The tragic death of an underprivileged student in Phatthalung province is shedding light on flaws in the allocation of state budget funds.
The student, 14, committed suicide about two weeks ago after becoming devastated over the education fees she owed.
The government is currently defending its plan to pass a 3.18-trillion-baht budget bill for the next fiscal year in parliament.
A few opposition MPs cited the case during the first reading of the 2023 budget bill, which began on Wednesday.
Parliament was to vote on the bill last night, and if the bill was shot down, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would have to resign.
The Education Ministry proposed 325.9 billion baht, among the highest in the bill, followed by the Interior Ministry with 325.5 billion baht, the Finance Ministry with 285.2 billion baht and the Defence Ministry with 197.2 billion baht.
Like the rest of the government agencies, the Education Ministry's large budget would go to salaries and severance payments.
However, the allocation plan neither seems cost-efficient nor strategically effective.
According to the Move Forward Party (MFP), the proposed education budget for the 2023 fiscal year shrunk by about 4 billion baht when compared to the last one due to the large number of ministry officials retiring next year.
The opposition party said that the money the Education Ministry receives has not been well-spent.
In addition, the ministry's budget allocation plan offers little to individual students.
Sirikanya Tansakul, a member of parliament with the MFP, said the subsidy rate for each student -- who needs uniforms, books and stationery -- is too low.
The planned subsidy is lower than before due to low student enrollment rates due to the kingdom's declining birthrate. But advanced countries, despite their sharp declines in birthrates, have chosen not to decrease state subsidies.
In an interview with local media, the MP pointed out that each student only gets 21 baht for lunch.
Ms Sirikanya said that despite having fewer students in the kingdom's education system, the ministry still plans to spend a great deal of cash on construction projects while giving little attention to supporting students who lag behind in online learning sessions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
At the same time, many students who are studying remotely are at risk of becoming drop-outs.
Gen Prayut yesterday dismissed reports concerning the matter, claiming the help the government provides is sufficient for students. Supposedly, this is what he was informed of by the ministry.
The prime minister would do a great service to the education system, and underprivileged students, if he questioned how such information, especially when in reality one student took her own life over a lack of support, would help.
If state assistance is indeed ample, as he claimed, such a tragic loss could have been avoided.
The prime minister should instead demand to review the reports of the 14-year-old's tragic death and see if there are any budgetary errors that can be fixed, which would be the right move in tackling this tough issue.
