Nea Eng PDF

National Education
Accounts of Thailand
2008-2013
Methodology and Key Findings
Revised Edition
Chaiyuth Punyasavatsut
Duangmanee Laovakul
Kaewkwan Tangtipongkul
Sasiwimon Warunsiri Paweenawat
Supachai Srisuchart
With financial supports from
Quality Learning Foundation
Health Promotion Foundation
March 2016
Contents
PREFACE
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Conceptual Framework, Methodology and Data Sources
12
2.1 Conceptual Framework
13
2.2 Methodology
15
2.3 Sources of Data
19
Chapter 3 Basic Accounting Tables
20
22
3.1 Basic National Education Accounting Tables
Chapter 4 Key Aggregates and Indicators on Thailand Educational Spending
42
4.1 Key aggregates on Thailand education spending
43
4.2 Education Expenditure by Financing Agencies
46
4.3 Education Expenditures by Levels of Education
48
4.5 Education Expenditure by Service Functions
50
Chapter 5 Conclusions and remarks
52
5.1 Making the NEA more Policy Relevance
53
5.2 Further revisions and updates
54
References
56
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1 Financial Flows as Tracked by the Thailand NEA
14
Figure 4.1 Education Expenditures in Thailand and Its Composition, 2008-2013.
45
Figure 4.2 Education Expenditures of Central Government by Education Levels in
45
Thailand, 2008-2013
Figure 4.3 Sources of Education Expenditures in Thailand in 2008 and 2013
47
Figure 4.4 Total Educational Expenditures by Level of Education in Thailand,
48
2008 and 2013
Figure 4.5 Per-Student Public Spending in 2013 by Education Levels (Baht/student)
49
Figure 4.6 Total Education Expenditures by Service Functions in 2013
50
Figure 4.7 Composition of Per-Student Total Education Expenditures
51
by functions in 2013. (Baht/Student/Year)
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Educational Expenditures by Educational levels and by

Budget Categories in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
Table 3.2 Educational Expenditures by Financing Agencies and Educational Level

37
Functions of Services and Levels of Education, 2013. (Unit: Million Baht)
Table 4.1 Total Education Expenditures and Key Spending Indicators, 2008-2013

35
of Services in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
Table 3.7 Educational Expenditures from Public Financing Agencies by

33
Commission in 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
Table 3.6 Educational Expenditures by All Financing Agencies and Function

29
and Educational Levels, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
Table 3.5 Educational Budget by Function of Services: Office of Basic Education

26
in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
Table 3.4 Educational Expenditures by Public Financing Agencies, Budget Categories

24
in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
Table 3.3 Educational Expenditures by Financing Agencies and Providers

23
44
(at the current price)
Table 4.2 Numbers of Student by Education Levels and Financing Agencies, 2013
49
LIST OF ABBREVIATION
CGD
The Comptroller Generals Department
DOLA
Department of Local Administration
GDP
Gross Domestic Products
GFMIS
Government Fiscal Management Information System
GFS
Government Finance Statistics
ISCED
International Standard Classification of Education
LG
Local Government
NEA
National Education Accounts
NESDB
National Economic and Socio Development Board
NGO
Non-Governmental Organization
NHA
National Heath Accounts
NSO
National Statistics Office
OBEC
Office of the Basic Education Commission
OVEC
Office of the Vocational Education Commission
OHEC
Office of the Higher Education Commission
OEC
Office of the Education Council
OPS
Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education
OPEC
Office of the Private Education Commission
ROW
Rest of the Word
SES
Socio and Economic Survey
PREFACE
The Thailand National Education Account (NEA) tracks a countrys total resource allocation for education
during 2008-2013. It follows the flow of funds from source to service provision using a set of matrices,
tables and charts. Sources of educational finance include both central and local governments, business
sector, household spending, and non-government organizations. The Thailand NEA also disaggregates
educational expenses by functions, by expenditure categories, and by financial sources.
Major sources of information come from various concerned governmental offices, including the ComptrollerGenerals Department, Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, the Budget Bureau, the Office of National
Economic and Social Economic Development Board, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior, the
Local Government Administrative offices and the National Statistical Office.
The analysis of the Thailand NEA provides a more comprehensive vision of the total investment in education
in Thailand. We found that an estimate of total education expenditure in 2013 amounted to 802,449 million
Baht at current price including capital formation and government borrowings. It accounted for 6.2 percent
of GDP. Major sources of educational finance are government spending, accounting for 80 percent of the
total. Other major contribution from non-government source is from household spending, accounting for
20 percent of the total.
This size of resources for education puts Thailand among the worlds top education spender relative to its
size. Despite its enormous educational resources, poor educational quality and inequality remains a challenge
for policymakers. We are always awared that the availability of financial resources does not guarantee
learning outcome, Thailand is a case in point. It is also true that it is impossible to achieve these ends without
adequate resources. For taxpayers, we cannot stop wondering where and how their money had been spent.
This study hopes to give some answers to those questions and shed some light on ways to improve the
current financing system. Towards this end, we also address missing pieces of information for creating more
complete and comprehensive accounts for the national investment on education.
This report is based on the study by the NEA working group from the Thammasat University and the
University of Thai Chamber of Commerce. The Thailand NEA study is promoted and funded by the Quality
Learning Foundation Office (QLF), the public-funded non-profit organization under government supervision.
The full report can be found at the Quality Learning Foundation website, www.qlf.or.th. We hope that contents
and details supporting our works will be soon available for those who are interested in.
The sheer size of this work is accomplished with lots of helps and suggestions from various concerned
government agencies and participants in our series of meetings and seminars. Lists are very long and we
would like to thank them all here. In particular, we would like to thank the National Health Account team
including Dr.Viroj Tangcharoensathien and Dr.Suwit Wibulpolprasert. More importantly, we would like to
thank the Quality Learning Foundation, especially The Managing Director of QLF, Dr.Supakron Buasai,
the NEA project coordinator, Dr.Kraiyos Patrawart and his assistant, Ms.Kanidta Kunawisarut, for given us
this opportunity to start the NEA in Thailand and for their vital tactical supports in the past 5 years. We also
want to thank our wonderful assistants, Dollapak Chaiyabutr, Natcha Kongkaew, Onanong Taweepreda,
Nichaphat Wongchaoum, Sutida Plyngam and Pongtat Vanichanan. Finally, we very much appreciate the
funding supports from the Quality Learning Foundation and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
NEA Working group
Chaiyuth Punyasavatsut
Duangmanee Laovakul
Kaewkwan Tangtipongkul
Sasiwimon Warunsiri Paweenawat
Supachai Srisuchart
Chapter 1
Introduction
Introduction
Thailand has continually increased its education investment since its education reform began in 1999.
The government sector has invested heavily in Thai education, accounting for 20 percent of total
government budget or equivalently 4 percent of GDP. Other sectors have increased their contributions in
the sector as well. However, the size of total financial resources that Thailand spent on its education is not
well understood. Accurate information on education spending in each education level and the relative
contributing roles of non-government sectors in education provision are also limited.
Understanding where the education resources come from and how these resources are distributed is
extremely important for making sound policies. It helps us how to ensure efficiency of public spending,
promoting quality and equity. It also sheds some light on issues on adequacy of resources for all students,
returns to education investments and the role of other sectors in education provision. Such understanding
helps us to determine optimal roles of the Thai government in education provision in the future.
National Education Accounts (NEAs) is a way to collect and use the information to track all financial
resources and document their uses. NEAs can be used to disaggregating financial resources by sources,
constructing financial indicators and per-student spending and a share of education spending in GDP.
NEAs tracks resource allocation by sources and destinations, by public or private, by education levels and
by spending activities such as basic learning, special student development or teacher trainings. By
comparing and identifying the education resources to policy priorities, the NEAs can inform the budgeting
process with valuable information. It is thus a useful method for improving system of education finance.
In a broader term, the NEAs can also help to address linkage between resources in the education sector
and learning outcome measures (Van der Gaag and Putcha, 2013). If outcomes means enrolment plus
learning together, our understanding of the size and use of financial resources to achieve those outcome
could accordingly extend to other learning sector and environments outside schools or universities.
Creating the NEAs both narrow and broader terms--needs comprehensive financial data on education
and good countrys system of information.
Introduction
10
National Education Accounts of Thailand 2008-2013:
In recent years, we have seen a growing interest in building national education accounts in a number of
countries including Turkey, Morocco, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Philippines and Nigeria. The French
NEAs is among the first pilot study in this area since 1974. Several international organizations such as
USAID, the World Bank, the UNESCO, among others, start to push the NEA frameworks in several
countries to track flow of finance in education (Van der Gaag and Abetti, 2011).
This NEAs book is the outcome of the first pilot study in Thailand. It aims to provide understanding of
complete resources devoted to the education sector, the flow of funds and their end uses. Methodological
framework for developing the Thailand NEAs follows that of Thailand National Health Accounts. Such
framework allows the system to disaggregate spending by activities and service providers. With those
goals in mind, the current Thailand NEAs is not yet developed as a satellite account of the national income
account system.
This study provides the education accounts covering 2008-2013. It also provides in-depth analyses of
financial flows from various sources (or financing agencies) to concerned government agencies (education
service areas and schools). It also covers financial supports that schools receive from local community and
local government authorities, financial contributions from private sector in education provision and
households.
Major sources of information come from various concerned governmental offices, including the ComptrollerGenerals Department, Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, the Budget Bureau, the Office of National
Economic and Social Economic Development Board, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior, the
Local Government Administrative offices and the National Statistical Office.
This report has 4 chapters. Chapter 1 provides the study rationales and objectives. Chapter 2 presents
methodological frameworks, definitions and classifications for mutual understanding and international
comparison, and sources of data. Chapter 3 shows the outputs of the study in forms of 7 accounting
tables that have been possible to construct. Chapter 4 examines some aggregates and key indicators
based on accounting tables with various classifications in details: by financial sources, by levels of
education, by budget categories, by functions. Chapter 5 concludes and notes the shortcomings and
possible future studies.
12
Chapter 2
Conceptual Framework,
Methodology and Data Sources
Conceptual Framework,
Methodology and
Data Sources
This chapter aims to provide the conceptual and practical information needed to set up and implement the
national educational account in Thailand. It is useful to start by clarifying why the NEA are being developed
and how they can help to achieve better education system. Details of data source utilization need to be
recorded and they are very important for constructing any meaningful tables for policy guidance.
This chapter consists of 3 sections. Section 2.1 presents conceptual framework for constructing the
national education accounts. Section 2.2 describes methodology and analytical dimensions of the NEA
adopted for Thailand. Section 2.3 provides in details sources of information used in each part of the
accounting tables.
2.1 Conceptual Framework

