Govt Schools To Get 20,000 Computers

[thaigene2]

Sure they're going to make money off it - is anyone here suggesting any previous non-Thaksin government wasn't doing the same thing? Anyone think ANYTHING in Thailand happens without the Pooyai thinking of a way to make money for themselves beforehand? You think expressways, BTS, etc, etc, weren't handled in the same way?

You think your secretary's family made money 'honestly' so they could send her to Australia or America to get her degree? Get over it.

No - you're right. They SHOULD'NT put computers in over-sized classrooms. They SHOULDN'T buy bicycles so poor kids can actually get to high schools five kilometres away.

Pathetic. Where were the Democrats bicycles and computers? In their own kids' rooms - that's where!

[hansnl]

Mmmm......completely agree with Jbowman1993. Most government schools now have over 50 students per class which is just way too many. Would be far better employing more teachers, both Thai and foreign, to educate these students. If class sizes could be reduced then it gives more opportunities for learning.

Computers are all very well but who will teach them as well as observe them. Most school students just use computers to talk on MSN, Hi5 or play games.........hardly the most educational learning experience. 900 million baht on 20,000 computers could be used to employ thousands of new qualified teachers instead.

Ask yourself the question..............would you rather have your child learning at school from a qualified teacher or spending their time in front of a screen.

Again too much bling and not enough foresight into the long term education of Thailand's future generations. When will they learn (pardon the pun!)

Ah, to make it even more interesting, a lot, or all, foreign teachers need to follow a course in Thai things, or something.

3 weeks to go to Krung Thep, luxury surroundings, of course payment by the teachers themselves.

Maybe it is preferable to send some Thai "English" teachers to a refresher course to learn to speak good English?

I do seem to having a hearing impairment when I listen to Thai "English" teachers, I hear them but do not understand them.

And 20000 computers, price aside, for which schools, and where?

How many schools are there in Thailand?

Wow, very nice again!

I

[Bagwan]

Have the pooyais checked whether all schools are connected to the National Grid? PC's need electricity don't they?

[Plus]

Sure they're going to make money off it - is anyone here suggesting any previous non-Thaksin government wasn't doing the same thing? Anyone think ANYTHING in Thailand happens without the Pooyai thinking of a way to make money for themselves beforehand? You think expressways, BTS, etc, etc, weren't handled in the same way?

You think your secretary's family made money 'honestly' so they could send her to Australia or America to get her degree? Get over it.

No - you're right. They SHOULD'NT put computers in over-sized classrooms. They SHOULDN'T buy bicycles so poor kids can actually get to high schools five kilometres away.

Pathetic. Where were the Democrats bicycles and computers? In their own kids' rooms - that's where!

I'm afraid you are firing at the wrong target.

This particular project was proposed by Education Ministry and presented by permanent officials, it's not coming from the new government that "cares".

What the new education minister proposed was ONE MILLION computers. That is what you can call "government for the people".

We had posters defenind purchase of a million notebooks running on Linux no one has ever seen or tried to use, or even knows how to use, including IT specialists, we had posters proposing dumping a million of these mysterious boxes on students, hoping they will become creative or something. Total cost estimated at 34 billion baht, that's over a billion dollars.

Electricity is not a problem - they have either foot pedals or cranks to power them up.

[John K]

Plus, I think what he is saying is the huge over cost. The idea itself is valid no matter where it came from.

[Plus]

The cost of setting a standardised computer lab to every school is far higher than the cost of computers themselves - add standard desks, chairs, repaiting the room in standard colors, probably an airconditioner, too. They should also include the cost of training.

[thaigene2]

As long as they keep investing the money it doesn't really matter, if you look at the big picture - say Hengs skim off 10% and invest it into some project that create jobs for ten "little" guys. It would be a lot worse if they hoarded the money in Singaporean accounts instead.

That's how Thais justified their corruption for ages - just keep the money in the system and share the benefits.

It would be better if these 10% the government is going to lose anyway were kept with Hengs in the first place. I read somewhere that in the US for every 1000 the government returns to the people, it spends 600 to manage it. I doubt it's very different in Thailand, the government is probably even more expensive here.

Right out of "The Bell Curve", huh? A textbook excuse for why the poor, stupid, underpriviledged majority deserve what they get, and the upper-middle and business-classes are the rightful stewards of the nation's wealth (and underfunding of the public education systems), which coincidentally, always seems to find its way, dispropotionately, into their own pockets.

Classic.

[Heng]

Cool. I didn't know I was in that book.

[thaigene2]

Cool. I didn't know I was in that book.

