Educational Finance in Thailand - UNESCO Bangkok

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Final Report, Volume II/3 Anthony. Cresswell: Educational Finance UNESCO-PROAP TA 2996-THA Education Management and Finance Study July 1999 allocation standards imposed from outside, negotiations and compromise in some areas, and mobilization of new resources in others. 2.1.4.2. Strengths of the budget process When viewed this way, the budget processes observed in this review are highly functional and successful in many important respects, and suffer from flaws and weaknesses in others. The functionality and success are reflected in some key goals of a budget process: a. That the process is well understood and reasonably transparent. b. It is timely and effective in producing the necessary decisions when required. c. It helps establish a basis for sound administration by providing stable and predictable resource flows. d. It provides a basis for participation in and review of decisions. e. It provides a basis to control the flows and expenditure purposes for coordination with government policies and programs. At each level and agency of the system, administrators and staff were well aware of the mechanics of the budget process, could produce and explain budget documents and decisions, and were knowledgeable about budget administration, reporting, and controls. 2.1.4.3. Problems of central control a. In spite of these positive aspects, however, there are a number of problem areas. Almost all of the officials below the top levels of Government view the decision making as too strongly influenced by the Budget Bureau and the resulting budget as too rigid and restrictive. The issue of excessive influence on resource allocation by the top levels of government is common to most countries. There is a natural tension between the interests of the top executive levels of government and those of the operating agencies, Ministries, or local governments. It is therefore expected that the participants in the lower levels of the process to see their counterparts above as exercising excessive control. So the important concern is not whether the Budget Bureau is viewed as “too powerful,” but whether the budget process allows for adequate participation, and whether there is sufficient flexibility in the resulting budget to allow for meaningful management and adjustment of resources down the levels. b. As for the first concern, that of adequate participation, the new process appears to be an important improvement. It appears to provide for substantially increased interaction between the BOB and the Ministries at the chief executive level and at the senior staff level as well. It also introduces interaction and adjustment at an earlier stage in the budget decision process, where it can be more meaningful. If this process is maintained or even improved, it will serve decision making well 46
Final Report, Volume II/3 Anthony. Cresswell: Educational Finance UNESCO-PROAP TA 2996-THA Education Management and Finance Study July 1999 and provide a basis for higher quality budget decisions. It may also alleviate some of the tension between BOB officials and their ministry counterparts. However, improving opportunities for participation at the top levels of decision making is not enough. The allocation process within ministries or lower levels was often described as excessively rigid, and driven by allocation formulas and standards imposed from above. Improved decision making at the upper levels will not necessarily produce better budgets if the allocations at lower levels are the result of inadequate processes. 2.1.4.4. Excessive budget rigidity a. There is also strong evidence that the budget imposes too many restrictions on management at lower levels. This was referred to most frequently as the “line item” problem. That is, the budget decision making process at the Ministry level and below determines not only the amount of funds to each unit and program area, but also the allocation of those funds across the objects of expenditure (salary, utilities, etc.). The final operating budget document is built up from the proposals aggregated from the school level to the Ministry, with the necessary adjustments. Once the budget is passed into law, it controls the use of funds back down to the school level and the individual line items. School principals, provincial officials, up to the Ministry level have to obtain BOB approval for shifts among budget categories. Such rigidity is bound to lead to inefficient use of resources and is a disincentive for effective management. b. The rigidity of the budget also tends to undermine the accuracy of budget data as a tool for management or assessment. When administrators have flexibility in adjusting budgets, they do so, and the resulting records are a reasonably accurate reflection of actual operations. When budgets cannot be adjusted, creative administrators may change operations, but their budget descriptions remain fixed. This is sometimes referred to as “category creep.” One example reported was a shift in how temporary wages were used. The original allocation was for teachers to perform a particular function in a fixed location. When the function was changed, the teachers were transferred to transient roles, but their salary allocation could not easily be changed, and so remained at the fixed location. The budget no longer reflects the actual expenditure in that or other locations. Such distorted budget data, if present on a large scale, can lead to serious errors in management or policy decisions. 2.1.4.5. Incremental decision making Because the budget decision making involves such large amounts of detail, the opportunity for comprehensive analysis and review is limited. Participants in the budget process reported that the result is a largely incremental approach. That is, most of the basic budget components are increased in annual increments without detailed analysis. Attention is devoted more to special projects or new initiatives. One negative consequence is that newer schools are said to be disadvantaged, having gone through fewer budget cycles and acquired fewer increments. Also overall allocations are not reviewed in light of changing conditions or priorities 47
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mission and operations. The term
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The information requirements for fi
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Table 1: Continued Dept. Flow of Re
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Table 1: Continued Dept. Flow of Re
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Description and assessment of compu
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Table 3: Existing computer systems
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Table 3: Continued Current existing
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Description of flows of financial i
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(teachers, facilities, etc) if data
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Table 4: Continued. Content of curr
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Table 5: Assessment of information
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An assessment of information system
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general administration, these syste
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Recommendation for IS Most involved
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6. The nation wide implementation.
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References Office of the permanent
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Office of private education commiss
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Interviews 10 September 1998, 9:00-
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Appendix 2 Projections of Costs of
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Projected Cost Increases for Expand
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Identification of Schools for Sampl
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8. Please place an X in a box below
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enrollment as a whole growing at an
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Figure 1: Thailand’s Development
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Table 5: Crude transition rates of
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and level of education, 1993 and 19
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2.31 Questionable quality of educat
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income inequality between agricultu
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4.1.4. The percentages calculated f
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Table 11: Public and Private sector
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4.3.8. As would be expected, unempl
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5.7 The dilemma is to balance the s
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Table 14: Unemployment and Underemp
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there any activities that would be
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References Chalongphob Sussangkarn
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Appendix 6 BMA Voucher Policy A. Lo
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Appendix 7 Finance Allocation Metho
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Appendix 8 Program Structure of the
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Not all possible flows are show, si
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Appendix 11 Results of Regression A
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