The National Education Account (NEA) can be defined as a complete system of information on financial
flows related to education investment (Jeljoul, Dalous and Briere 2011). It helps to reveal details of the
national investment in its education system. It helps to follow the flow of funds from source to service
provision via basic accounting tables. In effect, the NEA can help to answer the following questions (Van
der Gaag and Abetti, 2011):
(a) What are the sources of funds for the education system? National education accounts help provide
the basis for assessing the adequacy of financial resources for education. It also gives ideas how and
where the country can mobilize more resource to support the production of education services.
(b) Who are the intermediate financing agents and how do they expend and distribute funds? Knowledge
about who finance education production is important for designing policies and intervention programs.
It also gives us ideas about the fairness of the system. How large is the financial burden relative to their
means?
(c) How much do money goes to service providers? Answering to these questions describe the allocation
of expenditures to different types of education providers. It also shows how much money is ultimately
spent by final producers. Tracking resources available in hands of service providers also shed some
light on system transparency and efficiency of their uses.
Conceptual Framework, Methodology and Data Sources 13
14
(d) How are education resources distributed across the different services and activities? What goods and
services are procured and produced? The NEA shows a valuable measure of the actual spending
priorities of the education system or the government intervention programs. Measures of spending
shares across services and activities can indicate if resources are adequately provided to support
meaningful and effective functions. Does the country use enough money to enhance enrolment and
quality of some service level? What are the actual resources used by learning institutions to improve
learning quality and skills?
(e) Who benefits from those goods and services? Education services can be grouped along a variety of
different dimensions, including income groups, age groups, geographical locations, education status
or conditions (disadvantages, handicapped, immigrants, etc.), or types of government intervention
programs. Knowing who benefits from education expenditures in terms of monetary values answers
the key equity concern in education provision.
The NEA tracks the flow funds from one actor to another. The general financial flows which the NEA tracks
can be summarized as in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1 Financial Flows as Tracked by the Thailand NEA
Source: by authors and adaptation from Van der Gaag and Abetti (2001).

As explained above, governments can use education accounts in several ways to improve education
system performance. Financing information is an essential input for improving the functioning of education
system. It addresses the efficiency, equity and adequacy of resource uses for the nation in education.
Constructing the NEA can be done and is independent of the structure of the country financing system.
However, it should be noted that the NEA cannot answer to all education policy questions. Without adding
other dimensions beyond financial data, it cannot answer the effectiveness of education expenditures. To
answer many policy questions, combining both financial and non-financial information together are
necessary.
Like the System of National Income (SNI) Account, the NEA provides the financial state of the education
system. The NEA shares many characteristics of a satellite account under the SNI. On the aggregate,
estimates of total education expenditure should be comparable with a nations gross domestic product
(GDP). If data sources for expenditure estimation are the same, we expect to see close and similarities in
figures. At the end, both sets of accounts give measures of the current use of resources for the national
education provision.
However, there are also several differences between the NEA and SNI. Most of these differences are
related to the ways in which flows of resources are put in the account. It is obvious that some educational
expenditure is not recorded in the same way as it is in the system of National Income Account. For
instance, business sector spending on personnel training appears as firms cost, but not educational
investment. In the SNI, there are no distinguish between the concepts of financing units and service
providers. As a result, the SNI does not provide similar informations about education sector finance, which
are more relevant for policymakers or educators. As noted, the Thailand NEA is still a pilot study and has
not yet constructed to be comparable with the satellite account of the System of National Income Account.
We hope close linkage between these two accounts could be established in the near future.
Generally speaking, the methodology for constructing the NEA can follow that used in the National Health
Account (NHA). The NHAs, which exist worldwide, have been successfully used to monitor and evaluate
health policy in various countries. By far, only handful countries have successfully made the NEA. Accurate
data collection and difficulties seem to be the biggest challenge to construct the NEA.
In Thailand, the NHA, first developed in 1994 by the Health Systems Research Institute, has been
successfully sustained and has contributed to health policy development. With some guidance and
experiences from the NHA teams, the first NEA, therefore, has been piloted with patterns after the national
health account.
2.2 Methodology
The Thailand NEA study consists of the following steps.
(a) Review related literature on national education accounts.
(b) Identify tentative accounting tables from data availability and collection feasibility.
(c) Specify definitions of key terms in basic accounting tables.
(d) Determine sources of finances, financing agencies, service providers, spending functions, and
grouping of financing agencies, covering both public and private sectors.
(e) Make detailed plans to collect data from both financing sources and service providers. Some institution
surveys are designed and carried out. Works in step heavily involve with strategic partners into the
process.
16
(f) Once data are received and checked, inputting the basic accounting tables using actual spending.
Assuming that spending during the fiscal year is approximately close to that during the calendar year.
Spending data from non-public sources are mostly recorded within the calendar year.
(g) Disaggregating accounting tables into dimensions. Dimensions of the account are however subject
to details of data the current financing system can provide.
(h) Once the basic tables are completed, we start to deal with double counting problem. The flow of funds
can be used as a guide for tracking the expenditures on education from their sources through the
education providers. To avoid double counting, the funds need to be tracked to the ultimate recipients
or the final users. For instance, scholarship to student cannot be both accounted by government
expenditures and household expenditures. Donations from households and business sector to
learning institutions should be treated as sources of finances. Similarly, households spending in terms
of fee and tuitions cannot be both included in government expenditures as well as household
expenditures.
(i) Summarize the size and patterns of education expenditure according to each basic table. If longer
series are available, we can examine shifts and changes in patterns of expenditures. For instance, the
impact of the 15-year free-education policy on household contribution and the private education
providers. Changes in contributions of individuals and business sector via tax instrument.
(j) Link the size of education expenditures to numbers of beneficiaries. If details of resource spending
across regions or locations are available, issues of equity in education can be further examined.
Analytical Dimensions of the National Education Account

The financial state of the system of education finance can be tabled in many different ways, depending on
which dimensions of education expenditures are being analyzed. Following the NHA and international
experiences, the Thailand NEA suggests a number of useful dimensions for consideration. Apparently,
these resulting tables reflect the current status of financial information being accessible by the study team.
It is important to note that making the education accounting is an evolutionary process. It is needed to be
continuously improved. Analytical dimensions of the National Education Account appearing in this report
are as follows:
(a) Financing Sources
Financing sources refer to institutions or entities that provide funds used in the system by financing agents.
Sources of education finances in Thailand are as following:

Public sectors include
Institution and entities under central government (excluding local government authorities)
Local government authorities refer to Provincial Administrative Organizations, Municipal authorities
(cities, town and sub-district), Tambon Administrative Organizations, and two special
administrative forms (Bangkok metropolitan and the Pattaya city).
Private sectors include households, business, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Rest of the World (ROW) such as foreign investment, foreign donations and loans
(b) Financing Agencies
Financing agencies refer to institutions or entities that channel the funds provided by financing sources and
use those funds to purchase or pay for the service activities related to the education domain. There are two
main financing agencies: public and private. All agencies can be grouped into 12 entities (to simplify the
tables and for clarity) as follows:
Public Financing Agencies include:

1. Ministry of Education

2. Local government authorities

3. Bangkok Metropolitan

4. The Pattaya city

5. Other ministries

6. Office of Prime Minister

7. State enterprises

8. Funds/revolving funds
Private Financing Agencies include:

9. Households

10. Private Business

11. NGO

12. ROW (Rest of the world)
(c) Services Providers
Education service providers refer to institutions or entities that receive money in exchange for producing
education-related activities within the education domain. Education service providers include public and
private institutions, administrative support entities (both central and local) and households/business (which
provide home schools, in-house training, and spend on educational items outside institutions). These
service providers are end users of educational resources when final services are provided.
(d) Education Services by Levels of Education.
In addition, services are classified by education levels as their provisions require different technologies and
managements in productions of those services. We use the 2011 ISCED to categorize all education levels
and other levels from GFS. Details of classifications in the NEA and ISCED are as follows:
Pre-primary: Early childhood education (the age of 3 or below, ISCED 01) and pre-primary
(ISCED 02)
Primary education (ISCED 1)
Secondary education: general education (ISCED 2 and 34)
Vocational education (ISCED 35)
Tertiary education: with degrees or certificates from universities (ISCED 5 to 8)
Supporting services: administrative services, special education for disadvantages, handicapped,
specific Southern zones, supporting private institutions and student loans. (GFS 7096)
Not-specified by level: services for trainings, teacher capacity enhancing programs, other
supporting programs for leaning (GFS 7095)
Education n.e.c.: supports for non-formal education, life-long learning, policy development and
planning, education sector plans, educational standards, and monitoring and evaluations. (GFS
7098)
The last three categories can be either put in to Not Elsewhere Classified (ISCED 9) or allocated
to other education levels if possible.
(e) Education Services classified by functions
Education expenditures can be classified by functions. Spending functions mean the types of services and
activities provided within the education boundary. To understand various transactions made by voluminous
providers, the NEA needs to classify and summarize the activity or services provided into manageable
groups. The Thailand NEA proposes the ten classifications of education service functions as shown in table
below.
18
Functions
code
Definitions and details
Direct education provisions
EC1
includes
- Basic provision including school

subsidy and teacher salaries
EC1.1
Budget and non-budget used by learning institutions for basic

service provisions. This group covers salaries for teachers and
supporting staffs at institutions, and subsidy allocated to schools/
universities
- Extra provisions for educational EC1.2

attendance
Uniforms, books and learning materials and subsidies for

disadvantages, poor and handicapped students
Activities for student development
School supports for students learning development, such as

sight-seeing travel, special school activity days, ICT development.
EC2
Activities for moral and ethical development of students such as,

life skills program, boy scout, sport days
Curriculum, teaching and learning
materials developments
EC3
Activities aiming to improve learning outcomes, improving quality

through developments of curriculum and teaching/learning
materials and pedagogy
Teacher production and

development
EC4
Activities for teacher development and trainings
Administrative Supports
EC5
Administrative expenses and system organizations at both central

and local service areas (mostly, remuneration, salaries and
compensation for non-teaching staffs, public utilities expenses)
Research and Development (R&D)
EC6
For research and development purposes
Other related activities
EC7
Activities which cannot be classified
Capital expenses
EC8
Materials and building, Lands
Training for non-teaching personnel
EC9
Non-teaching staffs training and development
Loans and scholarships
EC10
Student loans and scholarships
It is important to note that this classification is experimental and reflects the current status of financial
information that is available and also feasible to collect. It is thus subject to revision if more information is
available in the near future. We hope that we can better partition these functions so that there is minimum
overlapping among them. Mapping these transactions into existing international standards and conventions
is also under study. Last but not least, we hope that the future classification will provide enough important
information for better policy relevance.
(f) Budget Categories
Education spending by public sources of funds can be easily classified by budgeting categories. It also
provides basic aggregates of financial data on education. Since most of education expenditures in Thailand
are financed by public sources, it is useful to present and maintain this dimension in some basic accounting
tables. Budget spending can be categorized into 5 groups as follows:
Personnel expenses: salary, permanent wages and additional payments to salaries to civil servants
and all types of governments employees on a monthly basis.
Operating expenses: refers to non-staff operating cost, material costs, remuneration, expenditures
on public utilities, and interests on loans.
Capital expenses: refers to expenditures related to large equipment, land and constructions. It
should be noted that the education account does not show depreciation or amortization cost of
fixed assets. The whole amount of expenditure is recorded in the year in which it occurs.
Subsidy expenses: general subsidies and specific subsidies
Other expenses
Normally, government spending is recorded during the fiscal year starting from October to September of
the next year. In order to be comparable with other sources of expenses and the country GDP recorded
within a calendar year, we simply assume that these government spending approximates those occurred
in the same calendar year.
2.3 Sources of Data

