- d. Role of the School Council in the implementation of the school budget

- e. Acceptance of the Council-approved budget by higher level authorities as a guide for detailed fiscal transfers to the school.  The more involved is the School Council in the planning and implementation of the school budget, the higher the probability for improving accountability.

Overall, in terms of _policy intent_ , Thailand gets an _Established_ score (Table 4). Parents participate in school board committees, which have a strong advisory role at the local level, and also contribute in fundraising activities. Since schools are responsible for drawing their own plans for managing non-salary resources, the role of parents in financial planning is very important. Currently, parents contribute between 20 and 30 percent of the total per student expenditure in public schools (UNESCO 2009) and another 10 percent is donated by the private sector following the lead of parents. Although parent participation is significant, current policies force schools to keep two sets of books in order to manage a combined budget of government and private funds, creating problems of operational efficiency and transparency. In terms of _policy implementation_ the participation of the School Council in school finance remains near the _Established_ stage. At the sub-indicator level participation is higher than the law allows in the areas of budget preparation and approval, with an _Emerging_ score for intent score and an _Established_ – for implementation.

**Table 4:  Thailand:  Policy Intent and Policy Implementation Scores for Indicator of School** **<u>Council Participation in School Finance</u>**

|**Sub-Indicator**|**Intent**<br>**Score**|**Implementation**<br>**Score**|**Intent**|**Implementation**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**3.1 Participation of the School**<br>**Council in budget preparation.**<br>SchoolCouncil has a voice in budget<br>planningandpreparation.|**2.0**|**2.8**|Emerging<br>|Established<br>|
|**3.2 School Council's authority to**<br>**approve the school budget.**School<br>Council consulted before approval.|**2.0**|**2.8**|Emerging<br>|Established<br>|
|**3.3 Manual for participation of**<br>**Councils in school finances.**There<br>are manuals, but participation by<br>Councils is less formal.|**3.0**|**2.8**|Established<br>|Established<br>|
|**3.4 Role of the School Council in**<br>**budget implementation.**ESA and<br>schools inform parents on off-budget<br>items on a regular basis.|**3.0**|**2.7**|Established<br>|Emerging<br>|
|**3.5 Use of budget prepared with**<br>**School Council's participation.**<br>Parent contributions used by ESA and<br>schools in budgetplanning.|**3.0**|**2.8**|Established<br>|Established<br>|
|**Overall**|**2.6**|**2.8**|Emerging<br>|Established<br>|

Source: World Bank 2013 and school survey data. The differences between the intent and implementation scores are statistically significant at the 0.001 level.

In the remaining three sub-indicators of School Council participation the intent and implementation scores are similar. The fact that schools must separate their real budget from the official budget means that School Councils have a say in budget planning and preparation, but it 14