NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Graft busters monitoring the public sector have found fictitious students, some in their 50s, on the rolls of a school in Yasothon province as they continue to crack down on ghost learners.
Samart Chainarong, chief of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) zone 3, based in Nakhon Ratchasima, said on Friday investigators found that Sornkaew Wongwai Witthaya School in Muang district of Yasothon had 159 "ghost students" aged from 21 to 55 years. He did not give a more precise breakdown.
The school claimed the over-age students studied an alternative curriculum, even though it was not permitted to offer special classes, Mr Samart said.
These students should have been pursuing non-formal education for a degree, if they were real, he added.
Sornkaew Wongwai Witthaya School has 443 students, according to the school's website. The number of genuine students matched the data checked by the PACC.
Adding those 159 ghost students to the list made it a medium-sized school, instead of a small school.
The Education Ministry defines a small school as having fewer than 500 students. A medium-sized school must have 500 students or more and a big school at least 1,500 students. The biggest schools must have more than 4,000 students on the roll.
Many schools have been found adding the names of fictitious students to their enrolment lists to make them appear successful in attracting new learners. The ministry then rewards the directors and teachers by promoting them to work in bigger schools. The schools also receive additional budget funding and other financial support from the ministry for apparently having more students to take care of.
Sornkaew Wongwai Witthaya is among 10 schools in the northeastern region so far found to have ghost students. Other schools are in Ubon Ratchathani and Si Sa Ket provinces.
Mr Samart said one director had been promoted to a bigger school as a result of showing more students on the roll. He did not name the principal, but said it was not possible to add non-existent students to school rolls without help from other teachers.