Thai Education Ministry advances tablet initiative despite budget cut

Thailand’s Education Ministry continues to advance its tablet distribution initiative, despite a budget reduction from 16 billion to 13 billion baht. Siripong Angkasakulkiat, an assistant to the Education Minister, confirmed the ministry’s commitment to the project yesterday.

Education Minister Police General Permpoon Chidchob is spearheading the One District, One Quality School project. This initiative aims to consolidate educational resources, both physical and technological, within each district’s schools.

“The ministry will push the project forward and allocate budgets to support teachers while providing schools with innovative technologies.”

The project includes distributing tablets to Secondary 4 to 6 students across 1,808 schools. The Ministry is actively seeking contractors to develop the necessary platform and teaching content.

Currently, the project is under review for the 2025 budget allocation. The original budget of 16 billion baht for tablet distribution has been reduced to 13 billion baht.

Siripong mentioned that the budget would cover a five-year leasing contract for 600,000 tablets, costing 400 baht per device, including Internet network service.

Presently, 1,808 district high schools are registered for the initiative, with considerations underway to include small and medium-sized schools.

The Education Ministry asserts that the tablet distribution scheme aims to enhance learning flexibility by providing over 600,000 devices to students and teachers. Additionally, it will support the development of accessible educational content.

Last month, the ministry projected that the total cost for the programme, spanning from 2025 to 2029 and covering 29,312 schools, would be 22 billion baht.

This new initiative has sparked comparisons to the One Tablet, One Student project under the Yingluck Shinawatra administration. Before the 2014 coup, the Yingluck government planned to procure or lease over 2.5 million tablets for students nationwide, with a total budget of 12 billion baht, reported Bangkok Post.

In related news, the government is set to launch a project to address the increasingly prevalent issue of school dropouts in Thailand. The initiative aims to locate and assist over a million students who have prematurely ended their formal education.