Public sources of education finance come from central government and local government authorities.
Most of public spending data for central government units are compiled from the ComptrollerGenerals department of the Ministry of Finance. Thailands public expenditures follow Government
Finance Statistics (GFS) principles. The GFMIS (Government Fiscal Management Information System)
operated by the Comptroller-Generals Department provides breakdown of public actual expenditures
into plan/programs. This is the most important source for public spending information. Since 2011,
GFMIS has changed its classification of budgets from 1986 revision to the 2001 revision.
Local government authorities in Thailand comprises of 76 Provincial Administrative Organizations,
5,492 Tambon Administrative Organizations (sub-district), 2,283 municipalities, Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration, and the Pattaya City. Local government authorities in Thailand are independent. Their
funding consists mainly of revenue shared with the central government and transfers from the central
government, and their own revenues and borrowing. The current GFMIS does not cover information
on spending by local governments. Gathering data from local governments thus possess serious
difficulties in terms of their access. Their fiscal reportings are not also very stringent and may have
consistency problem due to large numbers of local authority units. The other sources of data were
collected from the Department of Local Administration, the Ministry of Interior.
Household data on spending are from the national household Socio Economic survey (SES) conducted
annually by the National Statistics Office. Details of education expenditures covered by the survey are
quite extensive, thus very useful for estimating their contributions. However, it is believed that the
country estimates on education expenditures by household may have been seriously underestimated.
Checking consistency from other sources of information might be worth consideration if times and
resources are available.
Information on private business contribution on education is from the Revenue Department, the
Ministry of Finance.
Information on NGOs contribution on education is indirectly estimated from the NGO accounts
provided by the Office of National Economic and Social Development Board, and the surveys by NSO,
conducted every 5 years.
Besides, separated surveys on learning institutions were also conducted to provide information on
sources of revenues and spending activities.
20
Chapter 3
Basic Accounting Tables
Basic
Accounting
Tables
This chapter provides both completed and tentative accounting tables describing aspects of education
expenditure in Thailand in 2013. The tables described in this chapter incorporate analytical dimensions
discussed in Chapter 2. The dimensions of education expenditure include financing sources/agents,
providers, education levels, budget categories, service functions or activities. The constructed twodimensional tables show cross-tabulated facet of education expenditures. Following the convention used
in the national health accounts, columns in the tables show the source of funds, while rows show uses of
resources originated from columns. When possible, the national education accounts reflect the flow of
resources from the source to the use.
National accounting tables describing flows of expenses from source/financing agencies in 7 different
formats can be summarized as follows:
Table 3.1 shows total public spending on education by level of education and budget categories. This first
table sets the coverage of financial resources from public sources: central and local governments. The
education levels are divided into 10 different layers, starting from early childhood, pre-primary, primary,
secondary, vocational, tertiary, post-secondary non-tertiary, not defined by level of education, supporting
services and others types of education (n.e.c.).
The budget is divided into 6 categories following the Budget Bureaus framework: personnel expenses,
operating expenses, capital expenses, subsidy, other expenses, and central fund. Each category can be
further subdivided into details.
Table 3.2 shows education expenditures from all financing agencies in 2013. It includes both public and
private agencies. Public agencies are then grouped into 6 main agencies with details as follows:
Ministry of Education includes OBEC, OHEC, OVEC, OPS, OEC and institutions providing tertiary
education (both government-dependent and under government supervision)
Department of Local Aministration (Provincial Administrative Organizations, municipalities, and
Tambon Administrative Organization (sub-district))
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
21
22
Pattaya city
Other education related ministries, and
Revolving funds.
Private agencies are household sector, business sector, NGOs, and Rest of the World (ROW).
Table 3.3 shows education expenditures in 2013 classified by financing agencies, by levels, and by
providers. Education providers can be divided into public institutions, private institutions, administrative
support units (local and central), households providing home schools and other education-related spending
outside institutions.
Table 3.4 shows education expenditures in 2013 from central and local governments classified by budget
categories and levels of education.
Table 3.5 shows education expenditure in 2013 from central and local governments classified by budget
categories and functions. Spending function/activities are divided into 10 groups as follows:
Direct education provision
Learning development activity
Teaching development (curriculum, learning materials)
Teacher production and training
Administrative supports and system organizations
Research and development
Other activities
Capital expenses
Loans and scholarships
Table 3.6 shows education expenditures in 2013 classified by financing agencies (including public and
private sectors) and by activities.
Table 3.7 shows education expenditures in 2013 from central and local governments classified by 10
groups of activities and levels of education. Education provision can be classified into 8 groups: early
childhood, basic education (pre-primary, primary and secondary (excluding vocational), vocational
education, university education, tertiary education without degrees, not-specified by education level,
administrative supports, and others.
3.1 Basic National Education Accounting Tables

This sector discusses characteristics of education spending as tabulated by dimensionalities of resource

flows. To make these tables readable, we aggregate figures from various government agencies into
broader spending units.
Table 3.1 shows public spending on education in 2013 classified by educational levels and budgeting
categories. Combined spending on education from central and local governments amounted to 632,388
Million THB. The central governments spent 510,295 Million THB on education while the local governments
spent 122,093 Million THB. Public expenditure on education, when classified by budgeting categories,
reveals the following facts in 2013:
23
608
4,522
2,605
Supporting Services
Other Types of
Education (n.e.c.)
Other Types of
Education
(n.e.c.)
Not defined by Level

