Education Minister Treenuch Thienthong has confirmed the Thai Government’s policy that all children in the country, whatever their race or nationality, including stateless children, have the right to an education in Thailand.

The minister’s comment was in response to a report from the Office of Primary Education that 124 children, who have no household registration documents, were allowed to attend classes at Thairath Witthaya 6 School in Pa Mok district of the central province of Ang Thong.

Of the 124 children, seven are Thai nationals and the rest are non-Thai. Critics have raised concerns that the admission of the children may be an excuse by the school administration to justify a budgetary increase.

Treenuch said that the Office of Social Development and Human Security in Ang Thong province has stepped in to help solve the problem by transferring all 124 children to the Wat Sa Kaeo Foundation, with teachers from a network of schools in the province taking turns to teach them, as a temporary measure while a long-term solution is worked out.

The minister said that whether these children have entered Thailand legally or not is the responsibility of the agency concerned, but the duty of the Ministry of Education is to make sure that they get access to free education.