The cabinet has approved an additional 23 billion baht to further finance the nation’s COVID-19 relief packages, including a handout of 2,000 baht to parents per child, said government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri.
The spending was given the green light at the cabinet meeting yesterday and is part of government efforts to try to ease the pandemic’s financial impact on families in Thailand, Mr Burapachaisri said.
The fund is centred on education-related assistance which is to be provided to families whose children attend primary and secondary schools across the country. At the heart of the fund is the 2,000-baht assistance money that is meant to be given per child and will be handed out to parents to help finance their child’s school fees during the pandemic.
In addition, state subsidies will be granted to schools, particularly those which are privately run, to help offset expenses. This will enable schools to maintain manageable spending, Mr Burapachaisri said. He added that the cabinet also approved a separate relief measure worth 10 billion baht that is destined to be used for the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation.
For state-run universities, the tuition fee discounts will be implemented in three steps: a reduction of 50% for the first 50,000 baht, 30% for the next 50,000 baht and 10% for more than 100,000 baht.
Mr Burapachaisri said the government will subsidise 60% of the reductions and the rest will be covered by the universities. For privately run universities, the state will pay 5,000 baht towards a student’s tuition fees.
The minister has said that these measures and more will be launched in the new term which commences early next month.