of Education
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary (ISCED 4)
16,510
8,994
Vocational (ISCED 35)
Tertiary (ISCED 5-8)
66,426
117,454
28,728
245,847
3,260
44
262
96
144
72
3,880
temporary
wages
1,073
18
507
902
392
4,692
646
8,230
wages for
government
employees
Personnel Expenses
Salaries
and
permanent
wages
Secondary Education
(ISCED 2, 34)
Primary Education
(ISCED 1)
Pre-primary (ISCED 0)
Early childhood
(ISCED 0)
Total
Level of Education
14,052
12
10,433
24,503
Others
8,163
4,672
2,086
4,375
2,891
9,561
22,159
4,183
58,090
Remuneration and
supplies
449
420
102
1,619
290
57
1,485
61
4,483
public
utilities
13
18
382
-5
-360
-1,635
-41
-1,628
Others
Operating Expenses
199
941
647
2,693
793
2,211
4,242
183
11,908
Durable
Materials
287
1,059
951
11,883
1,529
1,910
5,494
336
23,449
land,
buildings
Capital Expenses
Public Financing Agencies
3,428
4,655
9,743
27,109
10,011
41,293
67,594
24,749
14,150
202,731
Subsidy
Table 3.1 Educational Expenditures by Educational levels and by Budget Categories in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
2,178
5,980
146
29,255
7,129
2,913
2,438
583
50,620
Other
expenses
125
19
106
26
276
Central
Fund
18,397
25,633
14,362
108,647
32,545
124,518
224,178
69,959
14,150
632,388
Total
2.91%
4.05%
2.27%
0.00%
17.18%
5.15%
19.69%
35.45%
11.06%
2.24%
100%
percent
Other Types of
Education (n.e.c.)
Supporting
Services
Not defined by
Level of Education
17,025
4,325
328
77,430
Tertiary
(ISCED 5-8)
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
(ISCED 4)
26,570
14,027
11,740
146
14,328
105,611
Secondary
Education
(ISCED 2, 34)
Vocational
(ISCED 35)
37,422
15,086
13,885
106,634
Department
of Local
Administration
175,019
52,540
458,847
Ministry
Education
Primary Education
(ISCED 1)
Pre-primary
(ISCED 0)
Early childhood
(ISCED 0)
Total
Level of Education
1,460
183
1,433
9,388
2,274
260
14,999
Bangkok
10
11
164
212
59
459
Pattaya
City
1,223
326
2,283
4,923
1,105
2,135
11,996
Others
Ministries
Personnel Expenses
150
5,485
26,112
5,829
1,877
39,452
Revolving
Funds
18,397
25,633
14,362
108,647
32,545
124,518
224,178
69,959
14,150
632,388
Total
26
59,036
10,453
40,754
36,298
17,084
163,651
House
hold
119
148
71
269
345
123
1,075
Business
sector
558
693
334
1,265
1,619
577
5,047
NGO
32
39
19
72
92
33
288
ROW
Private Financing Agencies
Table 3.2 Educational Expenditures by Financing Agencies and Educational Levels in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
19,132
25,633
14,362
168,564
43,422
166,878
262,531
87,776
14,150
802,449
Total
Educa
tional
Expen
ditures
2.38%
3.19%
1.79%
0.00%
21.01%
5.41%
20.80%
32.72%
10.94%
1.76%
100%
percent
24
Personnel spending accounted for 282,460 Million THB. Most of this spending is devoted to
salaries and permanent wages, accounting for 245,847 Million THB or 87.04 percent of total. The
rest went to temporary wage (1.37%), wages for government employees (2.91%), and others
(8.67%).
Operating expenses amounted to 60,945 Million THB., covering remuneration and supplies
(95.32%), public utilities (7.36%).
Capital expenses amounted to 35,357 Million THB., covering durable teaching materials (33.68%)
and land and buildings (66.32%).
Subsidy expenses amounted to 202,731 Million THB. (including general and specific subsidies for
education provision under local government authorities).
Other expenses amounted to 50,620 Million THB. and
Central fund amounted to 276 Million THB.
Education provisions are divided into 10 categories: early childhood, pre-primary, primary, general
secondary, vocational secondary, university levels, higher education without degree, non-specified
education, administrative supports and other educations. It is possible to break down public spending on
Thailand basic education. The results showed that primary education provision received the largest share
of total public spending, accounting for 32.45 percent of total public spending. The rest went to general
secondary (19.69%), university level (17.18%), pre-primary (11.06%), vocational (5.15%), supporting
service (4.05 %), other types of education (n.e.c.) (2.91%), not defined by level of education (2.27%), and
early childhood (2.24%).
Table 3.2 shows education expenditure by financing agencies and education levels in 2013, inclusively
public and private financing agencies.
The results show that the levels of combined public and private spending on education in 2013 accounted
for 802,449 Million THB. The major public financing agency on education is the Ministry of Education,
which spent 458,847 Million THB. Budget spending by the MOE can be broken down to each of its 5
offices as follows:
OBEC 302,759 Million THB, providing mostly on basic education
OHEC 6,272 Million THB, providing mostly on tertiary level
OVEC 21,518 Million THB, providing mostly on vocational education
OPSC 49,934 Million THB, providing mostly on basic education (subsidy to private institutions) and
vocational education.
OEC 273 Million THB on other education levels.
In addition, there are other central government units, schools and universities and other institutions that
have separate institutional budgets. In the budget system, they are presented within line ministry
budgets.
Ratchapat Institutions devoted 14,709 Million THB mostly on tertiary education.
Ratchamongkol Institutions devoted 8,595 Million THB mostly on tertiary education
Universities under government supervision devoted 25,007 Million THB mostly on tertiary education.
Public universities and Religious Universities devoted 26,160 Million THB mostly on tertiary education.
25
Private
Schools
Public
Schools
Providers
Not defined by
Level of
Education
Supporting
Services
Other Types of
Education
(n.e.c.)
41,501
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
Total
Tertiary
5,321
36,180
Vocational
Basic Education
91,311
390,058
-
3,008
10,568
140
63,710
13,885
Department
of Local
Administration
15,838
3,490
271
Early childhood
Total
Other Types of
Education
(n.e.c.)
Supporting
Services
Not defined by
Level of
Education
72,980
Tertiary
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
21,249
276,229
Basic Education
Vocational
Ministry
Education
Early childhood
Level of
Education
13,547
183
13,096
260
Bangkok
449
11
434
Pattaya
City
7,995
132
28
2,266
2,327
3,242
Others
Ministries
11,250
7,976
3,082
192
28,203
150
5,485
18,135
2,747
1,685
Revolving
Funds
52,751
7,976
8,403
36,372
531,562
16,120
12,019
13,116
93,626
24,136
358,396
14,150
Total
Table 3.3 Educational Expenditures by Financing Agencies and Providers in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
52,132
13,952
2,624
35,552
36,101
25,071
766
10,246
House
hold
194
21
23
150
881
119
127
48
587
Business
sector
909
97
107
706
4,138
558
597
227
2,756
NGO
52
40
236
32
34
13
157
ROW
106037
22,051
11,162
72,820
572,917
16,828
12,019
13,116
119,454
25,191
372,159
14,150
Total
Educa
tional
Expen
ditures
13.21%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
2.75%
1.39%
9.07%
0.00%
71.40%
2.10%
1.50%
1.63%
0.00%
14.89%
3.14%
46.38%
1.76%
percent
26
27
Rest
of the
economy
Adminis
trative
Support
Providers
458,847
Total
Total
Other Types of
Education
(n.e.c.)
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
Tertiary
Supporting
Services
Vocational
Basic Education
Not defined by
Level of
Education
27,289
1,186
835
57
4,450
Early childhood
Total
Other Types of
Education
(n.e.c.)
Supporting
Services
Not defined by
Level of
Education
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
Tertiary
20,761
Basic Education
Vocational
Ministry
Education
Early childhood
Level of
Education
106,634
15,323
11,019
1,173
3,126
Department
of Local
Administration
14,999
1,452
1,452
Bangkok
459
10
10
Pattaya
City
11,996
4,001
1,091
298
17
2,596
Others
Ministries
Personnel Expenses
39,452
Revolving
Funds
632,388
48,075
2,277
13,614
1,246
7,045
23,887
Total
163,651
75,419
22
20,014
7,063
48,320
House
hold
1,075
5,047
NGO
Business
sector
288
ROW
Table 3.3 Educational Expenditures by Financing Agencies and Providers in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht) (cont.)
802,449
75,419
22
20,014
7,063
100%
9.40%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
2.49%
0.88%
6.02%
0.00%
48,320
5.99%
0.28%
1.70%
0.16%
0.00%
0.88%
0.00%
2.98%
0.00%
percent
48,075
2,277
13,614
1,246
7,045
23,887
Total
Educa
tional
Expen
ditures
28
Other institutes in Ministry of Education devoted 3,620 Million THB, mostly on supporting services.
Local government (local authorities) spent 122,093 Million THB in 2013. Total local government spending
came from Local Administrative Organizations 106,634 Million THB, BKK 14,999 Million THB, and Pattaya
city 459 Million THB. Most spending under local government was devoted to basic education provision.
Large share of local government spending was also for administrative supports.
Education spending from private financing agencies accounted for 170,060 Million THB. Household
expenses on education represented the biggest share of private spending and accounted for 163,651
Million THB. Most of household spending on education went to basic education (with the largest share on
secondary), followed by spending on tertiary education and vocational education, and others.
Contributions from business sector, NGOs, and ROW on education represented 1,075 Million THB 5,047
Million THB, and 288 Million THB, respectively. We assume that they are distributed to each level of
education proportionaly to numbers of student.
If we consider all combined spending from both public and private agencies, Thailand devoted 517,186
Million THB or 64.45 percent of all funds to basic education provision. Of this basic education spending,
its percentage shares of pre-primary, primary and secondary were 10.94, 32.72 and 20.80, respectively.
Thailand devoted 21.01 percent of total education expenditure on tertiary education, 6.48 percent on
vocational education, 3.19 percent on administrative supports, and 5.94 percent to the rest.
Table 3.3 shows education expenditures by service providers and levels of education, extended of Table
3.2. Identifying revenue/spending levels of service providers will need more information about their
financing sources and its uses. In other words, we must at least know how each financing agency
allocates its funds to final service providers. Spending levels of service providers needs to be comparable
to total funds available for their use. When completed, this table will show spending from 4 service
providers:
Public institutions
Private institutions
Administrative supports (provided by central and local governments)
Rest of the economy
29
Operating
Expenses
Personnel
Expenses
Budget
Categories
791
9,908
Supporting Services
Total
35,112
8,611

of Education
Other Types of
Education (n.e.c.)
6,345
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
3,141
Tertiary
4,785
11,925
305
272,013
Vocational
Secondary Education
Primary Education
Pre-primary
Early childhood
Total
3,574
Supporting Services
Other Types of
Education (n.e.c.)
15
31,308
22,445
4,857
1,742
35
4,315
7,668
3,827
8,663
7,185
94
197
121,447
66,292
396
39,469
106,634
458,847
-
Department
of Local
Administration
Ministry
Education

of Education
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
Tertiary
Vocational
Secondary Education
Primary Education
Pre-primary
Early childhood
Total
Level of Education
613
230
45
271
66
672
590
10
58
14
14,999
Bangkok
Metro.
94
65
15
21
459
Pattaya
City
39,452
Revolving
Funds
4,001
Office of
the Prime
Minister
2,670
14
457
31
47
2,120
1,092
106
556
23
408
7,720
Others
Munisters
218
State
Enterprises
881
57
Independent
Public
Agencies
Table 3.4 Educational Expenditures by Public Financing Agencies, Budget Categories and Educational Levels, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
60,944
8,625
5,091
2,206
6,377
3,176
9,258
22,008
9.64%
1.36%
0.81%
0.35%
0.00%
1.01%
0.50%
1.46%
3.48%
0.66%
0.00%
4,203
44.67%
-
0.58%
1.23%
0.11%
0.00%
4.95%
1.57%
10.58%
19.34%
6.31%
0.00%
100%
Percent
282,460
3,680
7,781
669
31,331
9,908
66,915
122,296
39,879
632,388
Total
Subsidy
Expenses
Operating
Expenses
Budget
Categories
30,517
Secondary Education
Tertiary
2,335
Other Types of
Education (n.e.c.)
114,983
4,325
Supporting Services
Total
182
22,342

of Education
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
9,902
32,664
Vocational
12,716
Primary Education
29,170
Pre-primary
Early childhood
Total
486
Supporting Services
Other Types of
Education (n.e.c.)
65
14,292

of Education
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
Tertiary
2,320
3,384
Secondary Education
Vocational
8,585
40
71,187
9,330
109
9,326
28,104
10,432
13,885
3,924
1,755
572
429
778
389
106,634
458,847
-
Department
of Local
Administration
Ministry
Education
Primary Education
Pre-primary
Early childhood
Total
Level of Education
9,600
183
965
6,639
1,549
260
748
245
60
356
87
14,999
Bangkok
331
88
187
52
14
459
Pattaya
City
39,452
Revolving
Funds
4,001
1,091
298
17
2,595
4,001
Office of
the Prime
Minister
2,436
28
213
1,990
204
1427
961
284
182
7,720
Others
Ministries
152
152
66
66
218
State
Enterprises
41
41
57
Independent
Public
Agencies
Table 3.4 Educational Expenditures by Public Financing Agencies, Budget Categories and Educational Levels, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)(cont.)
202,731
3,428
4,655
9,743
27,109
10,011
41,293
67,594
32.06%
0.54%
0.74%
1.54%
0.00%
4.29%
1.58%
6.53%
10.69%
3.91%
2.24%
14,150
24,749
5.59%
0.08%
0.32%
0.25%
0.00%
2.30%
0.37%
0.65%
1.54%
0.08%
0.00%
100%
Percent
35,357
486
2,000
1,598
14,576
2,321
4,121
9,736
519
632,388
Total
30
31
Central
Fund
Other
Expenses
Budget
Categories
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary

of Education
Supporting Services
Other Types of
Education (n.e.c.)
Total
Tertiary
Secondary Education
-
Primary Education
Vocational
Early childhood
7,569
Total
Pre-primary
2,019
Supporting Services
Other Types of
Education (n.e.c.)
65

