The Office of the Basic Education Commission is to crack down on the payment of "tea money" to schools in exchange for admission.

"I believe the practice of giving tea money will be seen after March 27 when parents know if their children can get into their chosen schools," office secretary-general Khunying Kasama Varavarn said yesterday.

Applications for Mathayom 1 and Mathayom 4 places are open between Friday and March 20.

The entrance exams are on March 24 for Mathayom 1 and on March 25 for Mathayom 4. Results will be announced on March 27. A draw for students living in the schools' catchment area is on April 1.

The month and the first half of April is a chaotic time for parents as they scramble to find schools for their children. Parents of grade-six students looking for places in Mathayom-1 classes are especially busy.

Kasama said yesterday the Education Ministry had assigned inspector-generals to monitor how popular schools admitted new students.

"Any parent or student can report any tea-money case to us via our call centre hotline number 1579," she said.

In a bid to prevent tea-money being paid, Education Minister Wijit Srisaan has barred schools from taking donations between mid-February and mid-April - the period when schools admit new students.

Despite news of the crackdown, many parents say they are still willing to pay if it will get their children into the best schools.

A civil servant told The Nation she and her husband wanted very much for their child to study in a popular secondary school in Bangkok's Suan Luang district.

The school had an 80-per-cent pass record in university-entrance exams.

The school had a good reputation for student care and administration, she said. She had offered a five-figure "donation" to the school's parent-teacher association to ensure a place.

She said that was a "friendly rate" compared with others who paid six-digit donations. "I'm willing to pay money in exchange for my child to study at this school," she added.

Another parent trying to secure a Mathayom-1 place at a provincial school said the ministry prohibition would not dissuade parents from offering tea money. They want children to study at the best schools.

"Our family doesn't want to pay extra but if that's what it takes to get our kid a good school where he can stay until Mathayom 6 and get a bright future then we will do it," she said.

A state-enterprise worker revealed how schools accepted donations. She applied for a place in a Mathayom-1 English programme last year at a Keak Kai school. She was asked by the school to write down a six-digit-plus figure that she could afford. She named Bt100,000. At first, the school said it was too little.

She was then interviewed by a school employee in charge of admissions and later asked to purchase a "school gift voucher" for the Bt100,000.

Meanwhile, the director of Benjamarachanusorn School in Nonthaburi, Vinai Noonphan, said private schools would be affected by the ministry's donation prohibition but state schools would not because they were funded by the government.

"Our school has a policy not to take any money from parents in exchange for student places. If they're trying to push their kids in, we'd consider each case based on necessity, like the kids live near the school and have no other place to study," he said.

If all places are taken then it closes applications and is not swayed by offers of money, he said.

Last year, 1,100 students applied for its 480 Mathayom-1 places. Half the places were filled by children from its catchment area, 40 per cent from outside and the remainder by special-needs students.

Annual fees are Bt1,700 per student. This covers insurance, health check-ups and supplementary activities, he said. The state pays Bt1,800 per student per year head per year. This is sufficient, he said and the school did not need to seek donations.

Samsenwittayalai School director Wisaruth Sodhichai said the donation prohibition would help popular-school directors when handling parents during admission periods.

But, he said the prohibition would succeed only if everybody followed it.

He asked parents not to offer money because it put school staff under stress, especially when the offers came from "influential people". He said some had even been hospitalised during admissions periods.

He said influential people were hard to decline.

Bangkok Deputy Governor Putthipong Punnakun said Bangkok Metropolitan Administration schools would follow the prohibition although he denied tea money was a problem.

Popular schools like Prachaniwet, Ban Bang Kapi, or Rama 9 will be watched, he said.

One working man said his nephew applied for a Mathayom-4 place at a private school in Chon Buri's Sri Racha district last year. There were two entrance exams.

The first saw all successful candidates admitted along with those who paid the most money.

The second round was held to extract higher donations, he said.

He said his sister was asked to pay Bt70,000 plus other fees to admit his nephew.

"Why such big money for this? I see it this way: My nephew can study at the school he wants because it is a good school with good facilities, including an athletics programme.

"My nephew begged his mother to get him. My sister at first disagreed, but finally agreed because he is a good boy," he said.

Mayuree  Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation