‘One student, one tablet’ to be revived

The new education minister wants to give teachers more options and lessen their workloads.

The Ministry of Education is getting ready to resurrect a program that was first implemented by the preceding Pheu Thai government ten years ago to give all students and teachers in the country access to one product system each to encourage similar option in education.

The Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob and his lieutenant Surasak Phancharoenworakul, both members of the Bhumjaithai Party in the Pheu Thai-led partnership, announced a number of plans on Thursday.

The officials stated that their goal was to promote” great learning, with happiness” when speaking at a meeting of government authorities.

Pol Gen Permpoon stated that he also intended to lessen the burdens on educators and teachers by streamlining the hiring process, allowing them to gain freely to their home provinces, eliminating job-buying, and resolving teachers’ debt issues.

Under the” one scholar, one tablet” platform, he claimed, every student may also receive a product to lower their costs and lessen the differences in educational opportunities.

Pol Gen Permpoon stated that he was still weighing the program’s price. Tablets could be purchased through loans or leased if the current budget is insufficient, he said.

The state of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra first suggested the” one pupil, one product” program in 2011. With a budget of 1.7 billion baht, tablets were first distributed to 860, 000 Prathom 1 ( Grade 1 ) students in the middle of 2012.

There was a lot of skepticism at the time regarding the program’s affordability and viability. It was also questioned how long Foreign Android devices would last.

After the first year, the National Statistical Office ( NSO ) conducted a survey that found some issues, such as malfunctioning equipment, antisocial behavior, and declining handwriting abilities.

However, the majority of directors and educators expressed satisfaction with the plan as a whole. According to the NSO survey, 99 % of the schools that received the pills did so. Teachers discovered that the devices were particularly effective at enhancing their English and Thai language skills.

On the negative side, almost 9 % of the pills provided had technology issues. These included malfunctioning screens, charging issues, and improperly installed or insufficient software.

Adm Narong Pipattanasai, a former military captain who took over as education minister following the military takeover in 2014, eventually cancelled the tablet program after it had been renewed for another year.