Tablet computer delivery delayed: Thailand

[webfact]

Tablet delivery delayed
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Students in first AND seventh grades in several provinces will not get their free tablet computers in the upcoming semester as scheduled. This delay was caused by purchase checks by the Office of the Auditor General after irregularities were detected.

Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang said yesterday the One Tablet PC Per Child policy would continue. He felt it had been a success despite the fact teachers have complained that students spend more time "sneakily" playing games on the tablets, rather than using them for study purposes.

Chaturon cited a ministry report saying that those who used the tablets had better grades and were more enthusiastic with their studies.

The OAG recently issued a memorandum addressed to the Education Ministry, questioning the purchase of the tablets for schools in several provinces that come under the jurisdiction of two administrative agencies.

Chaturon said the tablet purchase had to be delayed following the OAG query.

The ministry, through the Office of Basic Education Commission, will decide on Thursday if it should officially halt the purchase of the tablet computers for these schools. Chaturon had earlier suspended the purchase of tablet computers in other administrative areas for schools based in certain provinces in the Central region and South.


-- The Nation 2013-08-20

[Somtamnication]

Son got his last term. What a complete POS. Not only was it loaded with only LITE versions of education software, but it used up the battery within 20 minutes. And at the beginning of this new term, the kids all had to give it back, never to be seen again.

I guess because he is now P2. The tablets are for P1 students only. The P2 students are now proficient in computer knowledge, programming and can now avoid evil news. Lesson learned!!!!

[culicine]

They performed better in tests after using the tablets huh? You can bet the kids using the tablets did NOT do the same test as the control group, even if such a study was actually performed! We need to wait at least three years to see if performance on O-Net has changed or not. News for the minister: Kids actually LIKE to play games...because, well, they are kids! Putting a boring Thai history book as an E-reader will not improve motivation....if it just mimics the normal paper version.

[gemini81]

Can't believe any results of a scheme related to Pheua Thai. If it sounds like BS, it probably is!

[NongKhaiKid]

Another iffy populist scheme which is a complete success according to the minister but what a surprise there are irregularities in the purchase scheme.

[MaxLee]

Another iffy populist scheme which is a complete success according to the minister but what a surprise there are irregularities in the purchase scheme.

No problem, just add another Computer tablet scheme, and we will have a Tablet-berg right after the RICE-Berg

[Neilly]

My daughter is in P1 and still hasn't received hers...then again we live in the south and as it's been pointed out before we're not in a government backing area

[Jimbob1]

_{They should start appearing on eBay real soon ....}

Edited August 20, 2013 by Jimbob1

[MaxLee]

The Law of supply and demand is sadly ignored by the people in power in Thailand into I-I-I-Me-Me-Me DEMAND-FIRST-FIRST-FIRST-ABSOLUTE-LAW

[tomross46]

The children got tablet computers. At least the children in school are not watching porn, like members of parliament. OH! the children in school have adult supervision, but the children in parliament do not.

Edited August 20, 2013 by tomross46

[SOTIRIOS]

Another iffy populist scheme which is a complete success according to the minister but what a surprise there are irregularities in the purchase scheme.

despite the fact teachers have complained that students spend more time "sneakily" playing games on the tablets, rather than using them for study purposes.

Chaturon cited a ministry report saying that those who used the tablets had better grades and were more enthusiastic with their studies.

....a party member was instructed to produce a report....would he be insane to conclude otherwise...

...the teachers are mistaken...they must be....

...but too bad we could not get an independent study done....

(,,,I guess it would defeat the whole charade...)....and who cares about student performance anyway...well the teachers do...but...shhh..

[expat888]

[kimamey]

My daughter is in P1 and still hasn't received hers...then again we live in the south and as it's been pointed out before we're not in a government backing area

To be honest maybe it's in the areas that don't back the government that they should focus their efforts to gain more support.

[kimamey]

They performed better in tests after using the tablets huh? You can bet the kids using the tablets did NOT do the same test as the control group, even if such a study was actually performed! We need to wait at least three years to see if performance on O-Net has changed or not. News for the minister: Kids actually LIKE to play games...because, well, they are kids! Putting a boring Thai history book as an E-reader will not improve motivation....if it just mimics the normal paper version.

They performed better in tests after using the tablets. Better than what? They may have performed better than students that didn't have tablets but that may be because they have a better teacher and they were better anyway even if the use of the tablet helped them as well.

As you say it will take a lot longer before there can be any meaningful results.

[indyuk]

What really baffles me is how all this 'Tablet hoo haa' fits in with the 'every child to have access to a computer' and the scams school teachers devised to extract the thousands of bahts operating costs from us the bewildered parents that have yet to see their children getting anywhere near a school computer.

When we queried the issue we were told that the government only supplied a few computers to the school with no consumables or installation peripherals and no salary budget for an IT teacher, go figure.

[CHANGOVER]

It's called

Pretend Tablet Teaches

... ie nothing

[rubl]

Now if my memory doesn't fail me on this, I really remember that

- 2012/2013 P1 kids took their tabletPC with them to P2

- 2013/2014 P2 kids with a tabletPC were waiting for the new P2 programs

- 2013/2014 P1 kids and 2013/2014 M1 kids would get a brand new tabletPC

- unknown if old P1 programs can just run on the new tabletPCs

- unknown if M1 programs available by now

Well, as indyuk suggests, probably the teachers at fault.

[Ianatlarge]

The provision of tablets for students is not an innately bad idea, in fact a good idea. However, it all comes down to how this plan is implemented, and by all accounts it has been implemented badly.

[jbrain]

If it looks like scam, sounds like a scam and proceeds like a scam, it probably is a Pheu Thai election promise.

[hellodolly]

They performed better in tests after using the tablets huh? You can bet the kids using the tablets did NOT do the same test as the control group, even if such a study was actually performed! We need to wait at least three years to see if performance on O-Net has changed or not. News for the minister: Kids actually LIKE to play games...because, well, they are kids! Putting a boring Thai history book as an E-reader will not improve motivation....if it just mimics the normal paper version.

They performed better in tests after using the tablets. Better than what? They may have performed better than students that didn't have tablets but that may be because they have a better teacher and they were better anyway even if the use of the tablet helped them as well.

As you say it will take a lot longer before there can be any meaningful results.

I am a little curious about what the criteria was for the test.

Did they hand pick the ten brightest students out of a school with real teachers and use them against a school with no real teachers in the poorer parts of Thailand where the kids go to school if they feel like it or don't bother with it if they don't want to.

Come to think of it I am describing a typical red shirt school.

[hellodolly]

"This delay was caused by purchase checks by the Office of the Auditor General after irregularities were detected.

Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang said yesterday the One Tablet PC Per Child policy would continue."

Now I could be wrong but the way I read that was that they know there are problems but they are going to continue purchasing them even with out stopping to find the fault and fix it.

In other words they are paying tax payers money to buy pads of questionable value even if they were working properly. They are going to buy them even though they know for a fact there is problems with them.

[johnnie20110]

If it looks like scam, sounds like a scam and proceeds like a scam, it probably is a Pheu Thai election promise.

Absolutely.

There election promise (and even the program title) was that ALL students in ALL grades were going to receive a tablet the first year.

Lies and corruption.