Educational Finance in Thailand - UNESCO Bangkok
Educational Finance in Thailand - UNESCO Bangkok
Educational Finance in Thailand - UNESCO Bangkok
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F<strong>in</strong>al Report, Volume II/3 Anthony. Cresswell: <strong>Educational</strong> <strong>F<strong>in</strong>ance</strong> <strong>UNESCO</strong>-PROAP TA 2996-THA<br />
Education Management and <strong>F<strong>in</strong>ance</strong> Study July 1999<br />
c. The differences between public and private sectors are much more pronounced<br />
<strong>in</strong> higher education. Expenditures per head <strong>in</strong> the closed (highly selective)<br />
universities is more than six times that <strong>in</strong> the private universities. In contrast with<br />
basic education, the level of capital expenditure <strong>in</strong> the private higher education<br />
sector is considerably lower than <strong>in</strong> the public. Only the Open Universities has<br />
lower expenditure levels for either recurrent or capital categories. Given the large<br />
enrollment, largely part-time nature of the Open Universities, this expenditure<br />
level is not surpris<strong>in</strong>g. What these data show clearly is a three-level higher<br />
education system. The closed universities operate with three to six times the<br />
resources levels of the rest of the sector, mak<strong>in</strong>g them clearly separate <strong>in</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ancial<br />
terms. The differences among the rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>stitution types are less pronounced,<br />
but the rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g public <strong>in</strong>stitutions are still well above the private, mak<strong>in</strong>g them<br />
the middle level <strong>in</strong> terms of resource endowment. The private university system is<br />
the low f<strong>in</strong>ance level, roughly on a par with private upper secondary expenditure<br />
levels.<br />
d. Higher education systems <strong>in</strong> most countries show wide differences <strong>in</strong><br />
expenditures per head, so these differences <strong>in</strong> themselves are not necessarily a<br />
policy problem. However the relationship between the sources of the f<strong>in</strong>ances and<br />
the beneficiaries raises a question of equity. The data on the <strong>in</strong>come levels of the<br />
families of students <strong>in</strong> these different <strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>in</strong>dicates that higher education <strong>in</strong><br />
general serves families with considerably higher <strong>in</strong>come than the population as a<br />
whole (see Table 7 above). There is a fairly consistent pattern of higher levels of<br />
education serv<strong>in</strong>g higher <strong>in</strong>come populations, with students from the highest<br />
<strong>in</strong>come segment of the population attend<strong>in</strong>g private higher education and upper<br />
secondary levels. This suggests that the higher education system is less open to<br />
lower <strong>in</strong>come students, <strong>in</strong> part no doubt because they received lower quality basic<br />
education and do not qualify for admission, and <strong>in</strong> part because they cannot afford<br />
to attend. To the extent that this is true, the higher education system is less of a<br />
mechanism to promote access to education and educational opportunity, and more<br />
a mechanism to re<strong>in</strong>force the exist<strong>in</strong>g patterns of wealth and status <strong>in</strong> the society.<br />
This latter outcome would be quite <strong>in</strong>consistent with overall policy goals and<br />
pr<strong>in</strong>ciples of equity.<br />
2.2.3. Local Revenue and Expenditure<br />
2.2.3.1.. Local revenue sources<br />
a. One of the stated goals of current reform <strong>in</strong>itiatives and responses to the<br />
f<strong>in</strong>ancial crisis is to stimulate greater support for educational from local resources.<br />
It is therefore necessary to exam<strong>in</strong>e the degree to which local resources now<br />
support educational programs and the local capacity to expand that support. In this<br />
context, the term “local resources” can <strong>in</strong>clude both public and private sources.<br />
The contributions of private sources are reviewed <strong>in</strong> the follow<strong>in</strong>g section.<br />
Attention is given here to the local government contribution to educational<br />
f<strong>in</strong>anc<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
b. Support for public (government) schools currently comes from multiple<br />
sources. The largest proportion is from the Government budget. Overall, ONEC<br />
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