Only 50 Percent Of Pupils To Get Tablet Computers Next Semester: Thailand

Thaddeus · February 11, 2012

it has the potential to significantly improve Thailand's competitiveness and education levels over the next 10 years.

So, then they will only be 40 years behind.

rubl · February 11, 2012

begin removed ...

I did not say that electricity should not be mentioned, only that it is not a reason to NOT roll out the program. I don't find a reference for the # of schools in Thailand, but with some 20 million students and around 20/class average, then 2000 schools would represent around 3-4% of the schools, which would be the smallest (yes, ozmick, no electric probably means less than 100 students), and probably mean around 1% of the students overall... but I wouldn't mind seeing some stats. So 1% of the students being in schools is not a justification for not rolling out the program to 99% of the students.

...end removed

You need to be a bit more carefull with these figures.

Only to P1 kids tablets will be provided at first and only if their school is 'up to it'. Unfortunately it's precisely the primary schools which may lack facilities. Secondary and higher education mostly have the facilities, or they wouldn't be able to teach properly (sorry, I won't / don't want to specify what properly is).

Only a minor number of students may be enrolled in schools without electricity or other essential facilities, but most likely the percentage of the P1 students effected is rather significant. Most likely those schools are in 'poorer' regions, like North-West and North-East. No problem in Bangkok of course, the well-known powerbase of the Pheu Thai party

Edited February 11, 2012 by rubl

tlansford · February 11, 2012

begin removed ...

I did not say that electricity should not be mentioned, only that it is not a reason to NOT roll out the program. I don't find a reference for the # of schools in Thailand, but with some 20 million students and around 20/class average, then 2000 schools would represent around 3-4% of the schools, which would be the smallest (yes, ozmick, no electric probably means less than 100 students), and probably mean around 1% of the students overall... but I wouldn't mind seeing some stats. So 1% of the students being in schools is not a justification for not rolling out the program to 99% of the students.

...end removed

You need to be a bit more carefull with these figures.

Only to P1 kids tablets will be provided at first and only if their school is 'up to it'. Unfortunately it's precisely the primary schools which may lack facilities. Secondary and higher education mostly have the facilities, or they wouldn't be able to teach properly (sorry, I won't / don't want to specify what properly is).

Only a minor number of students may be enrolled in schools without electricity or other essential facilities, but most likely the percentage of the P1 students effected is rather significant. Most likely those schools are in 'poorer' regions, like North-West and North-East. No problem in Bangkok of course, the well-known powerbase of the Pheu Thai party

Hi Rubl - from your response, it is clear that you have no more statistics than I regarding the details of the schools in Thailand with electric or not. It would be interesting if we did. Extrapolation from the # of students and class sizes, however, is adequate to point out that delaying the program until every single school has electricity is not necessary.

rubl · February 11, 2012

begin removed ...

I did not say that electricity should not be mentioned, only that it is not a reason to NOT roll out the program. I don't find a reference for the # of schools in Thailand, but with some 20 million students and around 20/class average, then 2000 schools would represent around 3-4% of the schools, which would be the smallest (yes, ozmick, no electric probably means less than 100 students), and probably mean around 1% of the students overall... but I wouldn't mind seeing some stats. So 1% of the students being in schools is not a justification for not rolling out the program to 99% of the students.

...end removed

You need to be a bit more carefull with these figures.

Only to P1 kids tablets will be provided at first and only if their school is 'up to it'. Unfortunately it's precisely the primary schools which may lack facilities. Secondary and higher education mostly have the facilities, or they wouldn't be able to teach properly (sorry, I won't / don't want to specify what properly is).

Only a minor number of students may be enrolled in schools without electricity or other essential facilities, but most likely the percentage of the P1 students effected is rather significant. Most likely those schools are in 'poorer' regions, like North-West and North-East. No problem in Bangkok of course, the well-known powerbase of the Pheu Thai party

Hi Rubl - from your response, it is clear that you have no more statistics than I regarding the details of the schools in Thailand with electric or not. It would be interesting if we did. Extrapolation from the # of students and class sizes, however, is adequate to point out that delaying the program until every single school has electricity is not necessary.

