The Education Ministry plans to revive the One District, One Scholarship (Odos) project to offer international education to underprivileged students with a solid academic record to help develop their communities.
Newly-appointed Deputy Education Minister Panadda Diskul said he would approve the fifth phase of the scholarship programme, but some criteria must be adjusted to ensure only needy students benefit.
ML Panadda said the revised criteria will focus on supporting students to pursue their studies in vocational fields which the country needs.
Launched by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration in 2004, the Odos project aimed to provide opportunities to high school graduates from poor families in each district nationwide to further their education abroad.
The source of funds to sponsor students in the first and second phases was the 2- and 3-digit lottery, known as the "above-ground lottery", introduced by the same administration.
Students needed to come from families that earned less than 100,000 baht a year and have a grade point average of 3.0 in the previous five semesters of their secondary schooling.
But participants had to study in non-English speaking countries such as France, Japan, Germany and China.
However, the scheme was scrapped by the Surayud Chulanont administration after the second round of scholarships were granted when the lottery, the source of funds, was itself cancelled.
"We decide what and where students study so we can ensure the budget is well spent," he said.
In previous rounds, only 1% of scholarship recipients chose to study in vocational fields, so the ministry might set a target to increase that to 10%, ML Panadda added.
ML Panadda said the ministry may also change other regulations. They may require applicants to genuinely live and study in the district where they apply for a scholarship, and return to serve the government.
The Education Ministry also will provide adequate language skills for recipients before sending them to study overseas, to cut the number of scholarship recipients returning early from abroad.
The Odos programme was criticised in its early days because, of the 740 students of the first phase to study abroad, 113 returned prematurely to Thailand as they could not adapt to life overseas.
In Germany 20 students returned to study in Thailand, and one 17-year-old student committed suicide due to stress and pressure.
The scheme was revived again by the Yingluck Shinawatra government, but amended so the scholarships could be awarded to anyone, regardless of their socio-economic background.
This time, recipients had the right to select the countries or fields of study, including in English speaking countries, but still were not obliged to pay back the scholarship or work for the government.
The widened criteria were again criticised on the basis they might be misapplied, as the scheme was originally intended to help academically gifted students from poor families, not the children of the wealthy or influential members of high society.