Push for salary hike for teachers

Ohec deputy chief Assoc Prof Piniti Ratananukul said he had tried to meet with Suchart to tell him about Ohec’s urgent agendas, including the budget for fiscal year 2013. He said the New Generation of Teachers Project had seen 1,000 fourth-year students, who were guaranteed teaching jobs, being left in limbo as the project had come to a standstill for almost six months. Other plans include the Project to Increase Doctor Production through the 11th Higher-Education Develop-ment Plan (2012-2016), Master’s and PhD scholarships for teachers as well as celebration of HRH Prince Mahidol of Songkhla’s 120th birthday.
Following a meeting of the Teacher Civil Service and Educational Personnel Board yesterday, the permanent secretary for Education Sasithara Pichaicharnnarong said related agencies had been assigned to gather information on asking the Bureau of Budget for a salary hike for some 90,000 teachers and educational personnel who earn less than Bt15,000. At least Bt170 million would be needed to implement this project. Details should be concluded today before resubmitting it to the board’s meeting on Monday. If approved by the Cabinet, the ministry expects this regulation to be published in the Royal Gazette by March and the hike to go into effect from January 1.
Initially, Sasithara said the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) had 76,126 eligible teachers and personnel; Office of Vocational Education Commission (Ovec) had 3,153; Office of the Non-Formal Education Commission had 2,826 persons; community colleges had 145; Institute of Physical Education and the Bunditpatanasilpa Institute had 668 and 1,155 persons respectively; plus 16 others from the National Institute for Development of Teachers Faculty Staff and Educational Personnel.
The 51,237 teachers whose salary touched the “Khor Sor 2” level were also eligible for a salary hike to Bt15,000, which would require Bt625 million, she said. The hike would also cover contract teachers and employees at state-run schools who have a bachelor’s degree, she added.
The Office of Private Education Commission (Opec) said 140,000 private schoolteachers earned Bt11,680 a month, so the hike would cover them as well, provided their schools were up to standard (a primary school is required to have one teacher for every 25 students and a secondary school must have one for every 20 students).
Opec is assigned to work on details and see how much the schools could cover teachers’ salaries and how much the government could help, she said.