The "One District, One Scholarship" (Odos) project, which provides high-performing but underprivileged students a shot at an international education, is likely to be scrapped as the Education Ministry wants to focus more on helping students pursue vocational studies.
Permanent secretary for education Chaiyapruek Serirak recently said there is a strong chance the Education Ministry will not approve the fifth batch of the Thaksin-era scholarship.
He said Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin and head of the independent committee for education reform, Charas Suwanwela, want to rename the scholarship scheme and adjust its criteria to focus more on vocational training, rather than sending students to study abroad, to meet the high demand for skilled workers in Thailand.
"I think the revised criteria will focus on supporting pupils to pursue their studies in vocational fields, which is needed. Recipients [of the revised scholarship] may not be allowed to choose their field or place of study, but will instead study in areas where there is a national need, to ensure that the budget for the project will be well spent," said Mr Chaiyapruek.
He said the Education Ministry did not ask the cabinet to provide additional funding for the fifth batch of the Odos project this fiscal year, although it still has the funds needed to help previous scholarship recipients complete their studies.
Back in 2004, the Odos scheme was introduced by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration. The aim of the project was to give Mathayom 6 (Grade 12) students from poor families in each district nationwide an opportunity to study abroad in order to bring knowledge across a variety of fields back home to help develop their local communities.
For the first and second batch of the project, the scholarship was first funded through the two- and three-digit lotteries.
To qualify for the scholarship, the income of a student's family could not exceed 100,000 baht a year, while the pupils also had to have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 for the last five semesters of their secondary schooling.
The endowment also specified that recipients had to study in a non-English speaking country.
The scholarship was scrapped by the Surayud Chulanont administration after the second round had been granted due to the cancellation of the "above ground" lotteries (the two- and three-digit lotteries), which provided funding for the scheme.
The Odos programme was also heavily criticised because out of the 740 students who went to study abroad in the first batch, 113 prematurely returned to continue their studies in Thailand as they could not adapt to life overseas.
The scheme was revived again by the Yingluck Shinawatra government, but amended so the scholarships could be awarded to anyone, regardless of their socioeconomic background.
Recipients were then allowed to select the country or field of study themselves, including in English-speaking countries, but were still not obliged to pay back the scholarship or to work for the government.
The widened criteria was again criticised that it might be misapplied, as the scheme was originally intended to benefit academically gifted students from poor families, not the children of wealthy or influential members of high society.
Since 2004, the Odos project has paid out more than 29 billion baht for its 3,093 recipients, but only 1,587 of them have completed their studies.
In addition, only 11% of graduates from previous scholarship rounds are state employees, while 70% work in private companies. Another 2% have yet to return to Thailand, and the rest are self-employed.