Ghost pupils haunt system
The Ministry of Education has had many corruption cases revealed this year. Some have been of the most venal kind, including theft of funds for student meals, with pupils served starvation lunches. Officials now are trying to dismiss another significant corruption outrage as some sort of minor bookkeeping error. They must not get away with it.
The new scandal facing the Education Minister, Teerakiat Jareonsettasin, is being referred to as the “ghost students affair”. It is currently centred in Kham Sakae Saeng district of Nakhon Ratchasima, where it was first discovered and made public. It is, however, a semi-ingenious method of using fraud and embezzlement to rob the education system of substantial funds.
The “ghost students” scandal is actually simple, once those in the system realise the weakness involved. It exploits a weak programme under which schools receive and pass on — supposedly — significant funds for students in years 7 though 12, or junior and senior high school.
Schools receive 4,800 baht (grades 7, 8 and 9) or 6,250 baht (grade 10, 11 and 12) for each student from the national budget each school year. The funds are used specifically for educational help, student quality development and purchase of textbooks. Even at small schools, that amount of cash adds up quickly when multiplied by the number of students involved. Bookkeeping is apparently fast and loose, making corruption rather simple.
The issue of ghost students was exposed recently in Nakhon Ratchasima. Schools have been receiving the aid funds for students whose names appear on school class registers, but who do not attend classes, if they even exist. The use of “ghosts” to pad payrolls is hardly a new scam. It has been uncovered in many areas in the past, particularly in paramilitary units where officers were found putting fake names on payroll registers, and pocketing the money.
Education officials are currently claiming this is not the case in Nakhon Ratchasima. They admit that the aid funds have been paid to three schools where 239 students are “missing”. At just one school, the main school in Kham Sakae Saeng district, funds of well over 1 million baht were paid for 196 students who don’t exist.
The chief of the Office of Anti-Corruption in Public for Area 3, Samart Chainarong, has told the media that the 239 students do exist, but didn’t show up for class. That simply raises additional questions. The staff involved at these schools must be held accountable. For starters — they must explain why they accepted the aid funds for students who were not present.
But there are two obvious key issues so far unanswered. The first is where the money meant for students went. That is currently a mystery, even though logic dictates that tracing the funds to specific schools should be easy. The money was delivered, signed for and then disappeared, according to the anti-corruption chief. That is a simple task for any investigator.
But the real issue is how many ghost students exist nationwide. Given the recent corruption cases discovered inside the Ministry of Education and at its schools, it is impossible to believe that ghost students exist at only three schools in one district of one province.
In April, anti-corruption investigators found ministry employees had stolen more than 600 million baht over a 10-year period of embezzlement at the Educational Fund for Life Development. In June, local education officials in Surat Thani were found to be literally stealing lunch money from children. The embezzlement of school lunch funds was uncovered when parents found their children were being served cheap, miserly dishes like noodles and fish sauce for lunch.
The ghost students scandal is potentially another nationwide issue. Mr Teerakiat must immediately explain the scope of the investigation. Given the apparent ease and simplicity of the crime, the use of ghost students to steal taxpayers’ funds meant for education is likely to be a major source of corruption nationwide.