Iron out field trip flaws

The horrific bus fire that resulted in the deaths of students in Pathum Thani province last Tuesday raises valid questions about what needs to be done to make field trips safe.
While the tragic accident was concluded to be the outcome of an illegal modification to the bus’ NGV system by an unscrupulous bus operator and an unreliable safety inspection carried out by the Department of Land Transport, it must be said that the Education Ministry’s guidelines regulating school trips have a fundamental flaw.
Introduced to all state schools in 2019, “The Education Ministry’s Guideline on School Field Trips” is less than five pages long. The text groups field trips into three tiers and states that this activity only “needs approval” before students can go. There are no specific guidelines for classifying age groups and setting conditions.
In practice, local officials issue local rules to fit local conditions. Many provincial education offices permit local school directors to approve one-day excursions. All schools still need a permit from the ministry for overnight and overseas field trips. To bring students on trips, many schools avoid red tape by arranging hectic and exhausting one-day trips.
A glaring example of this is the ill-fated field trip last Tuesday. The activity was supposed to bring students from different grade levels — from kindergarten 2 to high school — to visit the ruins at the Ayutthaya Heritage Site in the morning and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand office in Nonthaburi province later on. To fit the 500-kilometre trip into their schedule, students and teachers had to leave Uthai Thani at 5am in order to return to their school in Uthai Thani province by 8pm. A question then arises: Would the trip even help educate kindergarten students?
The most disappointing aspect of the guidelines is that they put all the burden of selecting bus operators onto each school. The guideline only recommends that schools seek technical advice from experts on transport safety, like officials from the Department of Land Transport. There are no official lists of pre-approved bus operators by the Ministry of Education — and there is no help in the auditing of safety records. So what happens in many rural schools with tight budgets is that bus operators quoting lower prices will get picked, while famous and affluent schools in Bangkok and other big cities can afford premium coaches with high standards.
Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob cannot let this fundamental flaw continue to affect students. It is welcome news that the minister ordered the amendment of the 2019 field trip guidelines last week. It is only hoped that the ministry will listen seriously to experts’ recommendations. There are useful ideas, such as allowing parents to volunteer to join the trips and banning kindergarten and preschool field trips.
But the ministry cannot just give out orders. It needs to allocate more money to state schools so they can use quality services. After all, the level of safety on school field trips depends on the budget received.
Without better guardrails and more money, students, especially those from rural schools, are at risk when they go on field trips.