Who should decide whether schools can install condom vending machines on their premises? The headmasters? The parents? The communities? The kids? Or should it be a joint decision by all parties?
Whoever asks that question does not know how our archaic education system works. Here, issues big and small go right to one man at the top with exclusive power over state schools nationwide.
It doesn't matter how high the rate of HIV infection is among Thai youth. It doesn't matter that teen pregnancy in Thailand is the highest in Asia. It doesn't matter that protected sex can help save lives and the kids' future. If the big boss at the Office of the Basic Education Commission says no to condom vending machines, all state schools must follow his order like a sacred mantra.
Forget community participation. Forget democracy. Forget the safety and welfare of the kids.
"I do not give permission to set up condom vending machines in Obec schools," declared Obec secretary-general Komol Rodklai on Monday.
Condoms, he insisted, may encourage students to have sex. Besides, he added, why sell them in schools when condoms are already widely available over the counter at convenience stores.
His rationale is not only out of touch with reality, it puts youth at risk and sends the wrong message about condoms. It's no surprise that sex education in schools has been a miserable failure.
His decision is not based on statistics, but on his determination to uphold the ideal image of good, asexual students. Having condom vending machines in schools means accepting the students are sexually active, which might reflect Obec's failure to keep youth in line. "No" is Obec's easiest answer before it sweeps the problems under the rug.
We can't blame him, though. The crux of the problem is the rigid system that robs schools, parents, communities, and kids of their right to have a say over how schools should be run.
It's the same with the Office of the Vocational Educational Commission (Ovec). Instead of letting each school consult with parents, communities, and students, the principals received orders to meet and issue a uniform decision on the condom vending machines issue.
Education reform has no chance of succeeding here if this top-down, centralised system remains intact.
We all know what it takes to nurture the students' creativity, to foster their respect for their cultural roots, and to respect others. We know what it takes to help students excel academically, discover their interests, and realise their full potential.
But how can we do it when everything is dictated from the top without responding to local needs?
How can schools improve teaching quality when they cannot even hire their own teachers according to their needs? Those assigned to their schools are decided by the headquarters in Bangkok.
How can teachers be forced to constantly improve their skills and keep up with teaching media technology when they are drowning in paperwork demanded by their Bangkok bosses?
Why should they care, really, when their promotions depend on that paperwork, and not on their students' achievement?
How can the students have respect for their cultural roots when the schools teach them to look up to Bangkok and look down on their own communities?
When society is riven by ethnic conflicts and political divisions, we need a new generation which embraces cultural pluralism and tolerates different views. How can this happen when authoritarianism and race-based nationalism are enshrined in the education system?
Forget about democracy when militarism is deeply embedded in our school system.
It is only creativity and innovation that can propel the nation forward and make our youngsters competitive in the cutthroat international economic arena. But the education system itself is killing our future by brainwashing the young to be submissive conformists, and heavily punishing those who dare to be different.
A higher education budget is not the answer. Nor are more fancy gadgets or more teachers. If everything is still decided by one man or woman in Bangkok, the education system will remain entangled in the same old mess.
Change is only possible when local schools have the freedom to run their affairs, and local communities have a say in how their children should be educated. As long as the Education Ministry holds central power, the education system is doomed. So is our future.
Sanitsuda Ekachai is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.