Narong to breathe new life into education
The Nation April 21, 2015 1:00 am
Says three transferred heads have not been found guilty of corruption yet
EDUCATION Minister Admiral Narong Pipatanasai yesterday vowed to restructure three subordinate bodies whose heads were transferred last week together with the blanket axing of their boards, while at the same time appointing new members to the boards and closely monitoring them for signs of corruption.
He stressed the heads of the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel (OTEP), the OTEP Business Organisation and the Teachers' Council of Thailand (Khurusapa) had not yet been found guilty of corruption or other offences.
And they were not on a list of 100 officials suspected of corruption that was made at the order of the National Council for Peace and Order, he added.
The three secretaries-general could be reinstated to their former posts if they were not found guilty of corruption, after an ongoing ministry investigation, Narong said.
He reiterated that the widespread belief the three bodies were plagued with corruption was the main reason behind the NCPO's decision to remove the heads and many other officials using Article 44 of the interim constitution.
Narong said he would be the head of the three new boards and a parallel investigation by the NCPO-appointed Government Budget Auditing Commission was underway into previous projects linked to the three bodies.
The commission's first meeting marking the launch of its investigation would be held tomorrow, its chairman General Anantaphorn Kanjanarat said.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said the transferred officials would be treated and investigated fairly, and the transfers should be deemed a routine rotation of high-ranking ministerial posts.
Asked about if the swift and large-scale transfers of senior officials could hit other ministries, Prayut said he was waiting for recommendations from all other ministries.
A meeting of ministers yesterday did not discuss the reshuffle of senior officials at the Finance Ministry as expected earlier, he said.
Newly-appointed Education Ministry permanent secretary Assoc Prof Dr Kamjorn Tatiyakavee said the most immediate problems he would tackle were the quality of education, corruption and the abuse of power by ministry officials, especially when detected in the OTEP and the OTEP Business Organisation.
The new - but wrong - teaching of Thai pronunciations in first grade was also be a priority, he said.
He said Thai education needed to be improved so it stood out regionally and globally.
The two bodies responsible for extended education for adults would also be put under his supervision.