A close aide to the education minister on Monday defended the ministry against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's criticism that it is too large and needs restructuring to improve the nation's education system.
Siripong Angkasakulkiat, assistant to Education Minister Pol Gen Permpoon Chidchob, said issues raised by Thaksin are not new, and relevant authorities have already addressed several of them.
Several measures introduced under Pol Gen Permpoon's tenure aim to improve the education system, including reducing teachers' burdens, ensuring fair promotions and providing transparent evaluations of professional qualifications, he said.
Mr Siripong was responding to Thaksin's remarks made during a campaign rally for Wiwatchai Hotrawaisaya, Pheu Thai's candidate running in the Si Sat Ket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) chief election on the weekend.
The former premier said that the ministry is overly cumbersome and offered a number of proposals, including adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to elevate the education system and using tax collected by legalising online gambling operations to implement learning technologies in local schools and hire foreign teachers.
Collaboration and upskilling
Mr Siripong said that the previous governments had attempted to address the issue by separating certain departments under the ministry for greater working independence.
For example, the Department of Physical Education was moved out of the Education Ministry, and the Ministry of Culture was established, he said and noted that sports and education are now largely disconnected.
He suggested that the focus should be on fostering future collaboration between ministries.
According to Mr Siripong, while hiring new staff could help address personnel shortages, the main focus should be upskilling current personnel to help them advance their skills and enhance performance.
He argued, however, that the issue of education development and the legalisation of gambling should not be linked.
"It doesn't mean we can't upskill teachers just because we can't collect taxes from gambling. These are entirely separate issues," he said.
He admitted that several issues still needed to be addressed, with budget constraints remaining a significant stumbling block.
He added that about 80% of the Education Ministry's budget is allocated to salaries of education personnel, leaving little room for development in other areas.
Mr Siripong noted that Thaksin's criticism of the ministry could be just part of an election strategy and insisted that Pol Gen Permpoon had been fulfilling his duties.
