Thailand Government Cancels OLPC Participation

patiwat writes "Thailand's new junta-appointed Education Minister has cancelled Thailand's participation in the One Laptop Per Child project and scrapped a plan to give a 2B1 laptop to every primary school student. He has also cancelled plans to roll out computers and a broadband connection to every single school in Thailand. The cancellation of half a million scholarships for needy students is being studied. He cited the lack of readiness of teachers and the need to focus on basic education standards. 'We will not focus too much on technology and materials. We will focus on substance,' he said. This comes on the heels of the cancellation of the Thai government's open source policy."

More hardware = More infrastructure

"He cited the lack of readiness of teachers and the need to focus on basic education standards."

This guy needs to manage my Data Center. It is a well known thought (from a sysadmin point of view) that throwing hardware at an undefined problem may mask the issue for a time, but it does not 'usually' solve the problem.

High technology CAN be a liability if it isn't managed correctly.

Re:

I agree, but right now he seems to be focused on saving money instead of redirecting learning curriculum. I doubt he would bother to train better teachers.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

I agree, but right now he seems to be focused on saving money instead of redirecting learning curriculum.

That's very nice for you to say, but what would you do if like him you were behind on your mansion payments ?
Sometimes you've got to have your priorities straight.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

I think what the guy has realised is that a cheap laptop is certainly not going to be some silver bullet in the heart of bad education. It's going to take far more than a flashy new piece of hardware to turn around a stumbling educational system...

Even if the technology is managed perfectly, most of the kids are still going to look at these laptops as new toys and expensive nightlights...

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

I think what the guy has realised is that a cheap laptop is certainly not going to be some silver bullet in the heart of bad education.

Given what's been happening [bbc.co.uk] in southern Thailand [abc.net.au] of late, that's probably not the best choice of metaphors.

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Last Sunday I heard a brilliant talk on the use of FOSS in Indian primary schools. It was pretty evident that the biggest problem is that the teacher does not know how to use the computer. The solution is education and development of easy software, which w

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

I think what the guy has realised is that a cheap laptop is certainly not going to be some silver bullet in the heart of bad education.

You're being generous. A cynic might suggest that this guy is trading away the technological future of his country's children at the behest of a well heeled international corporation.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

I fear that you're wrong, and the guy is just a conservative technophobe

The new Prime Minister, Surayud Chulanont [wikipedia.org], is a born-and-raised military man. He seeks to strengthen Thailand. I suspect that spending large sums on outside technology which will tend to increase the influence of outside media (such as the US and China) leads him to take a dim view of the OLPC project, along with the other cancelled and soon-to-be-cancelled educational initiatives. I don't think this action is related to the cancellation of the open source policy.

I do think Thailand is aware of the benefits of technology. They are having quite the political upheaval, though, and this is probably closely related to the Southern militants [wikipedia.org]. The southern part is where all the violence around schools is happening. (This post [slashdot.org] links to the BBC [bbc.co.uk] and ABC [abc.net.au])

There is definitely a battle for the identity and control of Thailand. I think it's incredible how little blood has been shed in the recent coup. I hope that the government moves back toward democracy, but it looks like Thailand is becoming more of a Communist state.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

The new Prime Minister, Surayud Chulanont, is a born-and-raised military man. He seeks to strengthen Thailand. I suspect that spending large sums on outside technology which will tend to increase the influence of outside media (such as the US and China) leads him to take a dim view of the OLPC project, along with the other cancelled and soon-to-be-cancelled educational initiatives.

(Metaphorically) killing off great opportunities for better education, and trying to reach some stage of technological autarchy, all from a man with a military background... sounds like a mix of the Khmer Rouge agenda with the North Korean Juche system, without all the suppression and genocide, of course...

No, I don't think that his goals will do his country any good.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

``No, I don't get why anyone would think that communism was inherently totalitarian and anti-democratic, let alone brutal and dehumanising, just because this has been true of every country with a communist government, ever.''

First of all, "communist government" is a funny phrase, because communism was originally defined as a state where everyone is equal and there is no government, making "communist government" a contradiction in terms. Secondly, the governments you refer to weren't communist. They may have been called that in the west, or in popular usage, but if you look at the official terminology, they would be called "people's republic", "soviet republic", etc. In practice, these governments may have been autocratic, aristocratic, sort of democratic, or totalitarian, but certainly not communist.

