PM tells Superboard to create '2020 educational vision' master plan

Deputy Education Minister Krissanapong Kirtikara said Prayut had secretaries-general at five educational agencies exchange work progress and discuss ideas at the Education Superboard meeting at Government House. 

Prayut then instructed the Office of National Economic and Social Development Board, which serves as the Education Superboard’s secretariat, to join with the Education Council Office in coming up with the master plan and short-, mid- and long-term action plans for the next five years. The short-term ones are expected to meet the current fiscal year time frame.

Suthasri Wongsaman, permanent secretary at the Education Ministry, said the premier also said the “2020 educational vision” master plan should draw on the models of Singapore, South Korea and Finland in eight aspects. 

They are educational policy, educational management system, education ministry structure, public participation in educational management, teacher and education personnel development, assessment, educational budget management and other interesting areas.

 

Superboard given too much power

The Education Ministry’s education reform coordinating committee has asked for the draft bill regarding the National Reform Council (NRC)’s Superboard to be reviewed. 

This was because the committee on the education policy and national human development bill gave too much power to the Superboard, especially the power to transfer senior officials at the ministry and to approve budgets, said Education Minister Narong Pipatanasai, who also serves as chairman of the coordinating committee.

Prapapat Niyom, secretary of the NRC’s education reform committee, who had also attended the coordinating committee’s meeting on Wednesday, told The Nation |that she was ready to amend the |parts addressed by the coordinating committee. However, the bill would ensure manpower and budget decentralisation, she said. 

The draft would be tabled at Monday’s meeting of NRC’s education reform committee for further steps towards implementation.

The authority of the 21-strong Superboard – which will be chaired by the prime minister and was established according to the constitution – covered policymaking and teacher development. It would set education management decentralisation policies that focused on money allocations to educational service areas. 

The 30-plus article bill would enable schools to choose teachers while education management would be handled by schools and educational service areas.

The Education Ministry would act only as the “regulator”. “We will not touch personnel transfers,” she said.

The agencies that implemented policies framed by the Superboard could face punishment if they failed to complete them within the given timeframe, she added.