Education officials told to probe the use of funding by private Islamic schools

The Ministry of Education has been told by the prime minister to closely monitor the use of education funds sent to support private Islamic religious schools in the Deep South to make sure that they were not quietly diverted to support violence in the restive region.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was in Pattani on Wednesday (April 4) on an inspection trip during which he instructed the Education Ministry to find out the truth about the spending of government funding for private Islamic religious schools whether any of the funding was misused.

Regarding the peace dialogue between the government and the MARA Patani, the prime minister said he supported the peace dialogue process and non-violent solution to the southern conflict.

However, he made clear that the ongoing dialogue was not negotiation, adding that any agreement between the two sides must not contradict with the law and the Constitution.

Regarding the creation of safe house to faciliate the establishment of safety zones in the Deep South, Gen Prayut said that the matter rests with two dialogue parties and whether they were able to maintain safety in the zone or not.

However, he said he didn’t want the issue to be used to put pressure on the government.

Moreover, the prime minister also warned officials in the Deep South to refrain from committing human rights violations and for the 4th Army Region and the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre to practice good governance and transparency.