Permanent Secretary serves as secretariat
to the Private University Committee which formulates
policy. Each private institution has its own
council which is the administrative body responsible
for the general functioning of the institution
as well as for organizing its internal administrative
structure. Private higher institutions have
formed the Association of Private Higher Education
Institutions of Thailand. This organization
seeks to create greater co-operation between
individual institutions as well as between
its members and the government.
The rapid expansion of private higher education under the
MUA is due to an increase in the social demand
for this level of education while public higher
educational institutions can absorb only a
small number of students. However, the only
financial resources of private higher institutions
come from tuition fees which are much higher
than those of public institutions. It is thus
essential for the government to provide additional
support for private institutions to promote
the role of the private sector in educational
provision and to relieve government of the
burden of educational financial resources. |
