School bribery allegations ‘have grounds’
The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) yesterday said there were grounds to allegations that Samsenwittayalai School’s director took a bribe.
Video footage showing phone calls and the handover of money was shot during a period when Obec forbade all schools from raising funds, a commission fact-finding panel said.
Obec has set up a committee to consider possible disciplinary action against Samsenwittayalai School director, Viroj Samluan, who was accused of demanding 400,000 baht in “tea money” from a parent in exchange for enrolling his child in the school.
Obec secretary-general Karun Sakulpradit, who oversaw the investigation, yesterday said the fact-finding panel found the video was shot during a period when Obec gave orders to schools to stop fundraising activities. Also, the person in the video did not give a receipt to the parent for the payment, even though the school always provides receipts for school donations immediately, not a day later as claimed in the conversation taking place in the video.
“These are two important pieces of evidence that indicates the accusation has grounds,” Mr Karun said.
Mr Karun said Obec has transferred Mr Viroj to work at the Secondary Educational Service Area Office 1 to enable the panel to probe the case further.
Obec’s chief said it was too early to say if the school’s director was guilty. He said there are three scenarios the results of the investigation could lead to: It might be found the school director is not guilty; the school director could be found guilty of a misdemeanor; or he could be found guilty of serious misconduct.
“If the committee finds he is guilty of serious misconduct, he will definitely face serious disciplinary action and be fired from the civil service,” he said.
Mr Karun said the investigation will also cover other school employees who may have conspired with the school director, including his deputy who allegedly accepted the cash on his behalf.
Samsenwittayalai School made headlines last month after a parent circulated a video clip allegedly showing the school director, Viroj Samluan, receiving money for accepting his child into Mathayom 1.
The parent allegedly recorded every interaction with the school director, including phone calls and the handover of the purported bribe.
Mr Viroj said he is the victim of a plot to oust him by disgruntled alumni whose children were not admitted to the school. He denied the charge of taking a bribe.
Meanwhile, permanent secretary for education Chaipreuk Serirak denied a rumour circulating on social media that the Education Ministry will forbid students from using mobile phones to take photos and make recordings in classrooms on the instruction of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
“The PM did not say that students should not use mobile phones for photos or recordings in classrooms. He was only concerned that students may miss key points if they only record what is taught,” he said.