I'm sorry to say I disagree in part. Yes, the program should commence even if only to a smaller part of the P1 students. It will allow for program evaluation, improvement, etc., etc. The part I disagree with is the suggestion that 'extrapolation of #students/class sizes' somehow results in sufficient substantiation that 'delaying the program untill every single school has electricity is not necessary'. It is only the evaluation of the percentage of P1 students who go to schools not up to the standard needed to meaningfully employ tablet Pcs, which may cause a halt to that program.

You are correct in assuming I have no further details, I just 'feel' primary schools and 'full-range' schools in underdeveloped areas will form a major part of the schools 'not up-to-it'. If so the percentage of P1 students not being enroled in schools where tablet Pc's will be rolled-out is disproportional.

ADD:

Probably one of our 'teacher' members will be able to give some more insight on this particular aspect.

Edited February 11, 2012 by rubl

whybother · February 21, 2012

Tablets to be distributed to Pathom 1 students in May
BANGKOK, 21 February 2012 (NNT) - The committee overseeing the purchase of tablet computers has agreed to acquire the tablets through a government-to-government (G2G) purchase, hoping they will be in the hands of Pathom one students when the first semester starts in May.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the committee led by the Education Minister will propose to the Cabinet a G2G method seeking tablets for first grade students.

Under the plan, the Chinese government will prepare 560,000 tablets at 3,400 baht each.

A committee to inspect the tablet will be set up. The tablets to be ordered will have a seven-inch touch screen, 16-gigabyte memory, and dual-core CPU; they will operate under the Android 3.2 Honeycomb system.

-- NNT 2012-02-21

thaicbr · February 21, 2012

Tablets to be distributed to Pathom 1 students in May
BANGKOK, 21 February 2012 (NNT) - The committee overseeing the purchase of tablet computers has agreed to acquire the tablets through a government-to-government (G2G) purchase, hoping they will be in the hands of Pathom one students when the first semester starts in May.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the committee led by the Education Minister will propose to the Cabinet a G2G method seeking tablets for first grade students.

Under the plan, the Chinese government will prepare 560,000 tablets at 3,400 baht each.

A committee to inspect the tablet will be set up. The tablets to be ordered will have a seven-inch touch screen, 16-gigabyte memory, and dual-core CPU; they will operate under the Android 3.2 Honeycomb system.

-- NNT 2012-02-21

I wonder which manufacturer is going to supply the tabs now. funny how just 2 days ago Lenova agreed to $60 a tab. But now it's $100.

thaicbr · February 21, 2012

Tablets to be distributed to Pathom 1 students in May
BANGKOK, 21 February 2012 (NNT) - The committee overseeing the purchase of tablet computers has agreed to acquire the tablets through a government-to-government (G2G) purchase, hoping they will be in the hands of Pathom one students when the first semester starts in May.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the committee led by the Education Minister will propose to the Cabinet a G2G method seeking tablets for first grade students.

Under the plan, the Chinese government will prepare 560,000 tablets at 3,400 baht each.

A committee to inspect the tablet will be set up. The tablets to be ordered will have a seven-inch touch screen, 16-gigabyte memory, and dual-core CPU; they will operate under the Android 3.2 Honeycomb system.

-- NNT 2012-02-21

I wonder which manufacturer is going to supply the tabs now. funny how just 2 days ago Lenova agreed to $60 a tab. But now it's $100.

Reasonableman · February 21, 2012

Must have upgraded the rakeoff... Errrr, specifications...

Quick math. 560000 * $40 management and handling fee = a nice little earner

Tablets to be distributed to Pathom 1 students in May
BANGKOK, 21 February 2012 (NNT) - The committee overseeing the purchase of tablet computers has agreed to acquire the tablets through a government-to-government (G2G) purchase, hoping they will be in the hands of Pathom one students when the first semester starts in May.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the committee led by the Education Minister will propose to the Cabinet a G2G method seeking tablets for first grade students.

Under the plan, the Chinese government will prepare 560,000 tablets at 3,400 baht each.

A committee to inspect the tablet will be set up. The tablets to be ordered will have a seven-inch touch screen, 16-gigabyte memory, and dual-core CPU; they will operate under the Android 3.2 Honeycomb system.

-- NNT 2012-02-21

I wonder which manufacturer is going to supply the tabs now. funny how just 2 days ago Lenova agreed to $60 a tab. But now it's $100.

philw · February 21, 2012

Tools (technology) when deployed on a massive scale have historically been catalysts for change and development. It takes a government initiative to do that, the private sector is not the driver for these changes. That was true before the computer and IT era, but with IT, it happens fast enough to see the shifts. look at broadband roll-outs around the world. South Korea pushed the development and roll-out of broadband across the country and now is a leader in internet infrastructure and many of the related industries. Thailand needs to diversify from being just a manufacturing base for the world and augment it with more domestic sources for design, engineering, etc. This kind of initiative can help that.