of Education
3,143
PostSecondary
Non-Tertiary
1,300
Tertiary
633
Secondary Education
Vocational
399
11
126
125
289
104
61
81
40
106,634
458,847
-
Department
of Local
Administration
Ministry
Education
Primary Education
Pre-primary
Early childhood
Total
Level of Education
150
18
106
26
3,216
390
336
1,958
532
14,999
Bangkok
Metro
459
Pattaya
City
39,452
150
5,485
26,112
5,829
1,877
39,452
Revolving
Funds
4,001
Office of
the Prime
Minister
94
79
7,720
Others
Munisters
218
State
Enterprises
57
Independent
Public
Agencies
Table 3.4 Educational Expenditures by Public Financing Agencies, Budget Categories and Educational Levels, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)(cont.)
276
125
19
106
0.04%
0.00%
0.02%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.02%
0.00%
0.00%
26
8.00%
0.34%
0.95%
0.02%
0.00%
4.63%
1.13%
0.46%
0.39%
0.09%
0.00%
100%
Percent
50,620
2,178
5,980
146
29,255
7,129
2,913
2,438
583
632,388
Total
32
Table 3.4 shows education expenditures from public financing agencies by budgeting categories and
levels of education. In 2013, Thailand spent all public funds on education in amount of 632,388 Million
THB. Of all spending from various concerned government agencies, the MOE spent the most. If we first
examine spending by the Ministry of Education, we found how budget in each category was executed as
follows:
Personnel budget of the MOE were allocated mostly to primary education provision. This budget
represented 121,447 Million THB or 44.65 percent of total personnel expenses. This expense was
executed by the OBEC. Personnel budget for pre-primary education represented 39,469 Million THB or
14.51 percent of total personnel expenses. This expense was also executed by the OBEC. Next, personnel
budget for secondary education accounted for 66,292 Million THB and were spent by OBEC. Personnel
budget for tertiary education accounted for 31,308 Million THB and were spent by OHEC, Ratchapat,
Ratchamongkol, public universities under government supervision. Personnel budget for vocational
education amounted to 9,908 Million THB and were spent by OVEC.
Operating expenses of the MOE were also mostly devoted to the basic education provision. Shares of
operating expenses allocated to pre-primary, primary and secondary were 0.87, 33.96 and 13.63,
respectively. Budget in this category was executed mostly by the OBEC, and its small portion was spent
by the OPS. Other related government agencies and offices under the MOE support mostly for education
beyond the basic education. The rest of the operation expenses of the MOE were allocated for expenses
under the vocational and other education by 8.94% and 24.52%, respectively.
Capital expenses of the MOE were devoted to support the tertiary education was 48.99 percent of this
budget. Shares of capital budget allocated for pre-primary, secondary, and vocational education were
29.43, 11.60 and 7.95, respectively.
Subsidy Expenses is the second largest spending of the MOE, 25.06 percent of this budget. Budget in this
category was executed mostly by OBEC and OPS.
Other Expenses. Majority this budget was devoted to tertiary education provision via the OHEC.
If we now examine educational spending by local government authorities, we found the following facts.
Major share of resources received and spent by local government (DOLA, BKK, Pattaya city) was under
subsidy expense. Considering subsidy expenses, we found that about 81,119 Million THB out of the total
LG expenses, equivalent to 66.44% was devoted to support basic education provision. All expense in
Central Fund was spent by Local Government.
33
EC3
EC4
EC5
EC6
EC7
EC8
EC9
EC10
Teaching Materials/Curriculum Development
Development of teaching personnel
Administrative supports
Other activities
Capital Expenses
Training for non-teaching staffs
Student loans /scholarship
Total
EC2
EC1.2
Extra provision for school attendance
EC1.1
EC1
CODE
Basic provision
Direct Education provision
Level of Education
282,460
35
17
462
23,659
149
66
258,072
258,072
Personal
expenses
60,944
293
1,059
37
42,820
1,058
12,159
565
192
2,761
2,953
Operating
expenses
35,357
35,258
24
75
Capital
expenses
202,731
5,001
3,755
2,639
1,202
4,067
24,487
4,975
7,862
10,942
19,340
118,459
137,800
Subsidies
50,620
39,515
127
1,941
1,795
102
1,521
310
2,246
1,374
110
1,579
1,689
Other
expenses
Budget Categories
Table 3.5 Educational Budget by Function of Services: Public Financing Agencies in 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
276
125
151
Central
Fund
632,388
44,516
4,211
39,964
4,224
4,668
92,511
6,343
22,492
12,948
19,643
380,871
400,514
Total
100%
7.04%
0.67%
6.32%
0.67%
0.74%
14.63%
1.00%
3.56%
2.05%
3.11%
60.23%
63.33%
Percent
34
Table 3.5 shows education expenditure by function/activates and by budgeting categories. Public
spending on education, covering both central and local governments, was amounted to 632,388 Million
THB in 2013. Of this spending, we can divide them into 10 main activities as follows:
1. Direct Education Provision. This is the largest function for the education sector in Thailand and amounted
to 400,514 Million THB or 63.33 percent of total public spending on education. This main functions can be
further subdivided into 2 subfunctions:
1.1 Basic Provision. This function costed 380,871 Million THB and accounted for 60.23 percent of
the total public education spending. It includes salaries for teachers and other staffs and perstudent subsidies (which could be later spent on other functions by schools)
1.2 Extra provision to improve Students access to education. This function accounted for 19,643
Million THB or 3.11 percent of the total. It includes financial supports for student families in terms
of student uniforms, books and learning materials.
2. Activities fro student development, this function amounted to 12,948 Million THB or 2.05 percent of the
total. It includes activities to enhance students moral, ethics and living skills.
3. Teaching Materials and curriculum development. This function amounted to 22,492 Million THB or 3.56
percent of the total. It includes activities aiming to improve student outcome
4. Development of teaching personnel. This function costed 6,343 Million THB or 1.00 percent of the total.
5. Administrative Supports (Wage, compensation for managerial functions, public utilities). This function
costed 92,511 Million THB or 14.63 percent of the total. It includes supporting staffs at the central, but
excludes salaries for teachers.
6. Research and development expenses. This function amounted to 4,668 Million THB or 0.74 percent of
the total.
7. Other activities which are not classified as above. This function amounted to 4,224 Million THB or only
0.67 percent of the total.
8. Capital expenses. This function amounted to 39,964 Million THB or 6.32 percent of the total.
9. Training for non-teaching staffs (excluding teachers/professors). This function costed 4,211 Million THB
or 0.67 percent of the total.
10. Loans and scholarship. This function costs 44,516 Million THB or 7.04 percent of the total. It includes
borrowing funds/loans for formal and non-formal students.
Educational spending by functions indicated that
(a) Personnel expense were mostly devoted to two main functions, basic education provision and
administrative support function, respectively.
(b) Operating expenses were mostly devoted to three main functions, administrative services,
teaching materials and curriculum development, and basic education provision, respectively.
(c) Capital expenses mostly appeared in one function, Capitals. The rest were spent on two
functions, teaching materials/curriculum development and administrative supports.
(d) Subsidy expenses were devoted across all activities. Most of subsidies were allocated for basic
education provistion, administrative supports, and supports for school attendance, respectively.
(e) Other expenses were mostly used for student loans and scholarships, teaching materials/
curriculum development, and capitals, respectively.
(f) Central Fund, expensed by Local Government, devoted to two functions, capitals and other
activities.
35
11,818
EC3
EC4
EC5
EC6
EC7
EC8
EC9
EC10
Teaching Materials/
Curriculum
Development
Development of
teaching personnel
Administrative
supports
Research and
development
Other activities
Capital Expenses
Training for nonteaching staffs
Student loans /
scholarship
Total
9,775
EC2
Activities for student

development
458,847
2,256
143
31,721
2,754
3,329
61,903
4,636
16,801
EC1.2
Extra provision for

school attendance
313,709
330,511
Ministry
Education
EC1.1
EC1
CODE
Basic provision
Direct Education
provision
Function
106,634
4,006
5,591
957
1,170
27,861
1,470
7,332
2,115
2,170
53,962
56,132
Department
of Local
Administration
14,999
33
61
1,138
237
1,373
71
1,021
853
647
9,563
10,210
Bangkok
Metro.
459
14
102
22
10
297
304
Pattaya
City
11,996
2,774
1,500
269
164
1,272
165
2,299
195
18
3,339
3,357
Others
Ministries
39,452
39,452
Revolving
Funds
632,388
44,516
4,211
39,964
4,224
4,668
92,511
6,343
22,492
12,948
19,643
380,871
400,514
Total
163,651
3,971
71,448
88,233
159,680
House
hold
1,075
43
23
26
17
40
922
962
Business
sector
5,047
200
15
106
123
81
186
4,330
4,516
NGO
288
11
11
247
257
ROW
Table 3.6 Educational Expenditures by All Financing Agencies and Function of Services in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)
802,449
44,520
4,211
40,218
8,195
4,668
92,530
6,478
22,648
13,051
91,327
474,602
565,930
Total
Educa
tional
Expen
ditures
100.00%
5.55%
0.52%
5.01%
1.02%
0.58%
11.53%
0.81%
2.82%
1.63%
11.38%
59.14%
70.53%
percent
36
Table 3.6 shows educational expenditures by both public and private financing agencies and by function
in 2013, double counting problem has been solved in this table. Total education spending by combined
public and private financing agencies amounted to 802,449 Million THB. Functional Spending by each
agency shows different appropriation. Most of agencies spent the most on their basic provision function.
If we first look at spending by public financing agencies (covering many ministries, offices, revolving funds
and local government authorities), we found that around 60.23 percent of the total public expenses on
education was devoted to basic education provision. The Ministry of Education spent the most in this
category. About 3.11 percent of the total public expense on education was allocated for increasing
opportunity in educational access. Public spending on educational administrative supports accounted for
14.63 percent.
Private financing agencies cover households, business sector and NGOs. About 55.12 percent of total
private spending was devoted to basic provision (tuition and fees). As for households, about 53.91 percent
of their educational spending was to receive basic education, while the rest 46.09 percent was to additional
expenses related school attendance. The rest of private financing agencies, business sector, NGOs and
ROW, spending functions/activities classification was employed the same assumption. Thus, they mostly
expensed on basic provision, which were 89.49 percent.
Table 3.7 shows educational expenditures from public and private financing agencies classified by
functions of services and levels of education. The total spending on education amounted to 802,449
Million THB. It shows that (a) The total spending were devoted to basic education in amount of 517,186
Million THB (64.45 percent of the total), tertiary education in amount of 168,564 Million THB (21.01
percent), vocational education in amount of 43,422 Million THB (5.41 percent), supporting services to
education in amount of 25,633 Million THB (3.19 percent), and other educations (n.e.c.) in amount of
19,132 Million THB (2.38 percent).
When looking at spending details on each educational level, we found that:
(a) Early childhood. Spending for early childhood was mostly devoted for basic provision (EC1.1,
1.65 percent of total spending). The rest of them went to capital expenses (EC8, 0.09 percent),
and administrative supports (EC5, 0.02 percent) respectively.
(b) Basic education (excluding vocational). Spending for basic education were devoted for basic
provision (EC1.1, 46.17 percent), extra provision for school attendance (EC1.2, 7.82 percent),
administrative supports (EC5, 3.82 percent), curriculum and teaching materials development
(EC3, 2.20 percent), capitals (EC8, 1.97 percent), student development activities (EC2, 1.10
percent), and the rest.
(c) Vocational education. Spending for vocational education were allocated for basic provision
(EC1.1, 2.55 percent), extra provision for school attendance (EC1.2, 1.11 percent), administrative
(EC5, 0.40 percent), and the rest.
(d) Tertiary education. Spending for tertiary education were allocated for basic provision (EC1.1, 7.80
percent), administrative (EC5, 4.11 percent), loans and scholarship (EC10, 3.65 percent), extra
supports for school attendance (EC1.2, 2.30 percent), and the rest.
(e) Not defined by level of education. Spending under this level were devoted for curriculum and
teaching materials development (EC3, 0.26 percent), administrative supports (EC5, 0.21 percent),
capital investment (EC8, 0.20 percent), and the rest.
(f) Administrative supports. Spending for system organization and administrative activities were
allocated for administrative functions (EC5, 1.94 percent), loans and scholarship (EC10, 0.86
percent), capital expense (EC8, 0.28 percent), and the rest
(g) Other education level (N.E.C.). Spending on the last category of education levels were allocated
for administrative supports (1.04 percent) basic provision (EC1.1, 0.74 percent), teacher
production and training (EC4, 0.12 percent), and the rest.
37
Basic
Education
Early
Childhood
Level of
Education
270,489
EC1.1
EC1.2
Basic provision
Total
EC9
EC10
13
EC7
EC8
Other activities
18
Capital Expenses
15,757
EC5
EC6
333,170
102
12,066
8,998
3,897
EC3
EC4
7,198
EC2
14,633
13,885
48
66,835
13,096
33
1,791
-
880
236
437
68
952
851
647
8,942
9,589
260
260
260
14,999
Bangkok
Metro.
2,391
625
11
14,180
193
5,279
664
1,031
40,671
41,702
285,122
EC1
Total
744
152
12,989
EC9
EC10
EC7
EC8
Other activities
Capital Expenses
EC5
EC6
EC3
EC4
EC2
EC1.2
12,989
106,634
458,847
-
Department
of Local
Adminis
tration
Ministry
of
Education
EC1.1
EC1
CODE
Basic provision
Total
Function
434
13
89
20
289
296
459
Pattaya
City
3,242
255
152
2,267
17
18
532
550
11,996
Others
Ministries

