The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) has set up five panels to deepen a probe into allegations its officers were involved in fraud during an exam recruiting assistant teachers.
The panels have been given 30 days to come up with results. Obec will then set up another panel to conduct a disciplinary probe against any Obec officers suspected of being involved in the exam fraud.
Chinnapat Bhumirat, Obec secretary-general, said the 10 educational areas to be probed by the five panels are in eight northeastern provinces.
These provinces are Nong Bua Lam Phu, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Chaiyaphum, Yasothon, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Ratchasima and Kalasin.Obec's move follows last week's decision by the Office of the Teacher Civil Service and Educational Personnel Commission (OTEPC) to forward evidence of cheating from a Department of Special Investigation (DSI) probe and the Education Ministry to all its 225 local sub-committees.
The DSI found evidence of widespread cheating in the assistant teacher exam.
Exam papers and answers were leaked in four northeastern provinces _ Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Yasothon and Nakhon Ratchasima _ and many applicants used imposters to sit the exam in their place, the DSI found.
The test was a special-round examination to fill about 2,400 assistant-teacher vacancies, and only current education staff were allowed to take part.
The DSI probe found discrepancies in 486 out of the 9,242 exam papers.
Mr Chinnapat said Obec has sent copies of the DSI's findings to all 225 educational areas that organised the assistant-teacher examination.
All of them should have received the documents by yesterday, Mr Chinnapat said. The next step is for OTEPC's sub-committees to decide whether to annul the exam results in the areas where fraud is proved, he said.
Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanit said the subcommittees must make a decision within 15 days.