Editorial on education: Call for complete transparency
Secret "donations" get rich students in & keep poor students out of best schools. Only complete transparency ensures equal access to education.
Secret "donations" get rich students in & keep poor students out of best schools. Only complete transparency ensures equal access to education.
In photo above students during their hunger strike in front of Government House demanding the government look into a school admissions system they claim is unfair (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin).
Friday's Bangkok Post editorial highlights the need for transparency in the school admissions process: "The lack of transparency in the system has allowed many school directors to pocket the money themselves and to spend donation funds on whatever they want."
Read previous articles on this important topic:
- Suchart: "Nothing wrong with donations for seats" (28/02/2012)
- "Free education" not really free (17/02/2012)
- Poor kids in best schools? (15/09/2011)
- Buy school admission for your kid? (13/09/2011)
- Bribes for seats in prestigious Bangkok schools 11/06/2011
- Tea money (8/06/2011)
- Samak slams schools that bill parents extra (26-05-2008)
- DSI crackdown on school bribes (28-11-2008)
- Parents want end to extra school fees (19-11-2009)
- Dek Fak: Admission to prestigious schools given by politicians to canvassers as return for favours (15-05-2008)
Also read today's article on the accusation that the hunger strike was a secret to plot to damage the schools reputation here and last weekend's editorial on improving Thailand's education system here.
Click button to listen to Tea Money Hunger Strike to download
EDITORIAL
Cut out the tea money cancer
25/05/2012
When four students staged a hunger strike in front of Government House to protest against the pae jia or "tea money" problem in their high school's admission system last week, their grievances struck a chord with parents and students nationwide.
At the centre of the controversy is the popular Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School and its director who was accused of kicking out old students to make way for new ones whose parents were willing to pay large amounts of money in exchange for school places.
School admission payments are a cancerous problem that the Education Ministry has failed miserably to tackle.
Given the wide gaps in high-school education quality, it is only natural that parents want to send their children to the best schools possible. And when enrolment success depends so much on the amount of "donation" money which parents are willing to pay, parents have little choice but to grit their teeth and dig deep into their pockets.
So when a group of Bodindecha students decided to stage a hunger strike to expose such irregularities in the school admission system, the whole country watched closely to see how the ministry would respond. Sadly, its response has only worsened its tainted image.
To end the hunger strike and get the pae jia news off the headlines, the ministry ordered a probe and promised that the school would enrol all 57 students who petitioned for fairness.
That turned out to be a lie. The next day, the ministry and the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) insisted the school could accept only 20 of the students. This was followed by an astonishingly quick declaration that the admission system at Bodindecha is free of any irregularities. The ruling was received with much public cynicism.
The ministry cannot escape the blame for this pae jia system, yet solutions are within its grasp.
Exam results and scores earned by students must be made public to prevent any irregularities.
Schools must also be prohibited from seeking donations before students are admitted.
They must issue receipts for any donations made after enrolment. The money must be managed transparently, with participation from parents and student groups.
The ministry, however, has failed to make any of this happen. The lack of transparency in the system has allowed many school directors to pocket the money themselves and to spend donation funds on whatever they want. It has also become common practice to throw out old students to make money from new ones.
It is unfortunate that the media focused only on the enrolment issue, as it overlooked other objectives of the hunger strike. The students also called on all high schools to stop screening out students half way, at the end of Mathayom 3 (Grade 9), and for schools to stop asking parents for "school support fees."
The constitution guarantees 12 years of free education to each child, and the right of each student to receive an education that fits his or her learning needs. That means schools cannot focus only on good grades, throw out those who are not academically inclined, or request money to support their activities. Doing so is simply against the constitution.
These demands address only some of the ills in education. But if even this much is ignored, there is no hope of fixing problems elsewhere in the system, which is plagued by inefficiency and corruption.
