What are the roles and responsibilities of teachers and schools? As understood in almost every context, schools are meant to be a second home for children and a place where parents and guardians send them with hope and trust of their mental and physical well-being as teachers are supposed to take care of them, provide knowledge, and train them to develop good habits.
Recently, reports of child abuse at the Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School caught the public's attention when a video clip showing a teacher getting physical with students was released on social media, leading to a big wave of criticism. With a quick investigation by the media and authorities in the past several weeks, it was revealed that there were reports of abuse in at least 34 out of 45 Sarasas school chains throughout the country. What has happened has not just broken the hearts of the parents of the young victims but most parents everywhere.
Matters only became worse when Piboon Yongkamol, founder and president who operates the Sarasas school chain, came into the picture. His interview on national media revealed how unfit he is to be working in the education sector, especially after he refused to accept any blame for what happened, instead blaming everyone else from parents to politicians for the abuse that had been taking place. Piboon also claimed that he did not care if his schools were shut down as he could make more profit from selling the land the schools were built on. As I listened to the news, I could hardly believe that this was the opinion of a man that many parents had once trusted and had spent huge sums of money in tuition fees so that their children could have a better future.
It doesn't surprise me students are now protesting against the education system but what is interesting is that those who were abused are not the ones raising their voice as they are just elementary school children -- as young as kindergartners -- who don't know any better. In the case of teachers harming such young students, physical and verbal abuse also takes a toll on their mental health, which can result in deep psychological wounds in the future as they grow older.
While things may seem to have settled down for now as it has been reported that the teachers involved in the abuse case have been dismissed and the school's management has offered to pay compensation to the families of the abused children, this isn't just about what happened at Sarasas schools anymore. It is worth noting that this could happen to anyone's child and at any school as long as we have doubt about our education system in general.
Indeed, this type of situation should never happen in an education system that nurtures and prepares children to become productive members of society in the future. There is no room for violence of any kind at all in such places. To be able to convince all parties to stay within the rules is essential. The Ministry of Education has to admit its failure in supervising schools and it should increase its efficiency in controlling a system that works within the law because it is not acceptable to just give a teaching licence and leave it at that. Simply coming out to try and fix things when something bad has already happened is not enough because by that time it might already be too late.
According to Deputy Minister of Education Kanokwan Wilawan: "The Ministry of Education must have a mechanism in place to monitor the work of educational institutions on a regular basis. It must regularly inspect educational institutions, both private and state across the country, both in terms of teacher and educational standards."
While private education institutions have to strictly abide by the law, they should have their own set of morals and ethics and not be tied to operating results because if profits are the main goal, everything else will eventually go out the window. In the Sarasas case, teachers not having work permits but still allowing them to practise is unacceptable. In the case of hiring teachers from abroad, schools must make sure foreigners have professional licences and real teaching experience and not just hire tourists to teach. Such events must not be allowed to repeat and the authorities have to find a way to support these schools to meet the quality standards and to make them more affordable. With help from them the government, the Ministry of Education has to manage teaching and educational standards, so that such an event no longer repeats itself and does not infect behaviour in other schools, whether private or state-run.
Tatat Bunnag is a feature writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.