In Media / POST TODAY EDITORIAL

Written by Writer on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

In Media / POST TODAY EDITORIAL

The government should reconsider its plan to use 100 billion baht from the Social Security Fund (SCF) to finance a low-interest loan programme for indebted school teachers.

The idea is supported by Education Minister Srimuang Charoensiri and Labour Minister Uraiwan Thienthong. But we beg to differ.

The ministers’ idea is nothing more than an effort to boost the embattled government’s popularity.

Why does the government have to draw money from the SCF, which is made up of contributions from workers? It is not fair to use workers’ savings to help indebted teachers.

The government should borrow from the Government Savings Bank or set aside a special budget for this purpose.

According to the Education Minister, each government school teacher has about one million baht in debt. The total debt these teachers owe to private lenders and banks is more than 10 billion baht.

Before proceeding with its plan, the government must first find the root cause of their problem. Is it due to their low salaries, or their extravagant lifestyles?

If teachers are not paid enough, the Education Ministry must give them special allowances.

There are some other ways to help these teachers without taking from the workers’ fund, which should be kept for the workers when they retire. If will be these workers who suffer if teachers cannot repay their loans.

Politicians must stop using other people’s money to boost their own popularity.

Bangkok Post
Tuesday November 11, 2008