As to the roll-out, even European retailers who source large, custom-spec'd, single-system PC projects have rolling projects plans that are 6-8 months long. It would be a huge surprise to me if the public sector could match that speed for an IT project of this scale.

As i say, the catalyst excuse is perfect if people buy it, as it gives you license to get away with doing almost any stupid thing on the basis that at some future time that stupid thing can be hailed as a stepping stone.

Or it could be considered foresight, progressive, investment in the future.

Or maybe it is just an empty campaign promise. If Thailand pushes the program over time, then it's not just a campaign promise.

We won't have to wait that long to see the impact, but I suspect the beneficial changes forced by this won't be published here - eg: electrical infrastructure improvements, internet connectivity, improving teacher skills / development are not headline grabbing stories.

By the way, as for stepping stones, this could be considered a stepping stone in education investment. Since 2000 Thailand has increased its investment in education which I think is a good trend.

As for other "arguments" against the program as written here, ie: 2000 schools without electricity, that is a very nice red herring. Just mention to me how many out of the 10's of thousands of schools have electricity? Schools with no electric are (really) remote, and small schools. The total school population affected is minuscule. The schools will adapt, upgrade, or merge.

Nice post and fully agree.

It's similar to evolution, any improvement is better than no improvement.

I also know many schools without mainline power but the great majority do have power supply.

Like you say, another red herring.

Indisputable fact is that this initiative will benefit schools and students.

Naysayers can naysay away......................

Again, why on this forum the constant resistance to, and derision of, intelligent change ??

In the national scheme of things , how can access to tablet computers be detrimental to educational development ???

Some on here want those kids back to chalk and Dickens.

rubl · February 21, 2012

Nice post and fully agree.

It's similar to evolution, any improvement is better than no improvement.

I also know many schools without mainline power but the great majority do have power supply.

Like you say, another red herring.

Indisputable fact is that this initiative will benefit schools and students.

Naysayers can naysay away......................

Again, why on this forum the constant resistance to, and derision of, intelligent change ??

In the national scheme of things , how can access to tablet computers be detrimental to educational development ???

Some on here want those kids back to chalk and Dickens.

Sorry philw, but I think FACT is 'some schools and some students only ' will benefit. Furthermore as I posted earlier in this thread I believe that a larger number of the P1 students at whom this 'tablet PC program' is aimed will be at schools not 'ready'. Those kids stay with chalk and blackboards like even I remember from when I was young (ages ago)

Edited February 21, 2012 by rubl

Thaddeus · February 21, 2012

In the national scheme of things , how can access to tablet computers be detrimental to educational development ???

Lazy students.

Lazy teachers.

Misinformation.

I've deleted the other 30 mins worth of typing I just did.

How the heck did we survive as a species before computers and the internet, it must have been a living hell.

Thaddeus · February 21, 2012

Again, why on this forum the constant resistance to, and derision of, intelligent change ??

Mainly from the lack of intelligence.

I'm sure you can make your own mind up about that statement.

tlansford · February 21, 2012

Tools (technology) when deployed on a massive scale have historically been catalysts for change and development. It takes a government initiative to do that, the private sector is not the driver for these changes. That was true before the computer and IT era, but with IT, it happens fast enough to see the shifts. look at broadband roll-outs around the world. South Korea pushed the development and roll-out of broadband across the country and now is a leader in internet infrastructure and many of the related industries. Thailand needs to diversify from being just a manufacturing base for the world and augment it with more domestic sources for design, engineering, etc. This kind of initiative can help that.

As to the roll-out, even European retailers who source large, custom-spec'd, single-system PC projects have rolling projects plans that are 6-8 months long. It would be a huge surprise to me if the public sector could match that speed for an IT project of this scale.

As i say, the catalyst excuse is perfect if people buy it, as it gives you license to get away with doing almost any stupid thing on the basis that at some future time that stupid thing can be hailed as a stepping stone.

Or it could be considered foresight, progressive, investment in the future.

Or maybe it is just an empty campaign promise. If Thailand pushes the program over time, then it's not just a campaign promise.

