Recent stories about teacher and student loan defaults have shed light on a crisis of integrity within our education system.
As long as we cannot support those within the education system, where future generations are nurtured, Thailand will be unable to be progress from a medium-income country to a highincome one.
Last month, a group of teachers in Maha Sarakham province who borrowed from the Government Savings Bank’s (GSB) loan programme for members of teachers’ funeral funds, stirred controversy by declaring they would stop repaying their debts.
Wichit Chantanusornsiri is a senior economics reporter, Bangkok Post.
Many saw this as highly disrespectful. It also reflects a bigger picture of how Thai teachers are becoming trapped in debt.
According to the GSB, about 433,000 teachers have borrowed from the fund, totalling some 406 billion baht. To date, there have been 4,079 non-performing loans, while 40,000 teachers have been subjected to the bank’s debt-restructuring programmes.
The Education Ministry has also revealed that another 20,000 teachers are likely to default. This means up to 24,000 of our educators could soon officially be mired in a level of debt beyond their means to repay.
The question is: How will they be able to focus on their job and concentrate on giving students a high-quality education when they are fretting about paying their bills?
Teachers’ ability to concentrate on their teaching is critical for their students. It helps determine whether they will get high-quality classroom learning. Education is the key to Thailand’s development path. It can help the country eliminate poverty and ensure a higher quality of life for its people.
Moreover, many people pin their hopes on education as a means to help raise individual awareness of corruption, a scourge that has derailed progress in the country’s development.
Although the number of defaulters represents a small proportion of teachers in the country, the number of students they teach is high. On average, one teacher is responsible for a class of 30. This means the potential defaulters could be responsible for 720,000 students.
Clearly this is a problem that can have a harmful effect on both teachers and students. Eventually, it will affect the quality of the entire education system.
The Education Ministry should take a proactive role in tackling this debt crisis to ensure more teachers don’t get stuck in this vicious cycle. The ministry may consider setting up a programme that can help teachers better manage their finances. Alternatively, it could set a regulation disqualifying teachers from public service if they default on their loans.
Attention should also be paid to those students who borrow from the Student Loan Fund (SLF) but chose to default after graduating as the number is appallingly high.
Last month, the story of a female school director in Kamphaeng Phet province who guaranteed SLF loans for 60 students stirred public debate on the issue. Faced with court orders to have her assets seized after 21 students defaulted, she pleaded to the students to repay their debts, as otherwise she would be held responsible.
Since it was established two decades ago, the SLF has granted loans to about five million students for a total of 500 billion baht. Among them, three million are in the process of repaying their loans while two million have defaulted on at least one instalment. Total defaults now stand at about 200 billion baht.
They are given the most flexible lending conditions with the lowest interest rates. Borrowers should also be aware that the loans granted to them come from taxpayers’ pockets.
Their refusal to repay is no different from cheating others out of public funds. It makes me wonder whether the government’s anti-corruption drive will yield results if there is a general lack of moral uprightness among young graduates.
If our education system can’t instll a sense of integrity in students then our economic progress may achieve short-term gains and suffer long-term hardships.