(Source: Bangkok Post, EDITORIAL, Cut out the tea money cancer, 25/05/2012, link)
School Admissions Corruption Vocabulary
hunger strike - protesting something by not eating: "a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not solid food" (See Wikipedia)
staged a hunger strike
transparency - an honest way of doing things that allows other people to know exactly what you are doing ความโปร่งใส
government transparency - open government, making government activities visible to the public without secrecy (See Wikipedia)
lack - does not have ขาดแคลน
lack of transparency
highlight - stress, emphasize, say that something is very important
pocket the money - take money for yourself which does not belong to you
donation funds
tea money - giving secret money to get a favour from a powerful person
cut out the tea money cancer
protest - a strong complaint or disagreement ประท้วง
protest against tea money
admission - permission to enter a place การเข้าชม การเข้างาน
school admissions - the process of selecting students for a school
high school admission system
grievances - complaints about being treated in an unfair way ความคับข้องใจ
struck a chord with - sharing the same feeling (as something that someone says or does)
nationwide - throughout a whole country ทั่วทั้งประเทศ
grievances struck a chord with parents and students nationwide
When four students staged a hunger strike in front of Government House to protest against the pae jia or "tea money" problem in their high school's admission system last week, their grievances struck a chord with parents and students nationwide.
controversy - a strong disagreement, especially about a public policy or moral issue ความขัดแย้ง ประเด็นข้อขัดแย้ง
at the centre of the controversy
kicking out - telling or making someone to leave a place
make way for - remove something to put something new in its place
kicking out old students to make way for new ones
in exchange for - giving one thing to get another thing
cancerous problem - a very bad problem (difficult to solve, as difficult as curing cancer)
tackle a problem - solve a problem; to make an organised and determined attempt to deal with a problem แก้ปัญหา จัดการกับปัญหา
miserably - making you feel very unhappily, depressing
failed miserably - unhappily failed
failed miserably to tackle
At the centre of the controversy is the popular Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School and its director who was accused of kicking out old students to make way for new ones whose parents were willing to pay large amounts of money in exchange for school places. School admission payments are a cancerous problem that the Education Ministry has failed miserably to tackle.
wide gaps in high-school education quality
natural - a reasonable thing to do in the situation, what is expected and reasonable in a situation เป็นเรื่องปกติ ธรรมดา
it is only natural that
donation - money or goods that you give to an organisation, especially one that helps people เงินหรือสิ่งของบริจาค
have little choice but - must do, have to do
grit their teeth - putting teeth together, the way people do when they are angry or upset
dig deep into their pockets - to get money to pay for something
parents have little choice but to grit their teeth and dig deep into their pockets.
Given the wide gaps in high-school education quality, it is only natural that parents want to send their children to the best schools possible. And when enrolment success depends so much on the amount of "donation" money which parents are willing to pay, parents have little choice but to grit their teeth and dig deep into their pockets.
stage - to organise and event ทำการเปลี่ยนแปลง ปฏิวัติ
stage a hunger strike
expose - show public the truth (of something illegal or dishonest) ตีแผ่ เปิดเผย เปิดเผยออกมา
irregularities - things that are not normal and may indicate wrongdoing ความไม่สงบ (usual ways of doing something have not been followed)
expose irregularities
ministry - a government department dealing with an area of activity กระทรวง
respond - to say or do something as a reaction to something that has been said or done ตอบสนอง, ตอบรับ
image - an opinion that people have about someone or something; the picture of something that people have in their mind, what people think about something ภาพลักษณ์
tainted - spoiled by an unpleasant quality or feature มัวหมอง มีมลทิน แปดเปื้อน
tainted image - ruined reputation; people don't think well of them anymore
So when a group of Bodindecha students decided to stage a hunger strike to expose such irregularities in the school admission system, the whole country watched closely to see how the ministry would respond. Sadly, its response has only worsened its tainted image.
