Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to analyze the Questions to Ministers concerning education, the governments education policies, the political, economic and social contexts that have an effect upon education, and the status of the members of the House of Representatives who proposed the Questions to Ministers concerning education during B.E. 2475-2516, using an historical research method. The result of this research revealed that the governments education policies were main factors causing the Questions to Ministers. The issues which were asked most frequently were the ones concerning teachers salaries. benefits and professional upgrading. The questions with a lower frequency were the ones about the increased number of Primary and Secondary schools in rural areas, the opening up of new disciplines at the undergraduate level and the increased opportunities for Vocational students to learn through practical experiences rather than theories. Because of limited budgets and human resources, not all policies were accomplished. However, the plans were carried out gradually by the successive governments. The topics which were raised with the lowest frequency were about pre-school education, which received little attention in the governments policies as well. Special education and Welfare education, though not specifically mentioned in the governments policies, were usually questioned. These questions were acknowledged and implemented by the government. Furthermore, political, economic and social changes were other factors which made the members of the House of Representatives raise the Questions to Ministers. These changes also influenced the governments education policies. Considering the status of the members of the House of Representatives during B.E. 2475-2516 in total of 12 elections, most of them were men. They were in the group of 30-50 years of age, most holding bachelor or associate degrees, but pursuing many different careers, and 20.47% from the group of government officials were teachers. The members of the House of Representatives from the Northeastern and the Eastern provinces asked more questions concerning education than the members from other regions. According to this research, 25 out of 32 governments announced the educational policies to the parliament. There were 532 questions to Ministers concerning education, most of which were ordinary questions answered in the meeting rather than in the government gazette.