The Functions of School Boards in Relation to the Characteristics of Schools and Communities in Thailand

Abstract

  Parental and community participation through the school board system is a fundamental component of School-Based Management (SBM). However, it has been gradually recognized that parental and community participation sometimes undermines the achievement of equity in education due to unequal opportunities for the participation of community members. In the case that the social situation of parents and communities differs by school, the functions of school boards might also differ and tend to reinforce existing disparities.

  In Thailand, the 1999 National Education Act included a provision that educational organizations including schools providing basic education shall establish boards supervising, promoting, and supporting school management. In addition, ministerial ordinances and related regulations stipulated the composition of board members, measures to decide board members, and affairs requiring the approval of school boards in school management. Compared to former school board systems, the current system more clearly requires school boards to act as “councils” making proposals and giving approvals in school management, in addition playing their existing role as “coordinators” building partnerships between schools and communities and promoting resource mobilization.

  This study analyses the implementations of the school board system in Thailand and the difficulty inherent in their serving as “councils”. In so doing, it also discusses initial conditions where school boards function as “councils” and risks to reinforce existing disparities among schools. Firstly, the transition of school management system in Thailand is overviewed, comparing the case of primary and secondary education. The characteristics of the current school board system are then defined. Secondly, based on questionnaire and interview surveys conducted with school administrators in two provinces and members of selected school boards, this study analyzes efficiency and challenge of the school board system at “extended opportunity schools”, primary schools that continue to teach students up to lower-secondary level, and secondary schools, which provide lower and upper-secondary education.

  According survey results, school administrators of two school types appreciated the contributions of school boards to medium extent on the whole. Compared to answers of school administrators at secondary schools, more school administrators at extended opportunity schools marked items related to function of “coordinators” with “highly appreciate”; specifically, these were “board members hear problems and attend to parent and community education needs”, “board members promote resource mobilization and supports from various partners”, and “board members raise education awareness levels among parents and communities”. The item of “board members promote support for disadvantaged students” resulted in a great difference between two school types. For the reason that extended opportunity schools have had a long experience with parental and community participation, school boards effectively functioned as “coordinators”, especially at extended opportunity schools.

  However, school administrators of both school types held less favorable views regarding the contribution of school boards as “councils”, as reflected in responses to the items “board members make proposals for academic matters” and “board members make proposals for personnel matters”. Interestingly, 77％ of school administrators at extended opportunity schools and 81％ of those at secondary schools answered that they felt some difficulties related to school boards. (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)