Wasn't referring to you actually - but rather the attempt to justify the logic in supporting a corrupt dominant class (Pooyai) versus a more egalitarian society where corrupt officials and businesspeople are kept (more or less) in line by a transparent and (relatively) incorruptable judiciary that will mete out harsh punishment (e.g. jail time) to rich fraudsters and those engaged in malfeasance.

Of course since it's America, a much bigger country, perhaps there is a Heng-stein or a Heng-capisco family? Could be, since for every one Heng in Thailand there are probably five others in America (shame there's no Pattaya there though!).

[Plus]

a more egalitarian society where corrupt officials and businesspeople are kept (more or less) in line by a transparent and (relatively) incorruptable judiciary

This is Thailand, vast majority of the population thinks corruption is cool.

According to some sureviews Thais won't even vote for people who can't steal, they think honest people are inefficient.

The government you see now is a perfect example of what Thai "egalitarian" society would look like.

My reasoning above wasn't invented by me, btw. It was proposed by people who long realised that this is the nation of thieves, so to speak. How to make the best of the situation where stealing public funds is unavoidable.

Maybe that's why Thaksin sell off to Singapore was unacceptable - he didn't reinvest here, it's against the rules.

Actually, these days there are no rules anymore, even "mafia" code of conduct can't keep these people in place.

[chownah]

How to make the best of the situation where stealing public funds is unavoidable.

Education..... thievery does not optimise society...people are better off when the thievery is reduced....they might learn this through education...they certainly won't see this by looking to Thai politics either now or in the past. I think that education and efficient exchange of information (news....which is getting harder to control) is the answer.

but we are going off topic here.

Chownah

[Heng]

Cool. I didn't know I was in that book.

Wasn't referring to you actually - but rather the attempt to justify the logic in supporting a corrupt dominant class (Pooyai) versus a more egalitarian society where corrupt officials and businesspeople are kept (more or less) in line by a transparent and (relatively) incorruptable judiciary that will mete out harsh punishment (e.g. jail time) to rich fraudsters and those engaged in malfeasance.

Of course since it's America, a much bigger country, perhaps there is a Heng-stein or a Heng-capisco family? Could be, since for every one Heng in Thailand there are probably five others in America (shame there's no Pattaya there though!).

For myself I don't really lean too far either way. Sometimes the poor are poor because they have been stepped on (for generations in many cases) and just as often they are poor because they have made poor choices (also for generations).

The same goes for the wealthy, there are fraudsters and there are those who have collectively made the right decisions and have established nearly unstoppable momentum over time.

It's understandable how many don't want to accept this because it means accepting that 'life isn't fair' (no kidding) and 'that it might be possible that no one is keeping me down except for me and family history that I cannot change.'

[astral]

Do they have the teachers qualified to pass on computer skill,

or will it be game playing..............

[plachon]

Do they have the teachers qualified to pass on computer skill,

or will it be game playing..............

Game playing (preferably max graphically violent) for the boys, chat rooms and Taiwanese poster boy pix for the girls.

And the teachers are not in short supply, but the institutional and management back-up to support computers in schools tends to be.

Hence, I can point you to rooms full of unused, perfectly good computers sitting idle, either because they are the "wrong" OS (e.g. Macs) or there is no budget to fix them when the system breaks down. They also tend to become obsolete in less than a year, unlike books in a library, which is why politicians love computer purchasing projects and one reason why Toxin is so rich today.

[chownah]

If there is a possibility that a generation of computer literate teachers could be produced in Thailand it seems to me that how this could happen is to have schools with computers in them so that the teachers of the future will have some computer skills.....it seems to me that he way to hinder this is to NOT have any computers in schools and then the teachers of the future will have no computer skills. This is, of course, a vast oversimplification which I am presenting here NOT as some sort of analysis of real world possibilities but rather as an indication of a general trend or influence on teacher's of the future.

Chownah

[thaigene2]

a more egalitarian society where corrupt officials and businesspeople are kept (more or less) in line by a transparent and (relatively) incorruptable judiciary

This is Thailand, vast majority of the population thinks corruption is cool.

According to some sureviews Thais won't even vote for people who can't steal, they think honest people are inefficient.

The government you see now is a perfect example of what Thai "egalitarian" society would look like.

My reasoning above wasn't invented by me, btw. It was proposed by people who long realised that this is the nation of thieves, so to speak. How to make the best of the situation where stealing public funds is unavoidable.

Maybe that's why Thaksin sell off to Singapore was unacceptable - he didn't reinvest here, it's against the rules.

Actually, these days there are no rules anymore, even "mafia" code of conduct can't keep these people in place.

Thanks for the clarification. I agree with most of this post - sad but true.