probe - an investigation การตรวจสอบ การสอบสวน an attempt to find out the truth about an issue, problem or accident, made by an official group (or by the media)
enrol - register, sign up สมัครto put yourself onto the official list of members of a course or college ลงทะเบียน
enrol students
petition - make an official request
petitioned for fairness
To end the hunger strike and get the pae jia news off the headlines, the ministry ordered a probe and promised that the school would enrol all 57 students who petitioned for fairness.
insisted - say firmly that something must happen or is true, and will not change mind
insisted the school could accept only 20 of the students
declaration - an official announcement that something is true or is happening การประกาศ
free of any irregularities - meaning: there is no corruption
declaration that the admission system is free of any irregularities
ruling - a decision by a court of law or government agency คำตัดสิน คำชี้ขาด
cynicism - negative belief that people always act in a selfish way
public cynicism
That turned out to be a lie. The next day, the ministry and the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) insisted the school could accept only 20 of the students. This was followed by an astonishingly quick declaration that the admission system at Bodindecha is free of any irregularities. The ruling was received with much public cynicism.
grasp - being able to do something; within its ability to control
solutions are within its grasp - it has the ability to solve the problem (if it wants to do this)
results - what is produced in the end by an activity or task
exam results and scores - the scores that students received on tests
donations - money given by people to help some project or organisation financially
receipts - a paper that shows how much money was received (used for accounting records)
issue receipts - give a receipt to someone who buys something or hands over money for some other reason
transparently - openly; having nothing hidden or secret อย่างโปร่งใส
participation - doing some activity with other people (not just watching from the side)
The ministry cannot escape the blame for this pae jia system, yet solutions are within its grasp. Exam results and scores earned by students must be made public to prevent any irregularities. Schools must also be prohibited from seeking donations before students are admitted. They must issue receipts for any donations made after enrolment. The money must be managed transparently, with participation from parents and student groups.
pocket the money - when a person takes some money (that does not belong to them)
funds - an amount of money kept for a special purpose เงินทุน
donation funds
practice - a way of doing something; something that people do regularly การปฏิบัติ
common practice - the usual way of doing something
The ministry, however, has failed to make any of this happen. The lack of transparency in the system has allowed many school directors to pocket the money themselves and to spend donation funds on whatever they want. It has also become common practice to throw out old students to make money from new ones.
unfortunate - unlucky โชคร้าย, เคราะห์ไม่ดี
media - radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group สื่อ
objectives - goals; aims; things that you plan to achieve จุดมุ่งหมาย
overlooked other objectives of the hunger strike
screening - checking for problems before accepting
screening out - not accepting ones that do not meet your standards or criteria
screening out students half way - half way through their education getting rid of the students with low grades
support - help, by giving money, for example สนับสนุน
fees - money that you pay to be allowed to do something ค่าธรรมเนียม
school support fees
focus - the main thing it is concerned with ให้ความสำคัญ
demands - the things that someone is asking you to do
address - to try to deal with a question or problem จัดการปัญหา
ills - problems or difficulties ปัญหา
ills in education - problems in education
fixing problems
inefficiency - now working well as it could, could do more work with given resources อย่างไม่มีประสิทธิภาพ a network, a transportation network
corruption - (See Wikipedia on bribery, corporate corruption, and political corruption)
plagued - caused a lot of problems for someone or something for a long period of time ทำให้ยุ่งยาก ลำบากมานาน
plagued by inefficiency and corruption
It is unfortunate that the media focused only on the enrolment issue, as it overlooked other objectives of the hunger strike. The students also called on all high schools to stop screening out students half way, at the end of Mathayom 3 (Grade 9), and for schools to stop asking parents for "school support fees." The constitution guarantees 12 years of free education to each child, and the right of each student to receive an education that fits his or her learning needs. That means schools cannot focus only on good grades, throw out those who are not academically inclined, or request money to support their activities. Doing so is simply against the constitution. These demands address only some of the ills in education. But if even this much is ignored, there is no hope of fixing problems elsewhere in the system, which is plagued by inefficiency and corruption.
