PROVINCIAL EDUCATION BUDGET ALLOCATION: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION SCIENCE, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Abstract

  This research had two objectives: 1) to examine how the education budget was allocated to the provinces and 2) to analyze the relationship between the size of the education budget and the level of human educational development. Secondary data collected by several government offices such as the Bureau of the Budget, the National Statistical Office, the National Economic and Social Development Council, the Comptroller General’s Department, and the Office of the Civil Service Commission were checked with the original data files for accuracy, completeness and reliability before conducting descriptive statistical and ordinary least squares (OLS) analyses. The research had two key findings. First, a large portion of the education budget was allocated to Bangkok and other major provinces. Second, the education budget was weakly correlated with the level of human educational development. This research suggested that the government should allocate the education budget by using the “distribution based on the equality” rule. In addition, the education budget should be allocated inversely with the level of human educational development. That is, the provinces with a low human educational development level should be given more educational subsidies, so they will be able to “catch up” with those living in other more developed provinces in the long run.