Talks on plans for military teachers

Defence Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukampol Suwan-nathat visited Narathiwat yesterday to talk to the Federation of Teachers in the three southernmost provinces about a plan to have soldiers and police to temporarily teach students instead of teachers.
Sukampol said that, because it was hard to find teachers willing to teach in the restive region, they could use soldiers and border patrol police who have teaching diplomas or used to be teachers, to teach on a temporary basis. He said he had heard the federation had agreed with the idea and the Army had discussed the plan with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and was working on selecting such teachers.
“If the talk today with the federation progresses, I’ll speak to Education Minister Pongthep Thepkanjana on how to implement this idea. We will have to discuss details, but it will be done as soon as possible,” he said.
Sukampol visited Narathiwat to meet security officials in the area.
Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who proposed the idea at a recent meeting of the Committee on the Mobilisation of Southern Border Provinces Policy and Strategies, said it would depend on discussions and decisions by the government, the Internal Security Operations Com-mand (ISOC) and the Education Ministry. He said the Army had surveyed military officials’ qualifications and registered them years ago, so if the government or supervisors agreed with the idea, they were ready to work. Initially, military officers at nearby bases could serve as teachers.
Prayuth said he had also ordered security agencies in the southern border provinces to tighten security, to be more vigilant and add more checkpoints to ensure safety during the New Year.
The general visited Sirindhorn Camp in Pattani’s Yarang district yesterday to review developments in the far South and follow up on measures implemented to address the problems.
As for the teacher protection plan, which has been reviewed three or four times already, he said they would work with related agencies to help troops provide 24-hour security to teachers at home, on the way to school and at schools. He said that at points deemed dangerous teachers could ride in armoured trucks with soldiers.
General Prayuth also offered moral support to officers for the New Year and thanked them for working tirelessly in the region. He also urged the public to be patient and cooperate fully with the authorities, always have ID cards with them and to be more careful when travelling.
He believed the situation would improve if all sectors cooperated to solve the problems.
In related news, the Senate met yesterday to discuss unrest in the South, the targeting of teachers and the fact some families of slain teachers have yet to receive compensation. Senators urged the government to adjust policies and “think outside the box” or else the insurgents would get the upper hand. Senator Surasak Sri-arun called for speedy investigations to arrest the killers of teachers and for the slain teachers’ children to be given work at various ministries.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said he would travel to Malaysia either on January 15-17 or January 21-23 to discuss unrest in the South with authorities in Kuala Lumpur.
He will have a video conference with police and four governors from the far South on December 27 because the governors had to take care of the region with kamnan and village headmen.