Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan on Monday ordered the Office of the Teacher Civil Service and Educational Personnel Commission (OTEPC) to make sure that no teachers or school executives who have been convicted of child sexual abuse offences are able to return to the profession in any capacity.
The move follows a school gang rape case in Mukdahan's Muang district early this month. Five teachers at a school in the area were suspended after being charged in connection with the repeated sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Two school alumni were also accused of having taken part, and all are said to have taken video clips of the acts.
Amporn Pinasa, the OTEPC secretary-general, said yesterday a survey by her office found that about 180 teachers and school executives have been convicted of child sexual abuse over the past three years and all had been suspended or sacked.
Ms Amporn said these convicted teachers have already had their teaching licences revoked and would not be able to reapply for work at a school. Nevertheless, she said her office would make details of the offenders available on a nationally accessible database to ensure that there are no loopholes that these offenders can take advantage of to find work where children might be present.
The OTEPC chief also said she had been asked to conduct a study into what drove these teachers to commit child sex abuse crimes as well introduce better screening across all areas of teacher procurement and training to make sure that no individuals with a propensity for this type of crime slip through the net in the future.
Ms Amporn added that in her experience the best teachers were not always the most knowledgable but often the ones who care the most about the wellbeing of their students and her office would do its best to make sure that trainee teachers who exhibit these characteristics would be fast-tracked into positions in schools across the country.
She added that making sure that schools are "safe spaces for students" must be a national priority going forward.