Education Minister Dapong Ratanasuwan has threatened disciplinary action against officials found to be delaying corruption investigations at the ministry.
Gen Dapong yesterday told the chairmen of panels looking into alleged corruption in several education agencies that they need to make greater efforts to clear more than 200 corruption cases their panels are handling.
He said some cases have been under investigation since 2006 while others have been put on hold for several years. Some cases were intentionally dragged out over many years, he added.
Gen Dapong said the ministry recently discovered some officials have deliberately delayed investigations and the prosecution of some suspects.
"They have done this by not providing sufficient evidence or showing up to testify against suspects. I believe they are trying to drag out proceedings until the statute of limitations on these cases expire or the suspects reach retirement age," he said.
Gen Dapong said he has formed a panel chaired by Pitsanu Tulasuk, deputy permanent secretary for education, to identify those involved and come up with disciplinary measures to take against them.
He said the Pitsanu panel has to report their findings to him as soon as possible.
"Corruption scandals in educational agencies have eroded public faith in us, but from now on if any officers in our anti-corruption units are found to be negligent, they will face disciplinary action," he said.
Deputy Education Minister Gen Surachet Chaiwong cited four big corruption cases at the ministry as examples.
Gen Surachet said each case has attracted public attention as several high-ranking officials are allegedly involved.
The first case was the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Education Personnel's joint 2.5 billion baht investment plan with the Billion Innovative Group in a solar power project in Phetchaburi's Nong Ya Plong district, Gen Surachet said.
The second case was the 600-million-baht budget allocated for the construction of futsal pitches at 350 schools across 17 provinces. The synthetic rubber floor sheets meant for the project were substandard and the prices were three to four times higher than they should have been, he said.
The third case was the alleged misappropriation of funds to purchase more than 500,000 student uniforms by executives and officials at the Business Organisation of the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel, or Suksapan, store. Damage to the state was estimated at between 100-150 million baht.
The last case involved 13 teacher savings cooperatives that allegedly lured members into investing in a bogus scheme.
The network allegedly told members that if they deposited 1,000 baht a month, a loan of up to 1 million baht would be available to them. Billions of baht in losses were reported, Gen Surachet said.