Project Administrtion and Budget

Three levels of administration have been established to oversee the operations of this project.

1. Policy organization

This organization is under the supervision of the Distance Education via Satellite Commission. It may be noted that a number of changes and replacements of Commission members have taken place. At present, however, the Minister of Education presides over the Commission as chairperson; the other members being high-level administrators in the Ministry of Education, representatives of Thaicom Foundation and authorities and specialists in the field of distance education.

2. Administrative organization

This organization is under the supervision of the Department of Non-Formal Education and consists of various agencies responsible for the operation of the project both within and outside the Department. The Thaicom Center for Distance Education acts as a coordinating body.

3. Operating organization

1. Central organization

This organization is responsible for the production and services of distance education media via satellite. Its principal agencies are the Center for Educational Technology and the Non-Formal Educational Development Division.

2. Regional organization

• Administrative units

These are management and support units overseen by the various agencies of the Department of Non-Formal Education, for example, the regional non-formal education centers, provincial non-formal education centers, and district non-formal education service centers.

• Instructional units

These units are overseen by educational institutions and other units in their networks, both within and outside the Ministry of Education, which coordinate instructional activities for both the formal and non-formal education systems.

The administration of each level of organization has, from time to time, been adjusted to suit the immediate needs of the operations and to conform to the policies of the concerned authorities. The operating units were primed for their roles in the operation of the following tasks: project administration and management, instruction management, the operation and maintenance of satellite signals receptor equipment. The administrative structure of the project is demonstrated in the following chart.

The total budget for this project was set at 394.2 million bath; 194.2 million bath came from the Department of Non-Formal Education and a supplementary budget of 200 million bath was provided by the Thaicom Foundation. The actual expenditure was 735.62 million of which 545.78 million bath came from the Department of Non-Formal Education and another 189.84 million bath from the Thaicom Foundation. Details of the budget for each fiscal year are shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Annual budget for the implementation of Distance Education via Satellite Project during the 1994-1999 fiscal years

The major portion of the budget was used in purchasing satellite signals receptor equipment and in renting satellite frequency band for broadcasting. Details of budget spending are shown in Table 2.

Table 2

Details of expenditure for the Distance Education via Satellite Project during the 1994-1999 fiscal years