SET’s First “For Profit-School IPO” Prompts Puritan Censure!

SISB Public Company Limited (SISB) became the first for profit education stock listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), raising controversy over ethical standards and political correctness about making profit from education. The question is who should decide what’s fit for the market?

 

At first glance, you might think that you have just clicked into a webpage for a condominium project that was offering quite a generous lawn as part of the common area. Then, after clicking  to scroll the picture, it becomes obvious that you didn’t go to the wrong webpage. The medium shade of grey modern architecture was actually the facilities of the school you were searching for.

A montage of children in costumes smiling, dancing, and playing. Kindergarten range boys and girls in plaid uniforms eagerly smiling for the camera. Teens tossing their graduation caps. A traditional Chinese troupe performs a dragon show. Two little girls jumping up and down, one proudly smiles with her tongue out. A presentation of a school which one from conventional Thai schooling will not be familiar with.

By far, Thais are more use to a different perception of top notch schooling, more in the line of traditional value distilling, moral and ethical indoctrination pushed alongside a vigorous amount of academic demand. Top secondary institutions like Triam Udom, Suan Kularb, and Mahidol Wittayanusorn, not just take credit from their student’s academic competition trophies, they also pride themselves as moral and ethical molds that produce human resource equipped with Thailand’s unique values. Conventional education for Thais doesn’t really emphasize the have fun learning approach.

 

Commodifying something like education touches Thailand at a very intimate place. In general, tradition and social values are best inserted into minds when they are young. One could say Thailand’s national identity is upheld by how its education system is governed. Traditionally in Thailand, educational institutions are most concerned with moral conduct of students. For example, one of the most shameful thing a student could do is getting pregnant while still in school, and usually means getting chastised and expelled. Thai teachers regularly intervene in romantic relationships of students.

Distinction by uniform and institutional initials sewn on the chest becomes a reminder of how you are supposed to behave, that you don’t just represent yourself, but the institution as well. The agency of Thai identity passes on its tradition and values through each “good child” it is able to produce. Thus, the institutional integrity of education is a major issue for Thailand.

For many Thais, education is seen as a determining factor in life, but not necessary in terms of the knowledge that you acquire. Gratification based on institutional association doesn’t concern knowledge, or even GPA. Just simply attending a certain school is believed to put a child at advantage through connections with children from powerful and wealthy families.

 

Springnews network wrote the headline, “School Stocks will Measure Thailand’s Moral Levels” for a televised news commentary show, Inside Thailand. Towards the end of the topic on SISB shares the hosts urges viewers to voice their opinions, saying that “In Thai society, if one doesn’t complain loudly, nothing will be gained”.

The moral argument boils down to the belief that the intention to make money demoralizes institutions, that one hoping to maximize profits is not fit to for the business of education, that education should be non profit only. Thailand’s go to game plan for social decay has always seem to be blaming capitalists. Of course, with its laws being written and torn apart, and rewritten so many times, originality in coming up with a social villain isn’t Thailand’s priority concern.

 

Democrat Party secretary-general, Juti Krairiksh filed a petition to the Administrative Court to suspend SISB’s listing after the company’s IPO. A move some people claim to have cause negative sentiments in the market and led to a sharp fall of the share’s price. SISB shares fell 16.2% as the IPO price of 5.20 baht closed at 4.36 baht, with about 879 million baht changing hands.

 

It is not possible to determine whether SISB’s entering the capital market will improve its quality in providing an alternative in education or create a corrupted institution that exploits children and Thailand’s tax exemption for education businesses. However, it is very possible to discern that like usual, the issue will be taken care of and decided on by Thailand’s authorities with their immaculate moral standards.