Replacements sought for Buddhist teachers in south
Volunteer teachers or teachers from the Border Patrol Police School should be deployed to replace Buddhist teachers moved from the far South out of fear they will be killed by insurgents, the chairman of the Confederation of Teachers of the Three Southern
Bunsom Thongsriprai spoke before a meeting of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre chaired by SBPAC secretary-general Pol Colonel Thawee Sodsong to probe facts surrounding recent deaths of teachers, including religious teachers.
Thawee said the agency would first look into the causes of teacher killings, to determine if it was personal conflicts or the work of insurgents in order to map out preventive security methods and establish rehabilitation measures.
The SBPAC summoned forensic experts to join the meeting and set up a panel to seek solutions to teacher killings within two months.
Bunsom said the most urgent problem was finding teachers to replace Buddhist teachers who have relocated out of risky and violence-prone areas.
“We cannot allow students to have no teachers. Our children must get an education. We have called on the government to pay all teachers – be they religious teachers, private-school teachers or teachers hired on a temporary basis – to get the Bt3,500 special allowance regardless of whether they are Muslim, Buddhist or Christian teachers.” He said Buddhist teachers were scared of being targets of insurgent attacks and refused to teach at their schools, so teacher volunteers or those from Border Patrol schools must be mobilised to replace them.
Meanwhile, a Buddhist resident was shot in the chest twice and badly hurt while riding his motorcycle in Chanae district in Narathiwat by two attackers wearing crash helmets on another motorcycle.
