Rejected bidder re-emerges in 'One Tablet Per Child' scheme

[Nobbie49]

Their "Mission & Vision" page is 4 lines. Says it all i suppose

They have a web site - which states that they have 50 million baht in registered capital and their management page is blank. The first sentence of the About page states that "they have knowledge."

[Scamper]

The Yingluck administration seems to be under the impression they're still the government. They have no authority to arrange bidding, delegate " winners " and delegate funds.

" So far, no tablets have been delivered in Zones 1 and 2, while only a few hundred of the 400,000 ordered for Zone 4 have been delivered. "

This dismal track record, now culminating in the awarding of a new contract for which they have no authority to do so, to a company suspected of bid rigging - the words fail.

[bigbamboo]

Time for Yingluck and the PTP to just drop the tablet program.

Just come out and say something like "We had the best of intentions with both the Free Tablet policy and the Rice Pledging Scheme but they were both mistakes and so we are dropping both programs effective immediately"!

You have much to learn, Grasshopper.

[RubbaJohnny]

Whatever the merits of any machine or bidder the whole thing is reversed engineered,or in colloquial English ass backwards.

THE NEED IF ANY

Object Education yes?

This presupposes that this technology is the best use of limited resources and teachers are able to use.

SOURCE

OK even if we assume that kids need to use these powerful tools and keeep up to date with latest trends is it a good idea for state to supply? The state does not interfere in equally necessary footwear or clothing?

Of course billion baht contracts here always allow for skim ,thats the real reason.

WISDOM WHEN SPENDING OWN $$$

Why not allow students to spend their money on a tablet wisely,Issue of poor can be addresses by refunds or income support,rental deals?

Of course be difficult if 30 students had 30 different machines if teachers are needed to be "software support" and training.However I bet the students all have differing phones and game machines and are more proficient than adults with nimble minds and fingers

If the Min Of Ed wants to specify a model or even sell it so be it but as we all know these machines are redundant in a few years and these very cheap tablets with low spec even sooner.

The sooner the government gets its paws of school supply and policy the sooner some learning may occur.

With ASEAN 9 months way

1 Teacher training and retraining

2 Boost English training minimum and hor a day

3 Shortage of native speaker teachers in village schools,Allow those on retirement and marriage visas to be volunteers! Even better a volunteer visa i.e earn it by doing 5 hours a week unpaid teaching WIN_WIN.Of course staff may need vetting ,but I guess any native speaker or graduate of a Dutch German US Scandanavia University coild exceed the current standard

All of this could be left to the local head teacher,perhaps they be allowed the responsinbility in this and many areas to be like Moses and deliver the Tablets.In the meantime our children are victim of another corrupt opportunity.

[allan michaud]

I don't get it.

Why would a thai company ever win this deal. They will for sure outsource the production to China, so why not cut out the middleman and ask for bids solely from Chinese producers?

They tried that and look what happened.

[indyuk]

Another fine populist policy brought to you by the insane clown posse that run the current three ring circus that is Thailand

An infantile post that helps nobody. Perhaps you have issues against children. After all you must know the Ministry of Education holds the view that Thai children will benefit from this project.

[wilgoster]

"Apparently stupidity knows no bounds in this inept corrupt government!"

4 4 3 / 2 2 2 3

I can't vouch for the truth, but the meter, if not exact, is at least seductive.

[RubbaJohnny]

Another fine populist policy brought to you by the insane clown posse that run the current three ring circus that is Thailand

An infantile post that helps nobody. Perhaps you have issues against children. After all you must know the Ministry of Education holds the view that Thai children will benefit from this project.

I'd like to agree with you ,however I fear it it is a false premise to assume the bureaucrats know what is good for children,even those few who might ,usually young keen juniors will be ground into careerists.

Better health care ,diet ,ID cards for the children here not enrolled at school because parents are Lao Hmong etc.The children of all those poor refugees who wash our seafood in awful conditions and in the camps of Mae Sodt.These would be a start.

No jobs for life,sack incompetent teachers etc,this will never happen due to patronage ,loss of face issues,these values and corruption over school finances and places teach kids the wrong values from the start.

Then onto a Uni where you can screw/pay/bribe your way to a qualification.

[tilac2]

Another fine populist policy brought to you by the insane clown posse that run the current three ring circus that is Thailand

An infantile post that helps nobody. Perhaps you have issues against children. After all you must know the Ministry of Education holds the view that Thai children will benefit from this project.

At last, a post which isn't just the usual abuse of this government that we always see on TV. Actually, tablets are being introduced into schools in other countries too, including in Europe. Some experts do think there are benefits for children. Sure, the use of tablets is still somewhat controversial in educational circles, but the acceptance seems to be growing. Obviously some resistance from traditionalists should be expected.

I find it is often a good idea to check around before sounding off with terms like 'insane'.

[casualbiker]

Another fine populist policy brought to you by the insane clown posse that run the current three ring circus that is Thailand

An infantile post that helps nobody. Perhaps you have issues against children. After all you must know the Ministry of Education holds the view that Thai children will benefit from this project.