Total
House
hold
13,253
14,150
744
152
13,253
2,011
1,839
15,605
883
30
30,615
4,158
17,516
8,739
16,335
1,877 418,655
1,877
- 320,924
- 337,259
94,136
2,081
46,240
45,815
92,055
39,452 632,388 163,651
Revolving
Funds
NGO
137
10
73
85
56
128
737 3,461
29
16
18
12
27
632 2,970
660 3,098
1,075 5,047
Business
sector
197
169
176
288
ROW
Table 3.7 Educational Expenditures from Public Financing Agencies by Functions of Services and Levels of Education, 2013. (Unit: MB)
517,186
2,014
1,839
15,779
2,964
30
30,628
4,251
17,623
8,810
62,737
370,511
433,248
14150
744
152
13,253
13,253
802,449
Total
Educa
tional
Expen
ditures
64.45%
0.25%
0.23%
1.97%
0.37%
0.00%
3.82%
0.53%
2.20%
1.10%
7.82%
46.17%
53.99%
1.76%
0.00%
0.00%
0.09%
0.00%
0.00%
0.02%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
1.65%
1.65%
100%
percent
Tertiary
Vocational
Level of
Education
742
2,338
EC6
EC7
Other activities
335
21,007
21,007
718
EC1
EC1.1
EC1.2
Basic provision
198
EC10
Total
16,564
EC8
EC9
Capital Expenses
712
77,430
753
44
2,869
EC6
EC7
32,943
Other activities
EC4
EC5
1,623
146
26,570
35
90
20
EC2
EC3
Total
EC10
EC8
EC9
Capital Expenses
3,158
EC4
EC5
189
1,003
EC2
EC3
2,157
16,628
EC1.1
EC1.2
Basic provision
106,634
458,847
98
Department
of Local
Adminis
tration
Ministry
of
Education
18,785
CODE
EC1
Total
Function
183
183
183
14,999
Bangkok
Metro.
2,433
4,923
284
250
21
142
32
120
1,639
1,639
11,996
Others
Ministries
459
Pattaya
City

Total
House
hold
29,298
44
16,848
962
2,890
32,944
340
1,655
838
22,829
22,829
32,545
5,849
2,343
743
3,193
335
194
1,006
2,165
16,718
18,883
26,112 108,647
26,112
5,829
5,829
59,036
1,565
18,449
39,032
57,472
10,453
325
6,738
3,390
10,128
39,452 632,388 163,651
Revolving
Funds
NGO
148
127
132
71
61
64
693
27
15
17
11
26
595
620
334
13
12
287
299
1,075 5,047
Business
sector
39
34
35
19
16
17
288
ROW
168,564
29,299
44
16,883
2,527
2,890
32,946
359
1,677
852
18,482
62,606
81,088
43,422
5,849
2,360
1,068
3,194
344
205
1,013
8,918
20,472
29,390
802,449
Total
Educa
tional
Expen
ditures
21.01%
3.65%
0.01%
2.10%
0.31%
0.36%
4.11%
0.04%
0.21%
0.11%
2.30%
7.80%
10.11%
5.41%
0.73%
0.00%
0.29%
0.13%
0.00%
0.40%
0.04%
0.03%
0.13%
1.11%
2.55%
3.66%
100%
percent
38
39
57
-
EC1.1
EC1.2
EC2
EC3
Basic provision
Total
43
328
34
EC9
EC10
55
65
EC7
EC8
EC5
EC6
Other activities
24
EC4
Capital Expenses

Not Defined
by Level of Administrative supports
Education
44
11,740
2,216
572
37
1,132
1,668
1,277
2,047
1,449
1,132
212
1,343
57
EC1
Total
EC9
EC10
EC7
EC8
Other activities
Capital Expenses
EC5
EC6
EC3
EC4
EC2
EC1.2
106,634
458,847
-
Department
of Local
Adminis
tration
Ministry
of
Education
EC1.1
EC1
CODE
Basic provision
Total
Function
PostSecondary Administrative supports

Non-Tertiary Research and development
Level of
Education
14,999
Bangkok
Metro,
11
459
Pattaya
City
2,283
15
961
16
19
29
23
52
1,168
1,168
11,996
Others
Ministries

Total
House
hold
14,362
49
2,259
1,598
108
1,151
1,708
1,325
2,093
1,501
1,132
1,439
2,570
39,452 632,388 163,651
Revolving
Funds
NGO
1,075 5,047
Business
sector
288
ROW
14,362
49
2,259
1,598
108
1,151
1,708
1,325
2,093
1,501
1,132
1,439
2,570
802,449
Total
Educa
tional
Expen
ditures
1.79%
0.01%
0.28%
0.20%
0.01%
0.14%
0.21%
0.17%
0.26%
0.19%
0.14%
0.18%
0.32%
5.41%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
100%
percent
2,789
65
53
EC5
EC6
5,330
11
854
EC1.1
EC1.2
EC2
EC3
Basic provision
EC10
Total
EC8
EC9
Capital Expenses
17,025
276
56
581
378
1,180
EC6
EC7
163
7,251
EC4
EC5
Other activities

Other Types
of Education Administrative supports
(n.e.c)
945
14,027
4,325
5,342
EC1
Total
1,880
294
28
11,825
1,072
EC9
EC10
107
EC7
EC8
Other activities
Capital Expenses
20
19
EC3
EC4
EC2
199
EC1.1
EC1.2
Basic provision
106,634
458,847
-
Department
of Local
Adminis
tration
Ministry
of
Education
199
CODE
EC1
Total
Function
Supporting Administrative supports

services
Level of
Education
1,460
13
258
936
68
178
178
14,999
Bangkok
Metro.
1,223
124
1,091
326
326
11,996
Others
Ministries
10
459
Pattaya
City

Total
House
hold
150
150
5,485
5,485
18,397
426
56
581
1,181
502
8,341
163
945
861
11
5,330
5,342
25,633
6,882
13
2,246
348
95
15,557
22
89
379
379
26
21
26
39,452 632,388 163,651
Revolving
Funds
NGO
119
102
106
558
22
12
14
21
479
499
1,075 5,047
Business
sector
32
27
28
288
ROW
19,132
426
56
609
1,181
502
8,344
178
962
872
59
5,943
6,001
25,633
6,882
13
2,246
348
95
15,557
22
89
379
379
802,449
Total
Educa
tional
Expen
ditures
2.38%
0.05%
0.01%
0.08%
0.15%
0.06%
1.04%
0.02%
0.12%
0.11%
0.01%
0.74%
0.75%
3.19%
0.86%
0.00%
0.28%
0.04%
0.01%
1.94%
0.00%
0.01%
0.00%
0.00%
0.05%
0.05%
100%
percent
40
41
42
Chapter 4
Key Aggregates
and Indicators on
Thailand Educational Spending
Key Aggregates
and Indicators
on Thailand Educational
Spending
In chapter 3, the national education accounts (NEA) are described as a set of tables in which aspects of a
Thailands education expenditures are classified. This chapter provides a discussion of results based on
those tables. We hope key aggregates and indicators discussed in this chapter are useful to support some
policy decisions related to financing aspects of the education system.
This chapter has 4 parts and is organized as follows:
4.2 Education expenditure by financing sources
4.3 Education expenditure by level of education
4.4 Education expenditure by budget categories
4.5 Education expenditure by functions

The Thailand National Education Account takes all expenses from 3 main sources: central government
expenses (GFMIS, the Comptroller-Generals Department), local administrative organizations (Provincial
authorities, municipality authorities and sub-district authorities), and private sector expenses covering
household, business sector and NGOs.
Table 4.1 shows the total education expenditures and some key aggregates. The total education
expenditure in 2013 amounted to 802,449 Million THB or 6.22 percent of GDP. Central government
expenses accounted for 510,296 million THB, while expenses from local governments and the private
sectors amounted to 122,093 million THB and 170,060 million THB, respectively. Of all the private sector
spending on education, households contributed mostly up to 163,651 million THB.
Key Aggregates and Indicators on Thailand Educational Spending
43
44
Table 4.1 Total Education Expenditures and Key Spending Indicators, 2008-2013