We won't have to wait that long to see the impact, but I suspect the beneficial changes forced by this won't be published here - eg: electrical infrastructure improvements, internet connectivity, improving teacher skills / development are not headline grabbing stories.

By the way, as for stepping stones, this could be considered a stepping stone in education investment. Since 2000 Thailand has increased its investment in education which I think is a good trend.

As for other "arguments" against the program as written here, ie: 2000 schools without electricity, that is a very nice red herring. Just mention to me how many out of the 10's of thousands of schools have electricity? Schools with no electric are (really) remote, and small schools. The total school population affected is minuscule. The schools will adapt, upgrade, or merge.

Nice post and fully agree.

It's similar to evolution, any improvement is better than no improvement.

I also know many schools without mainline power but the great majority do have power supply.

Like you say, another red herring.

Indisputable fact is that this initiative will benefit schools and students.

Naysayers can naysay away......................

Again, why on this forum the constant resistance to, and derision of, intelligent change ??

In the national scheme of things , how can access to tablet computers be detrimental to educational development ???

Some on here want those kids back to chalk and Dickens.

good to see you back

Siam Simon · February 21, 2012

Tools (technology) when deployed on a massive scale have historically been catalysts for change and development. It takes a government initiative to do that, the private sector is not the driver for these changes. That was true before the computer and IT era, but with IT, it happens fast enough to see the shifts. look at broadband roll-outs around the world. South Korea pushed the development and roll-out of broadband across the country and now is a leader in internet infrastructure and many of the related industries. Thailand needs to diversify from being just a manufacturing base for the world and augment it with more domestic sources for design, engineering, etc. This kind of initiative can help that.

As to the roll-out, even European retailers who source large, custom-spec'd, single-system PC projects have rolling projects plans that are 6-8 months long. It would be a huge surprise to me if the public sector could match that speed for an IT project of this scale.

As i say, the catalyst excuse is perfect if people buy it, as it gives you license to get away with doing almost any stupid thing on the basis that at some future time that stupid thing can be hailed as a stepping stone.

Or it could be considered foresight, progressive, investment in the future.

Or maybe it is just an empty campaign promise. If Thailand pushes the program over time, then it's not just a campaign promise.

We won't have to wait that long to see the impact, but I suspect the beneficial changes forced by this won't be published here - eg: electrical infrastructure improvements, internet connectivity, improving teacher skills / development are not headline grabbing stories.

By the way, as for stepping stones, this could be considered a stepping stone in education investment. Since 2000 Thailand has increased its investment in education which I think is a good trend.

As for other "arguments" against the program as written here, ie: 2000 schools without electricity, that is a very nice red herring. Just mention to me how many out of the 10's of thousands of schools have electricity? Schools with no electric are (really) remote, and small schools. The total school population affected is minuscule. The schools will adapt, upgrade, or merge.

Nice post and fully agree.

It's similar to evolution, any improvement is better than no improvement.

I also know many schools without mainline power but the great majority do have power supply.

Like you say, another red herring.

Indisputable fact is that this initiative will benefit schools and students.

Naysayers can naysay away......................

Again, why on this forum the constant resistance to, and derision of, intelligent change ??

In the national scheme of things , how can access to tablet computers be detrimental to educational development ???

Some on here want those kids back to chalk and Dickens.

Any improvements in education threaten the status quo, Phil. Right wing expats want better roads, better internet, better shopping malls. They don't want smarter locals. Uneducated, pliable locals is a big part of why they choose to live in Thailand .

Ricardo · February 21, 2012

In the national scheme of things , how can access to tablet computers be detrimental to educational development ???

For me, it would be about the relative value-for-money of the investment, as compared with other ways of investing it, such as getting electricity into the schools, or better-training for teachers, or putting-in one computer-room with decent PCs rather than a 'Wow-factor' pre-election promise of Samsung-tablets for all !

And the hilarious/sad cock-ups, in actually delivering any promise of improvement, to the standard originally promised.

rixalex · February 22, 2012

Any improvements in education threaten the status quo, Phil. Right wing expats want better roads, better internet, better shopping malls. They don't want smarter locals. Uneducated, pliable locals is a big part of why they choose to live in Thailand .

They = people who don't share my red / Thaksin sympathies.

People who don't share my red / Thaksin sympathies = evil whore-mongering right wingers.

Troll.

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