“We need to establish these committees fast so as to handle urgent tasks like the transfer of teachers and the recruitment of assistant teachers,” Dapong said yesterday.

He said new assistant teachers were scheduled to start work on May 2.

Provincial education committees are part of the recent structural overhaul of the country’s education sector. The National Council for Peace and Order issued the overhaul order last month.

While the committees have provincial governors as their chairs and include several ex-officio members, each still has to fill seven seats.

“Of these seats, three are reserved for specialists, two are for representatives of the public sector and two others are for teacher representatives,” Dapong said.

He said he expected provincial governors to conclude forming the committees before the end of the week.

The minister said he was aware the process was rushed but that the initial committee members would only have three-month tenures, providing time to “carefully handpick the qualified persons”.

Dapong made his remarks after a video conference call with Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda and provincial governors.

The meeting was designed to create a mutual understanding about the implementation of education reform, he said.

“We have recognised the importance of educational reform … So mechanisms of the Interior Ministry will be used to facilitate the country’s educational management and human-resource management,” Anupong said.