Unit: Million THB
(at the current price)

2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Total Education Expenditures
Indicator
560,479
604,873
656,440
683,231
762,005
802,449
Education Expenditures of
Public sector
418,461
473,463
517,204
534,127
583,671
632,388
Central Government
(GFMIS )
341,817
385,495
424,949
436,236
474,790
510,296
Local Government 2
76,644
87,968
92,255
97,891
108,881
122,093
Education Expenditures of
Private sector
142,018
131,410
139,236
149,104
178,333
170,060
Household
137,714
126,715
134,311
143,929
168,410
163,651
636
788
1,114
336
4,777
1,075
NGO
3,253
3,526
3,569
4,535
4,778
5,047
ROW
415
380
242
304
369
288
Gross Domestic Product GDP4
9,706,932
9,654,016
10,802,402
11,300,485
12,354,656
12,910,038

as % of GDP
5.77%
6.27%
6.08%
6.05%
6.17%
6.22%
Expenditures of Public sector/

Total Expenditures (%)
74.66%
78.27%
78.79%
78.18%
76.60%
78.81%
Central Government (%)
60.99%
63.73%
64.74%
63.85%
62.31%
63.59%
Local Administration (%)
13.67%
14.54%
14.05%
14.33%
14.29%
15.22%
E x p e n d i t u re s o f P r i v a t e
sector/Total Expenditures (%)
25.34%
21.73%
21.21%
21.82%
23.40%
21.19%

per student (Bath/Year)
33,785
37,639
39,144
44,747
46,518
52,479

per student (USD)
1,032
1,118
1,276
1,468
1,497
1,708
33
34
31
30
31
31
Business sector
Exchange rate, Bath/USD
Notes:
1. Figures for Central government are from Comptroller-Generals Department, excluding non-budget. In 2008-2012,
it includes Thai government borrowing under the Strong Thai Action Plan.
2. Local government includes Local Administrative Organizations (Provincial Administrative Organizations,
Municipalities and Sub-district Administrative Organizations), Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and the Pattaya
City. Figures for budget subsidies for the local government are from Comptroller-Generals Department, the nonbudget figures are collected from various sources.
3. Figures for household are estimated from the national survey on household spending by the National Statistics
Office. Figures for business sector contribution are from the Revenue department (education-related donations, and
personnel training expenses). Figures for NGOs are from the National Economic and Social Development Board).
4. GDP at the current price are from the National Economic and Social Development Board.
Source: compiled by authors.
Figure 4.1 Education Expenditures in Thailand and Its Composition, 2008-2013.

900,000
800,000
1.3%
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
0.8%
14.5%
13.7%
300,000
200,000
20.5%
20.9%
24.6%
63.7%
61.0%
0.8%
0.8%
0.8%
22.1%
21.1%
14.1%
14.3%
64.7%
63.8%
2010
2011
14.3%
62.3%
0.8%
20.4%
15.2%
63.6%
100,000
0
2008
2009
Central Government
Local Government
2012
Household
2013
Business sector+NGO+ROW
Figure 4.1 shows composition of total expenditures on education. Thailands share of public spending on
education during 2008-2013 has remained steady. Of the public spending, the share of local government
spending has steadily increased from 13.7 percent in 2008 to 15.2 percent in 2013. Our estimates
indicated that local government has spent relatively more on education over time. Its expenditure shares
on education rose from 13.7% in 2008 to 15.2% in 2013.
On the contrary, the share of household spending on education in total expenditures on education has
declined from 24.6 percent in 2008 to 20.4 percent in 2013. This downward trend reflects stronger
governmental supports to achieve the free-education policy
Figure 4.2 Education Expenditures of Public sectors by Education Levels in Thailand, 2008-2013
900,000
Other Types of Education (n.e.c)
800,000
Supporting sevices
700,000
21.7%
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
24.8%
5.7%
22.8%
200,000
100,000
0
29.6%
9.6%
1.1%
2008
23.2%
5.9%
22.6%
21.1%
23.5%
6.6%
6.6%
21.8%
21.4%
5.9%
21.6%
21.0%
5.4%
20.8%
Not defined by Level of Education

Post-Secondary Non-Tertiary
Tertiary
Vocational
Secondary Education
Primary Education
30.1%
32.0%
30.7%
9.9%
1.3%
2009
10.4%
1.2%
2010
9.7%
1.7%
2011
31.6%
32.7%
11.2%
1.8%
2012
10.9%
1.8%
Pre-Primary
2013
45
46
Figure 4.2 shows total public spending by levels of education in 2008-2013. The biggest share of this
education spending had been devoted to the basic education provision (covering early childhood, preprimary, primary and general secondary) with an upward trend from 63.06 percent in 2008 to 66.21
percent in 2013. However, when breaking down the basic education spending by levels, it shows that
public spending for secondary education had gained a bigger share at the expense of basic education.
Public spending share on last three categories (Not defined by Level of Education, Supporting services,
and Other Types of Education (n.e.c.)) had remained steady since 2008.
4.2 Education Expenditure by Financing Agencies

Central government financing agencies in Thailand comprises of many public administrations i.e. the
Ministry of Education, education-related ministries, State enterprises, Office of the Prime Minister, and
revolving funds.
Local Government Organizations comprises of Provincial Administrative Organizations, Municipalities,
Sub-district Administrative Organizations, Bangkok Metropolitan, and the Pattaya City. Their revenues
come from two main sources: central government subsidies to LAOs and their own collected revenues.
Non-public financing agencies for education comprises of household, business sector and NGOs.
Figure 4.3 shows these national education expenditures by financing agencies in 2008 and 2013. In
2008, the total education expenditures in Thailand amounted to 560,479 Million THB. About 75 percent of
total educational expenses were financed by public sources. Among many public financing agencies, the
Ministry of Education was the biggest public spending unit, which spent 341,817 Million THB or 61 percent
of this public money. Within the MOE, the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC) received the
largest share with 70 percent of the MOE budget. Other offices in the MOE received much lower shares.
The Office of Permanent Secretariat and the Office of Higher Education Commission received about 3
percent and 1 percent of the MOE budget, respectively. Other important public financing agencies were
from the local governments which spent 76,644 Million THB, equivalent to 14 percent of the total. In
addition, about 25 percent of total education spending came from the non-public financing agencies,
which contributed 142,018 Million THB.
In 2013, the total education expenditures in Thailand amounted to 802,449 Million THB. About 79 percent
of total educational expenses were financed by public sources. Among many public financing agencies,
the Ministry of Education was the biggest public spending unit, which spent 510,296 Million THB or 64
percent of this public money. Within the MOE, the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC) received
the largest share with 66 percent of the MOE budget. Other offices in the MOE received much lower
shares. The Office of Permanent Secretariat and the Office of Higher Education Commission received
about 11 percent and 1 percent of the MOE budget, respectively. Other important public financing
agencies were from the local governments which spent 122,093 Million THB, equivalent to 15 percent of
the total. In addition, about 21 percent of total education spending came from the non-public financing
agencies, which contributed 170,071 Million THB.
Figure 4.3 Sources of Education Expenditures in Thailand in 2008 and 2013.

Total 560,479 Million Baht

NGO 3,253
1%
Business
sector 636
0%
ROW 415 0%
Household
137,714
24%
Local
Government
76,644
14%
Central
Government
341,817
61%
NGO 5,047
1%
Business
sector 1,075
0%
ROW 288 0%
Household
163,651
20%
Local
Government
122,093
15%
Central
Government
510,296
64%
47
48
4.3 Education Expenditures by Levels of Education

Education levels can be used to break down the total national spending on education. There are 9 detailed
education levels: pre-primary, primary, secondary (general), vocational, tertiary, post-secondary nontertiary, not defined by education levels, supporting services, and other types of educations (n.e.c.).
Figure 4.4 shows total education expenditure by education levels. In 2008, Thailand devoted 560,479
Million THB to education. In descending orders, this spending was devoted to primary education, general
secondary, tertiary, supporting services, pre-primary, vocational, other types of education (n.e.c.), not
defined by education and post-secondary non-tertiary. About 165,398 Million THB or 30 percent of this
total was allocated to the primary education level. The general secondary education level received 127,763
Million THB, equivalent to 23 percent of this total. At the tertiary level, spending represented 138,764
Million THB or 25 percent the total.
In 2013, Thailand devoted 802,449 Million THB to education. In descending orders, this spending was
devoted to primary education, general secondary, tertiary, supporting services, pre-primary, vocational,
other types of education (n.e.c.), not defined by education and post-secondary non-tertiary. About
262,531 Million THB or 33 percent of this total was allocated to the primary education level. The general
secondary education level received 166,878 Million THB, equivalent to 21 percent of this total. At the
tertiary level, spending represented 168,564 Million THB or 21 percent the total.
Figure 4.4 Total Educational Expenditures by Level of Education in Thailand, 2008 and 2013
Other Types of Education (n.e.c)
Supporting sevices
Not defined by Level of Education
2013
Post-Secondary Non-Tertiary
2008
Tertiary
Vocational
Secondary ducation
Primary Education
Pre-Primary
Early childhood
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
Million Baht
Source: Compiled by authors.
250,000
300,000
Unit: student
Table 4.2 Numbers of Student by Education Levels and Financing Agencies, 2013
Level of Education
Local
MOE
Basic Education
Administration
9,423,084
659,967
Bangkok
Pattaya City
306,036
Other Ministries
82,381
82,381
Total
10,553,849
Pre-primary
1,547,680
1,079,035
78,510
3,592
5,980
2,714,797
Primary Education
4,384,694
279,366
216,770
8,287
16,343
4,905,460
Secondary Education
3,490,710
240,544
36,205
4,271
60,058
3,831,788
Vocational
989,588
2,411
13,626
1,005,625
2,055,515
118
1,287
43,693
2,100,613
12,468,187
1,601,474
332,772
16,150
139,700
14,558,283
Tertiary
Total
Source: MOE-EIS
Figure 4.5 Per-Student Public Spending in 2013 by Education Levels (Baht/student)

80,245
Tertiary
Vocational
43,179
Secondary Education
43,551
53,518
Primary Education
32,332
Pre-Primary
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
Table 4.2 shows numbers of beneficiaries from the country educational information system (EIS) by
education levels. The beneficiaries are the pupils and students at the given education levels classified by
financing units. In 2013, there were about 14.6 million students receiving education services provided by
both central and local government units. Combining total spent resources and numbers of beneficiaries,
we are able to compute per-student total expenditure.
Figure 4.5 shows the following facts about total expenditure per pupil in 2013. Thailand devoted resources
amounted of 80,245 Baht per student for the provision of terriary, 53,518 Baht per student on primary
education, 43,551 Baht per student on secondary education, 43,179 Baht per student on vocational, and
32,332 Baht per student on pre-primary.
49
50
4.5 Education Expenditure by Service Functions

