Schools to subsidise textbooks in budget drive
The Education Ministry plans to change its policy, from giving away textbooks to students to lending them next academic year, to save money. At present, the ministry spends around five billion baht a year buying textbooks for eight million students at primary and secondary levels across the country. Minister Teerakiat Chareonsettasin has instructed the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) to lend textbooks to students nationwide. “For this fiscal year, Obec asked cabinet for another 100 million baht due to the rise in paper prices,” he said. Under the state’s 12-year free education policy, the ministry must subsidise tuition fees, school supplies, uniforms, textbooks, and development activities for all students.
