Graft taints success of Thai students

Graft taints success of Thai students

The Ministry of Education has come under the spotlight over corruption claims

A senior adviser is currently chasing 50 separate corruption cases within the most heavily funded ministry in government. (Photo via Google Streetview)
A senior adviser is currently chasing 50 separate corruption cases within the most heavily funded ministry in government. (Photo via Google Streetview)

The effort to root out corruption problems inside the Ministry of Education is making headway despite facing headwinds, says Lt Gen Kosol Prathumchart, an adviser to Education Minister who is now dealing with more than 50 graft cases in the ministry.

For many years, governments have spent about 20% of national budget or 4% of GDP on education, which is a substantial portion of money. However, but various educational tests and rankings have proven the money has failed to improve the quality of the country's schools.

Based on national and international tests in recent years, most Thai students' scores were low and the situation has yet to improve.

InquiryLines, published bi-weekly on Mondays is a Bangkok Post column to present in-depth details of a range of issues from politics and social interest to eye-catching everyday lives.

"The country already commits the needed funds to improve the quality of education nationwide, but the problem is that not all the money has reached schools and students in need. Huge amounts of money has been lost due to corruption each year," Lt Gen Kosol told the Bangkok Post in an interview.

Realising this deep-rooted problem, the Education Ministry under the leadership of the current minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin has announced its intention to clean up its own nest and take actions against anyone daring to embezzle children's money.

In late 2016, Dr Teerakiat invited Lt Gen Kosol, then commanding general of the 33rd Military Circle in Chiang Mai, as soon as he was named education minister, asking the general to help him root out the corruption problem.

"I had met minister Teerakiat only one time when he visited his brother in Chiang Mai before he asked me to work as an adviser to him. I asked him why he chose me. He replied that he needs a virtuous person who is intolerant of corruption and he knew I'm the right guy, so I accepted his invitation," Lt Gen Kosol said.

Lt Gen Kosol said he has, since then, been assigned to do two jobs at the ministry. One is to bust graft, while another is to receive petitions from petitioners and look into the matters to give them justice.

The Education Ministry's graft buster said battling against corruption inside the ministry is an uphill task because corrupt people work in networks which consist of high-ranking officials, low-ranking officials and sometimes private companies.

"There are different types of corruption inside the ministry, but the form we found most often is known as 'top-down corruption' in which corruption decisions are made by high-ranking officials. At first, they might create unnecessary projects and request a budget to buy equipment, even though many schools insisted they did not really want it," he said.

Kosol: Looking for justice

Lt Gen Kosol said school directors and teachers are forced to go along with these corrupt networks because they are scared to blow the whistle as high-ranking officials might be involved.

When irregularities are detected at educational agencies, the ministry will conduct "bottom-up investigation" which the process will begin at directors of Educational Service Area Officers and have to pass on through several higher ranking officers before ending up at the ministry, Lt Gen Kosol said.

"The investigation process will take a lot of time and if one or many of investigators are part of the corrupt network, they will try to help each other or delay the progress of as long as they can. Many corruption cases at the education ministry have been probed for over five years and the results still cannot be concluded," he said.

In order to better fight corruption, the National Council for Peace and Order has recently created new anti-graft guidelines which require agencies to act quickly on corruption complaints.

Under the new guidelines, upon receiving or hearing corruption complaints, the chief of a relevant agency must launch a probe within seven days and the probe must also conclude within 30 days.

Moreover, if preliminary information showed evidence of corruption, an agency chief must transfer accused officials. The transfer can be made within the same agency or ministry, if the alleged offences are not serious.

The guidelines required that accused officials be transferred to another agency at least on a temporary basis if charges were serious.

According to the guidelines, the chief of a government agency must also take immediate disciplinary action against accused officials if an investigation finds evidence of wrongdoing.

"This rule has made my job to crack down on the corrupt network inside the ministry easier as it also provides protection to whistleblowers. More and more people now are less afraid to file complaints and dare to stand up against the wrongdoers. A lot of useful information and evidence has been sent to me directly. I think we are going in the right direction," Lt Gen Kosol said.

Since March this year, many accused officials in several corruption cases have been moved out from their positions and some have been fired when the probe concluded they are guilty, he added.

"Corruption in the education system and schools is not acceptable as it is not only a matter of enriching oneself by siphoning money meant for public causes, but it's a crime damaging the lives of the future generation of the nation," Lt Gen Kosol said.

The graft buster said at present there are more than 50 graft cases he is still working on. Some of the big cases include the construction of Songkhla Lake aquaculture research centre, dubbed Hoi Sang (conch) aquarium; the CCTV camera procurement scandal for schools in the three southernmost provinces and four districts in Songkhla province; the construction of multi-purpose field roofs for 11 schools in southern provinces and the irregularities in the procurement of educational supplies at a school in Nakhon Ratchasima.

"I will do my best to make all wrongdoers in all cases accountable for what they did. Corruption in the education system and schools is absolutely unacceptable as it is not only a matter of enriching oneself by siphoning money meant for public causes, but it a crime damaging the lives of the future generation of the nation," he said.

When asked whether he's worried all his efforts would be a waste after the military government steps down, Lt Gen Kosol said he realised anti-corruption fight is a marathon, not a sprint, but he believes corruption in the education system can be eased rapidly if virtuous people are placed in management positions.

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