Education Ministry to reinvigorate distance learning project

- claims of underutilization of resources

Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit, Ph.D., Minister of Education

By John Le Fevre

BANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Education is to inject Bt3.9 billion (about $US1.15 billion) over the next two years into revamping the School Distance Learning via Satellite Project (SDLSP), after finding about 20 percent of the satellite dishes purchased under the program have not been used.

The Bt3.9 billion will be used to target 5,340 small primary schools, 3,600 primary schools within the education opportunity extension project and 127 small secondary schools, many of whom are in remote areas.

The SDSLP was established in 1996 and supervised by the grand chamberlain of the Royal Household Bureau, however, the ministry felt the project was not being run efficiently and decided to step in to rectify problems quickly.

Education Minister Jurin Laksanavisit said yesterday that more than 20,000 satellite dishes have been purchased, but a survey by the Basic Education Commission found 3,964 dishes and equipment for the project have never been used.

The program was designed to provide students at schools with insufficient teaching staff with access to specialist teachers, with programs being beamed across the nation from the Klai Kangwon School in Hua Hin.

With a staff of 130, the Klai Kangwon School Foundation produces educational TV programmes for 15 satellite channels around the clock and has an annual budget of Bt200 (about $US5.884 million).

Jurin said some schools with dishes were found to have sufficient teaching staff and therefore did not need the service, while others lacked suitably trained teachers to enable the full benefits of the service to be achieved.

He said the unused satellite systems will be tested to see if they are still functional and if so will be placed at schools with teacher shortages, while the ministry will also buy additional sets from the budget allocation.

Jurin said about 3,700 schools will be selected to take part in the program during the current academic year, with the acquisition method used in the past being changed to make schools directly accountable for what they purchase.

-- thaivisa.com 2009-08-04

Education needs more focus and higher priority. Now they should also focus on the idiotic (university president's council) changes to university entrance or admission that have high school kids as angry as any red or yellow.