BANGKOK, 3 May 2011 – Schools in Surin, Si Sa Ket ,and Buriram Provinces damaged by the border conflict will be urgently repaired in order to prepare for the opening of the new semester in the middle of May 2011.
Secretary-General of Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) Chinnapat Bhumirat has indicated that as the border situation is now considered back to normal; therefore, the OBEC will immediately start assessing the damage to all schools and calculate the repair costs.
Regarding the opening date of the new semester, Mr Chinnapat said the situation must first be reassessed for safety reason. The new semester of the 2011 academic year for every school nationwide is originally scheduled to kick off on 18 May.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat reported that a total of 26 schools in three northeastern provinces had been used as temporary shelters for 24,000 evacuees during the border clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops.
