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 />
2.4.1. F<strong>in</strong>ancial equity<br />
Overall, there do not appear to be gross or systematic <strong>in</strong>equities <strong>in</strong> the allocation<br />
of educational resources to basic education across prov<strong>in</strong>ces or regions. With the<br />
exception of the specific <strong>in</strong>stances discussed below, the exist<strong>in</strong>g f<strong>in</strong>ancial policies<br />
appear to be adequate <strong>in</strong> provid<strong>in</strong>g roughly equal budget and teacher resources<br />
across prov<strong>in</strong>ces and regions. Where there are important differences <strong>in</strong> the<br />
allocation of these resources, however, some of the differences serve to aggravate<br />
rather than ameliorate the exist<strong>in</strong>g economic disparities. That is, there are notable<br />
<strong>in</strong>stances where budget and teacher allocations are lower to regions or prov<strong>in</strong>ces<br />
with lower <strong>in</strong>come or wealth levels. And overall, the f<strong>in</strong>ance system does not<br />
appear to be effective <strong>in</strong> equaliz<strong>in</strong>g or compensat<strong>in</strong>g for these prov<strong>in</strong>cial or<br />
regional disparities.<br />
2.4.1.1. With<strong>in</strong> basic education<br />
a. The budget allocation process, based at it is on enrollment-l<strong>in</strong>ked formulas,<br />
should produce roughly equal per student allocations by prov<strong>in</strong>ce. Evidence of<br />
<strong>in</strong>equity <strong>in</strong> these basic allocations would be <strong>in</strong>dicated by an allocation that<br />
deviated substantially from that predicted by enrollment. The primary budget<br />
allocation relative to enrollment by prov<strong>in</strong>ce shows (Figure 18 below) that with<br />
few exceptions the allocations track with enrollment. In Figure 18 each po<strong>in</strong>t on<br />
the plot represents one prov<strong>in</strong>ce’s primary education enrollment and budget<br />
allocation for 1997 (the latest year for which complete data were available). The<br />
l<strong>in</strong>e represents a statistical prediction of what the budget allocation should be<br />
based on enrollment (l<strong>in</strong>ear regression). The fact that almost all of the prov<strong>in</strong>ce<br />
po<strong>in</strong>ts fall near or on the l<strong>in</strong>e shows that the basic enrollment driven allocations<br />
produce roughly equal per-pupil allocations across prov<strong>in</strong>ces. Of course,<br />
considerable variation with<strong>in</strong> prov<strong>in</strong>ces could exists, but could not be analyzed<br />
due to lack of school or district-level budget allocation data.<br />
b. There are some prov<strong>in</strong>ces that show departure from the pattern of roughly equal<br />
per pupil primary allocations. These are shown <strong>in</strong> Figure 18 by a number next to<br />
the plotted po<strong>in</strong>t for that prov<strong>in</strong>ce. The names and regional location of those<br />
prov<strong>in</strong>ces are shown <strong>in</strong> Table 14 immediately follow<strong>in</strong>g Figure 18. It is not clear<br />
from the available budget or staff<strong>in</strong>g data why these prov<strong>in</strong>ces have disparate<br />
fund<strong>in</strong>g levels. As the table shows, the staff<strong>in</strong>g levels at the primary level do not<br />
account for the disparities, nor did an exam<strong>in</strong>ation of other budget allocations,<br />
such as for capital allocation or temporary wages, expla<strong>in</strong> the variations shown.<br />
S<strong>in</strong>ce these disparities are not large or systematically related to the location or<br />
economic level of the prov<strong>in</strong>ces, they are not immediate policy issues to be treated<br />
further here.<br />
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