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Date: May 2, 2001, The Nation

Families in Bangkok sending children to private schools and universities need at least Bt25,000 each to cope with expenses for the new school term, according to a recent survey by the Thai Farmers Research Centre (TFRC).

In all, more than Bt50 billion is expected to be spent by parents nationwide for the new school period opening later this month or early next month.

The TFRC based its figures on a survey of 1,275 households across the country from April 2 to 12.

The research centre expected each Bangkok household would have to spend at least Bt25,000 on tuition fees and expenses for materials, uniforms and other costs linked to the reopening of school.

The minimum expenses per child varied with the level of education involved, the centre said: Bt3,000 for each child going to kindergarten, Bt11,200 for a child at elementary school, Bt13,600 for high school, and Bt21,400 for university.

Each family's expenditure also varied according to the number of children, their education levels and types of school.

The costs for Bangkok parents were three times higher than for parents in provinces, the centre estimated, noting that the figures resulting from the survey were relatively close to those obtained last year.

The survey also found that 48.5 per cent of the sampled Bangkok parents had problems covering the expenses in question. Another 28.6 per cent were not certain whether problems might arise, while the remaining 22.9 per cent were well prepared to meet these expenses, either with extra income or savings.

The survey also found that children in some families worked in the summer to help ease parents' financial burdens.

For the troubled and uncertain families, their top-five solutions to a shortage of money were to draw money from their saving, go to pawnshops, borrow money from chit-funds, borrow from relatives or acquaintances, and turn to informal lending, despite repayment rates of 10 to 15 per cent a month.

When asked to name their top five burdens, Bangkok parents cited the rising cost of living; more expensive study materials and uniforms; rising tuition fees; falling family incomes; and less opportunity to get extra jobs.