At last, a post which isn't just the usual abuse of this government that we always see on TV. Actually, tablets are being introduced into schools in other countries too, including in Europe. Some experts do think there are benefits for children. Sure, the use of tablets is still somewhat controversial in educational circles, but the acceptance seems to be growing. Obviously some resistance from traditionalists should be expected.

I find it is often a good idea to check around before sounding off with terms like 'insane'.

What age group in the other countries?

Do these other countries already have decent IT / internet connected schools?

Would it not be better at this juncture in Thai education to use this money for interactive white boards thus entitling all classes not just a few?

Example: presume 40 P1 students per class and six classes of P1's. 2,900 x 40 = 116,000 baht x 6 = 696,000 baht.. That's enough for 6 classrooms fitted out with interactive boards..

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[lee b]

Is this because the Chinese have stopped buying Thai rice? emmm?

[northernjohn]

With the problems associated with the tablet already recieved you would think the MOE would cancel this scheme and use that money more wisely to improve their education system. Children will not be using these tablets for the purpose of learning.

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Since this government took over ther scam has been a suspect both in corruption and usefulness of

the pad.

I myself am an advocate of introducing them at late grade two and grade three. Prior to that get

teachers who can teach let the kids learn the use of reasoning and logic before you give them a

tool to do it for them. Sell the rice for animal fodder and invest it in decent pads rather than the

cheapest inefficient junk they can find.

I find it strange that they insist the pad is a good idea and the last two ministers of education said

the system need's improving a whole new approach to it. The one they rotated out to replace him

with another who also says the system is no good. All of which gets swept under the rug when the

PM closes the government down. so in the mean time the intern government wants to continue with

the continuation of the plan of the man in Dubai rather than listen to their education ministers.

Edited February 8, 2014 by northernjohn

[johnthompson]

It hasn't even been proven that tablets would make children learn better. Stick to the basics first. A pen, paper and books has been proven to work for thousands of years and offer a much better bang for buck. That money could be better spend elsewhere.

[Sakeopete]

PTP tablet scheme ofc is nothing more than a vote buying pocket lining scam. However using tablets in the classroom is a good idea. My son is required to have an i-pad for his first grade class the school loaded learning programs in it and they get i-Pad homework. Basically it made learning fun especially on the drive home from school and long trips.

My 4 y/o daughter also loved playing the learning games on her brother's i-Pad and the fights began so we bought her one also. The school loaded the same software as her older brother has and they now both play learning games.

The school controls access to the i-Pads during school time so the students only have them when the teachers want them too.

[Davidhere]

Time for Yingluck and the PTP to just drop the tablet program.

Just come out and say something like "We had the best of intentions with both the Free Tablet policy and the Rice Pledging Scheme but they were both mistakes and so we are dropping both programs effective immediately"!

There's far too much money to steal from both programs that the disastrous results are well worth the flack they generate.

That would also require a degree of genuine compassion that the Shinawatras have continually shown they are completely devoid of.

.

[Davidhere]

Another fine populist policy brought to you by the insane clown posse that run the current three ring circus that is Thailand

An infantile post that helps nobody. Perhaps you have issues against children. After all you must know the Ministry of Education holds the view that Thai children will benefit from this project.

At last, a post which isn't just the usual abuse of this government that we always see on TV. Actually, tablets are being introduced into schools in other countries too, including in Europe.

And they are doing so in a knowledgable and conscientious manner with proper tablets, not the crap Thailand bought, and doing so with proper infrastructure in place first, not like Thailand with schools without wifi or even electricity. They are also doing with proper well-trained teachers, not like Thailand.

In Thailand's case, the entire program has been riddled with corruption, incompetence, lack of foresight, and in the end, no true concern for the students.

The complete disaster of this scam has been the result.

[outsider]

Despite what is going on, questions being asked and scrutiny in everything it does, this 'caretaker government' continues to amaze with super-creative scams. I'm really curious why the average Thai doesn't feel this as an insult to his/her intelligence.

Edited February 9, 2014 by outsider

[axact]

Wonder if Supreme Distribution will now be upping their price to compensate for the hassle and as they now appear to be the sole bidder ?

It's just another TRASH company that sells broken cheap trash...

Be careful what you write, this sounds like a good case to sue for deformation. I hope you have solid evidence to back up your slander. I suspect you have no knowledge of this company and its your butt doing the typing.

[Keesters]

One Tablet Per Child

&

Two 'tea monies' per guess who??

Edited February 10, 2014 by Keesters

[RubbaJohnny]

Pretty much every Thai I know, including Thai teachers, parents and kids, think this tablet scheme is useless - they mostly just laugh. Every single foreigner I talk with thinks the same, and it seems almost everyone online thinks it is useless too. Yet the PTP is pushing ahead with the scheme like there is no tomorrow.

Is there anyone at all who is in doubt what the real motive is here?

Deftly put,I'm sure the bubble of the tablet of soft soap wll obscure exactly where every last baht is spent.