JUST AS Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob moved to relaunch the Yingluck Shinawatra government’s project of distributing free tablet computers to all students and teachers nationwide a large number of teachers pointed out that this scheme was not that effective when carried out almost a decade ago and it would be better to use the budget to hire more teaching staff, Amarin TV said today (Sep. 15).
Permpoon, from Bhumjaithai Party, announced the revival of this project when outlining his “Study Well, Be Happy” policy to officials at this ministry with this being divided into two parts – education for excellence and education for stability of life.
Also included in his policy is to provide teaching equipment and welfare with teachers and students across the country to get one tablet computer each.
Among the teachers who disagreed with the revival of this project is Ms. Orawan Khunsrirod, a professional-level teacher at Ban Sa Ngam School, Mueang district, Nakhon Sawan province, who said her school still has tablet computers that were distributed during the Yingluck Shinawatra government which are not usable and kept in a storeroom.
“If there is a project to distribute tablets again I personally think it might not be worthwhile because nowadays teachers have many telecommunication devices such as mobile phones, notebook and iPad which can be used for teaching,” she said.
Giving each student and teacher a free tablet might increase maintenance burden, she said, while also pointing out that they may not be used for their intended purpose and this would affect learning.
The devices received in the past were of poor quality, easily damaged and out of date with this increasing repair cost.
For this reason it would be better to use this budget to hire more teachers to ensure that each one teaches an appropriate number of students, she said.
CAPTIONS:
Top: A composite photo showing Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob with a tablet computer next to him. Credit: Matichon
Front Page: Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob. Photo: Thai Rath
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