More than 200 ask for transfers
By Witchayan Boonchote, Songkhla
More than 200 teachers in four districts of Songkhla province have asked to be transferred for safety reasons as they have been targeted by militants.
Soljai Wiboonkij, director of Songkhla's education zone 3 office, said his office has been flooded with letters asking for transfers out of the violence-prone districts sent by terrified teachers since early this month, when the last semester ended. Education zone 3 covers four districts _ Chana, Thepha, Na Thawi and Saba Yoi _ which border the three restive southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
There are 208 schools and 2,700 teachers under the office's jurisdiction.
Most teachers say they want to move away from the insurgent attacks. Some wanted to join their families in safer areas, while others cited career advancement as the motivation to move, he said.
Mr Soljai said his office would consider the teachers' requests and forward them to the Office of the Basic Education Commission for approval before the beginning of a new semester in May.
''We sympathise with our fellow teachers and will try our best to help them,'' he said.
In the meantime, temporary staff would be recruited to make up for the teacher shortage, he said.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring province of Pattani, a policeman was critically injured in a bomb attack in Yarang district on Friday night.
Elsewhere in the province, Waemaroning Waelong, a suspected insurgent leader, was killed by authorities after he shot dead an assistant to a village headman in Muang district. Police also tracked down seven other sympathisers in Waemaroning's group.
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