NACC Emphasizes "Taking Bribes for School Admission" Constitutes Education Corruption
จากไชต์: Office of The National Anti - Corruption Commission (ONACC)
จำนวนผู้เข้าชม: 219
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has identified the wrongdoings of the former director of the Triam Udom Suksa School in a case involving soliciting money for student admissions. Evidence of money transactions has been found leading to the school's parent-teacher association, before being transferred to the director's relatives. The commission emphasized that this constitutes corruption in the education sector, an action that impedes the development potential of the country's education system.
The NACC has decided to accuse Poramet Molee, the former director of the Triam Udom Suksa School, and his group of peers of setting admission criteria for the academic years 2016-2018 without complying with the regulations set by the Secondary Education Service Area Office, District 1, and the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC). An investigation found evidence of soliciting money for student admissions, which involved money being transferred into the Triam Udom Suksa School's parent-teacher association before being transferred to Poramet's relatives over three years in several amounts. Meanwhile, Sophon Kamol, another former director of Triam Udom Suksa School, is under preliminary investigation. The NACC committee has decided to further investigate and re-submit the case for consideration of accusations.
The transparency issue in the administration of Triam Udom Suksa School was previously reported in March 2020. It was said that Thanarat Somkaneh, Deputy Director of the Secondary Education Service Area Office, District 1, visited the Anti-Corruption Division of the Royal Thai Police to testify as a witness in the case involving the former director of Triam Udom Suksa School. The corruption case involved money with a damage value exceeding 100 million baht and pertained to negligence and corrupt behavior. This arose because the District 1 Education Service Area Office filed a case against the former director of the school regarding the school's bank accounts. From the investigation, it was found that two bank accounts were opened in 2015. The first account was named "Triam Udom Suksa School Parent-Teacher Association," which had no financial activity. The second account, named "Parents and Teachers of Triam Udom Suksa School," had transactions exceeding 100 million baht from 2015-2018, which was opened in the name of an individual. The former school administrators could not explain this, leading to suspicion of non-transparency.
On September 22, 2020, Krisanapong Keeratikorn, a former deputy minister of the Ministry of Education and ex-chairman of the Triam Udom Suksa School's governing committee, along with alumni, former teachers, and current staff, lodged a complaint to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) regarding the misconduct of Sophon Kamol, a former director of the Triam Udom Suksa School. This was due to evidence suggesting malpractice in his duties.
Sophon defended himself, claiming he was being unfairly targeted because he did not accede to the demands of certain groups, leading to some parties experiencing a loss of benefits. He suggested that he was being scapegoated for the fact that certain individuals were unable to benefit from the annual income of several hundred million baht generated from student admission fees.
The case mentioned above represents a portion of educational corruption, which severely impacts the Thai education system. This unfair practice leads to disparities in student and scholar admission processes, where genuine and diligent learners are deprived of their examination quotas because of the "special admission" mechanism. Additionally, it highlights the incompetence of some educational personnel who can't be positive role models due to their self-interests and involvement in corruption.
Niwatchai Kasemmongkol, the secretary of the NACC, in his capacity as the spokesperson for the NACC, revealed that the NACC continually monitors educational corruption, especially incidents involving "sponsoring money". He directed the NACC's regional offices throughout the country to closely watch and monitor the problem of accepting bribe money in educational institutions, as it is a form of corruption that causes inequality in the education system.
Moreover, there are the STRONG: Together against Corruption networks against corruption in each province, working together with the NACC to monitor and prevent potential instances of educational corruption, be it corruption in the school lunch-milk project or even corruption in assistant teacher examination processes. The goal is to prevent the country's education from being overshadowed by mechanisms of corruption, and to foster a sense of integrity, and transparency among educational personnel, thereby setting a good example for fostering future citizens with integrity.
However, the NACC's accusations in the aforementioned case do not conclude the matter. The accused still have the right to legally fight to prove their innocence in court.
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