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Private education used to have a significant role to the provision of pre-primary, lower and upper secondary education, and relieve the government burden on educational financial resources. But the shares of private students in pre-primary and secondary education considerably decrease while the share of higher education students (Diploma in Vocational Education and Bachelor's Degree) substantially increases. A reduction in the role of private education is due to the control on tuition fees, and the expansion of public schools in both urban and rural areas. As for higher education, a rapid expansion of private higher education under the MUA is due to an increase in the social demand for this level of education while public higher educational institutions can absorb only a small number of students. However, financial resources of private higher institutions only come from tuition fees which are much higher than those of public institutions. It is thus essential for the government to provide additional support for private institutions to promote the role of the private sector in educational provision and to relieve the government's burden on educational financial resources. To sum up, the major financial resource for education in Thailand comes from government funding which is still the largest share of the total public expenditure in 1998. As regards local funding, local authorities have provided only a small percentage of educational budget. Other sources of educational expenditure are tuition fees, donations, revenues of educational institutions, foreign loans and technical assistance. Besides, the private sector has also participated in and contributed to the provision of education in Thailand. |