Educational activities form the basis of educational services. These activities are provided by final providers
(or production units) who include public educational institutions, private educational institutions, and
government units which provide supporting services and system organization. Classification of educational
activities in this study relies mostly on spending incurred during the production process and on the ways
in which budget expenditures are recorded. These educational activities are divided into 10 main categories
as shown in chapter1
Figure 4.6 shows a breakdown of the total national education expenditures of 802,449 Million THB. About
70.5 percent of this total or 565,930 Million THB was devoted for the education provision (EC1). Of the first
category, about 59.1 percent represented the basic activities of educational institutions (EC1.1). Extra
provision of learning attendance (EC1.2) received about 11.4 percent. It should be noted here that such
classification of spending activities needs further refinement. The current classification of public activities
was based on information appearing in government plans/projects of spending units. Often, these
spending plans are aggregated by nature, causing difficulties in distributing costs into each activity.
Figure 4.6 Total Education Expenditures by Service Functions in 2013

Other activities
1.0%
Training for
non-teaching staffs
0.5%
Capital expenses
5.0%
Student loans /
scholarship
5.5%
R&D
0.6%
Administrative
supports
11.5%
Dev. of teaching
personnel
0.8%
Teaching Materials/
Curriculum Dev.
2.8%
Activities for student

dev.
1.6%
Source: Compiled by authors.
Direct Education
provision
70.5%
Figure 4.7 indicated that the average per-student total expenditures (provided by public and private
financing agencies) amounted to 55,120 Baht per year. Of this per-student figure, about 32,600 Baht was
appropriated for basic education provision, 6,356 Baht for administrative operating costs, 6,273 Baht for
supports for school attendance (Uniform, books, and Student supplies), 3,058 Baht for loans and
scholarship, 2,763 Baht for capital investment, 1,556 Baht for curriculum and learning materials
development, 1,618 for other expenses, and 896 Baht for student development activities.
Figure 4.7 Composition of Per-Student Total Education Expenditures by functions in 2013. (Baht/Student/
Year)
activities for student development
896
Others 1,618
Teaching/Studying Dev. 1,556
Capitals 2,763
Student loans/ scholarships 3,058
Uniform, books, Student supplies 6,273
Administrative Supports 6,356
Basic Provision
(Salaries and permanent wages) 32,600
51
52
Chapter 5
Conclusions and remarks
Conclusions
and remarks
It is obvious that the first version of the Thailand National Education Accounts presented in this book is far
from complete. It is just a beginning of ambitious and long-term dedicated works. We hope that the
presenting accounts allow policy-makers to see the flows of resources from their sources to the financing
entities that pool and distribute those resources to education service providers who engage in the activities
where services are created, and then to beneficiaries of those activities.
The Thailand NEA provides the important facts about the financial state of the education provision system.
It reveals total resources that Thailand invests in education, sources of the country finances, agencies who
are involved and types of functions that are provided.
5.1 Making the NEA more Policy Relevance

It is important that the NEA helps provide policy-relevant information that can help improve education
system performance. We offer some possible research topics and key indicators that make uses of
information gathering from the NEA.
Some of our charts and tables in previous chapters have linked education expenditure with numbers of
beneficiaries. Derived unit costs of publicly-provided education by education levels are among key
indicators for education finance. Information on unit costs are very useful for assessing efficiency of the
public education system and provide basis for education supports for both public and private learning
institutions.
Indicators that address the concerns of equity, efficiency and adequacy of resources can grasp attention
of stakeholders and policymakers. One possible analytical dimension of tables can address socioeconomic
and/or demographic facets of education spending. Understanding distributive effects of education
spending across population groups is crucial for making a fair policy and a just society. In Thailand, equality
of per-student subsidies is often misinterpreted as fairness. Inequity in education provision seems to be
53
54
more severe over time. The magnitude and channels through which public resources on education are
distributed across income groups of population or regions can be examined with the help of the NEA.
Linkage between learning outcome and resources spent on education is always a hot topic for public
debate. The NEA allows us to breakdown costs of activities or service functions by levels of education. If
we can ascertain figures on activity costing, we can have a better understanding if our education finance
system devoted resources optimally to serve its goals.
In addition to spending on various functions, it is possible to know more about public spending of specific
intervention programs or expenditure by student-learning status. Researches and financing information in
this area are somewhat limited.
5.2 Further revisions and updates

Building the NEA require data and information from various learning institutions, government agencies and
private sectors. Several figures on education expenditure are based on the indirect estimates from the
national survey. Some are made using the ad hoc assumptions or through the logics of budget allocation.
In many cases, public or private figures on education expenses are not accessible or feasible for collection.
To further improve the NEA accuracy and reliability, we note several areas of problems in which future
works need to address:
It is necessary to further examine the contribution of the private sector in education provision. We
have somewhat limited information about their investment. Since they are operating in competitive
environments, access to their financial status is not an easy task. In Thailand, the government
provides subsidies to some private schools, which are tax exempt. As such, they are required to
report back to the Office of Private Education Commission their financial status. We hope that
aggregate figures on their expenditures will be at least accessible in the future.
It is well known that public learning institutions receive extra supports from households or business
sector to improve their service delivery. The amounts of such non-budget figures are expected to
be substantial, thus also important for understanding of real resources Thailand devoted in the
education sector. As these public learning institutions are reluctant to reveal their true expenditures,
indirect estimation needs to be made through information provided by spenders themselves.
To disaggregate public expenditures into various educational service functions, the Thailand NEA
relies on information available through the action plan/programs of various financing agencies. It is
obvious that their outputs are aggregate in nature. Often they can be overlapped among many
functions. Classifying the public money on education of voluminous agencies into different functions
is also very time-consuming. We hope that we can find more efficient ways to complete this task.
Reconciling the expenditures between financing agents and providers seems to be next logical
step for revisions. In this book, we breakdown expenditures by functions using information from
financing sources. It is also possible to do the same with providers. Provider types in education
accounts are not many. However, the more difficult tasks in allocating spending among functions
for these providers are the treatment of expenses by education levels, the treatment of expenses
by size or types of institutions, and the treatment of expenses by subjects of study (at the tertiary
level). Not to mentioned, it is difficult to gain access to their actual expenses based on their total
resources.
Solving double counting problems in basic accounting tables needs to be futher examine once flow
of resources from sources to all financing agencies are better understood.
To increase its credentials and reliability aggregated figures of the NEA need to be verified and be
comparable with those reported in the System of National Income Accounts.
To facilitate and sustain the future of the NEA, it is important to have a shared format of recording
data for institutions of the same types. The development of a solid database to use in preparing the
education accounts can be done with the help of the National Statistics Office and the related
ministries.
55
56
References
Jeljoul, Martine, Jean-Pierre Dalous and Luc Briere (2011). The French Education Account: Principles and
Methods. Department of National Education, Youth and Associations.
Punyasavatsut, Chaiyuth et al. (2014). The Thailand National Education Accounts, Phase2. Bangkok,
October.
Van der Gaag, Jacques and Vidya Putcha (2013). From Enrolment to Learning: The Way Forward. Center
for Universal Education at Brookings, working paper no. 9, January.
Van der Gaag, Jacques and Pauline Abetti (2011). Using National Educational Accounts to Help Address
the Global Learning Crisis. Global Economy and Development at Brookings, Policy paper no.3,
April.
El Salvador, Ministry of Education (2009). National Education Accounts 2009.
World Health Organization (2003). Guide to producing national health accounts: with special applications
for low-income and middle-income countries.

Nea Eng PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Nea Eng PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

National Education

Chapter 2 Conceptual Framework, Methodology and Data Sources

2.1 Conceptual Framework

2.3 Sources of Data

Chapter 3 Basic Accounting Tables

3.1 Basic National Education Accounting Tables

Chapter 4 Key Aggregates and Indicators on Thailand Educational Spending

4.1 Key aggregates on Thailand education spending

4.2 Education Expenditure by Financing Agencies

4.3 Education Expenditures by Levels of Education

4.5 Education Expenditure by Service Functions

Chapter 5 Conclusions and remarks

5.1 Making the NEA more Policy Relevance

5.2 Further revisions and updates

Figure 4.1 Education Expenditures in Thailand and Its Composition, 2008-2013.

Figure 4.2 Education Expenditures of Central Government by Education Levels in

Figure 4.3 Sources of Education Expenditures in Thailand in 2008 and 2013

Figure 4.4 Total Educational Expenditures by Level of Education in Thailand,

2008 and 2013

Figure 4.5 Per-Student Public Spending in 2013 by Education Levels (Baht/student)

Figure 4.6 Total Education Expenditures by Service Functions in 2013

Figure 4.7 Composition of Per-Student Total Education Expenditures

by functions in 2013. (Baht/Student/Year)

Table 3.1 Educational Expenditures by Educational levels and by

Budget Categories in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)

Table 3.2 Educational Expenditures by Financing Agencies and Educational Level

Functions of Services and Levels of Education, 2013. (Unit: Million Baht)

of Services in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)

Table 3.7 Educational Expenditures from Public Financing Agencies by

Commission in 2013. (Unit: million Baht)

Table 3.6 Educational Expenditures by All Financing Agencies and Function

and Educational Levels, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)

Table 3.5 Educational Budget by Function of Services: Office of Basic Education

in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)

Table 3.4 Educational Expenditures by Public Financing Agencies, Budget Categories

in Thailand, 2013. (Unit: million Baht)

Table 3.3 Educational Expenditures by Financing Agencies and Providers

(at the current price)

The Comptroller Generals Department

Department of Local Administration

Gross Domestic Products

Government Fiscal Management Information System

Government Finance Statistics

International Standard Classification of Education

National Education Accounts

National Economic and Socio Development Board

National Heath Accounts

National Statistics Office

Office of the Basic Education Commission

Office of the Vocational Education Commission

Office of the Higher Education Commission

Office of the Education Council

Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education

Office of the Private Education Commission

Rest of the Word

Socio and Economic Survey

National Education Accounts of Thailand 2008-2013:

National Education Accounts of Thailand 2008-2013:

2.1 Conceptual Framework

Conceptual Framework, Methodology and Data Sources 13

National Education Accounts of Thailand 2008-2013:

Figure 2.1 Financial Flows as Tracked by the Thailand NEA

Conceptual Framework, Methodology and Data Sources 15