The House Education Committee proposed to strictly upgrade the safety of educational institutions after the bus fire incident, recommending that the entire vehicle system be x-rayed and measures be taken to prevent a repeat, and provide mental support and encouragement to students nationwide, while disagreeing with the cancellation of field trips.
Mr. Sopon Saram, Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Education Committee, gave a press conference on the bus fire on a field trip for students in Uthai Thani Province. He said that incidents related to unsafety in educational institutions occur frequently. This time, the issue that should not have happened was the vehicle. The committee saw that the regulations on field trips in 2019 already exist, but the enforcement by the implementers is lax. Therefore, it is proposed that the Ministry of Education must be strict on safety in all matters of educational institutions and must take care of children and youth on field trips by enforcing them according to stand
ards. He also saw that field trips for children and youth are an important matter that must continue, which the Office of the Basic Education Commission still sees as important. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education should inspect the X-rays of vehicles transporting students and teachers that are not up to standard and are out of condition throughout the system for confidence.
‘Substandard school buses should be X-rayed, especially in rural areas where we see old vans and armored minibuses for children going to school, which is a big problem. On this occasion, school buses, whether for field trips or to school, should be thoroughly inspected because using these types of buses is popular in rural areas where children are sent to school,’ said Mr. Sophon.
Mr. Sopon added that the committee also saw the importance of the communication policy of the Ministry of Education executives, which must be clear and urgent measures should be issued instead of providing unclear information. In addition, executives and teac
hers should prioritize safety and not be careless. They must come out and take responsibility for the incident, along with measures to prevent it from happening again. In addition to boosting morale, the compensation for the incident must also include the mental state of both the students who were involved in the incident and students nationwide, because they are equally grieving.
‘I myself have experienced this kind of loss, losing my son, so I know that this kind of loss is a serious matter, so I give importance to healing the mental state of students nationwide to erase the wounds from this incident. All of these matters should be improved simultaneously. I hope that educational institutions nationwide will not panic and cancel field trips because of fear because of news like this,’ said Mr. Sophon.
Mr. Sopon also said that today he invited the Office of the Basic Education Commission to explain the case of the civil service recruitment examination in Sa Kaeo Province. He found that it was a case of negl
igence. It is an example that if something like this happens, there will be a lack of confidence in the Thai education system. Therefore, the quality of civil servants in the Ministry of Education must be increased more strictly. In the case of Sa Kaeo Province, it is pitiful that people who are seen as wrong by society due to miscommunication and inability to explain, so he noted that from now on, the communication of the Ministry of Education must be clear and understandable.
Source: Thai News Agency