The larger point is that communism is not a system of government, but more an economic system. You can have a "communist" the-community-owns-everything-no-single-person-own s-anything economic system, and any form of government, including democracy.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

You're fighting a losing battle here. The word and idea 'communism' was hijacked during the McCarthy era and now is synonymous with evil and wrong. It's a short circuit in most Western people's brains that's basically been programmed from birth. They can't think around it - communism == EVIL!

The scary thing is the same is happening with "liberal", it's almost an insult to be called liberal these days.

As for NewSpeak, it's doubleplusgood!

Re:

OK.
So, after a military Coup a major education project under way is canceled along with a reform of the countries IT policies, and teachers in the south of the country start to spontaneously grow bullet holes.

Call me crazy, but somehow I don't really think

not an Open Source failure

Hopefully, /.'ers and others won't look upon this as an Open Source failure, it isn't. It's (in my opinion) more of a triumph somewhere of sanity... Technology has it's place, but a laptop for every child smacks of the program's hubris and less of a sane approach to helping poor countries.

I think they show real insight when fearing little return on the effort because teachers are poorly trained. Heck, even in wealthy countries teachers consistently have no computer smarts (my sister is a teacher, she hasn't a clue!). Compound that with a techie-Linux platform (I love Linux, but for the mass public, with minimal background and training?) and this program was running off the rails from the beginning.

There are excellent examples of schools in the United States where huge investments in technology for schools showed no tangible gains in students' profieciencies and at the same time examples of poor schools shifting emphasis to basics, discipline, and community with strong academic results.

Technology for technology's sake is just that, but not much of a salve for third world economies, at least not by giving a laptop to every child. I think this is actually a positive development because it has (had) so many ways it could have gone wrong allowing companies like Microsoft down the road to point fingers at Open Source as the culprit, and if only Microsoft had been chosen to save the world.

(For the record, this whole OLPC effort would be just as much of a train wreck with Windows, just a whole heck of a lot more expensive.)

Re:not an Open Source failure - not a failure

How do you know the OLPC program is a failure? What criteria were set for it to be a success that it hasn't met yet?

It hasn't even started yet. It may be a failure, but to declare it a failure is like declaring who has won the 2010 World Cup today.

The OLPC may go to more places than developing countries. There are a number of places that are doing a trial of the system.

With Libya's order going through they have enough to get serious volumes being made. Once they show that then other countries, including richer developed countries may be interested. OLPCs may work well as text book readers. How much does the average school system in a US spend on textbooks per student per year? Who can say now whether some of these uses will take off.

The OLPC may fail, but it hasn't failed yet and it is silly to describe it as having failed before it's even been tried.

Re:not an Open Source failure - not a failure

How do you know the OLPC program is a failure? What criteria were set for it to be a success that it hasn't met yet?

More to the point, what criteria were set at all for the program? All I see, looking at the laptop.org web site, are a bunch of fuzzy "Think of the kids!" generalities that talk about how wonderful it would be for the world's poorest kids in the remotest regions to have laptops. Not because there's hard evidence to show that having a laptop will substantially improve the quality of education for these kids, but because it'll make them feel good, and give them a sense of responsibility.

Don't believe it? Go look for yourself. The OLPC FAQ page [laptop.org] brings us such disarmingly trite generalities as:

Why do children in developing nations need laptops?
Laptops are both a window and a tool: a window into the world and a tool with which to think. They are a wonderful way for all children to learn learning through independent interaction and exploration.

That's right! Little Juan, Choudary, and Byung-Sun need a "tool" with which to think -- and I thought it was called a "brain". No, they need a window into the world, and a way to learn learning through independent interaction and exploration! Never mind that all of that can be accomplished *without* a $100 laptop in the hands of each child. Want a window into the world? Get them a good library with a few current events publications, and a computer lab with a few internet connected computers. You can build a heck of a good public school library (or 2 or 3) for $50 million dollars

But wait -- there's more in the FAQ [laptop.org]!

Why is it important for each child to have a computer? What's wrong with community-access centers?
One does not think of community pencils--kids have their own. They are tools to think with, sufficiently inexpensive to be used for work and play, drawing, writing, and mathematics. A computer can be the same, but far more powerful. Furthermore, there are many reasons it is important for a child to own something--like a football, doll, or book--not the least of which being that these belongings will be well-maintained through love and care.

Where to begin?? To compare a $100 dollar laptop with a pencil that literally costs pennies is ridiculous. And the final argument, that warm-fuzzy-hot-chocolate-lump-in-your-throat claim... "It's important that the kids OWN something to maintain through love... and care." Awwwww.... how can we say NO to that?! Once again, footballs, dolls, and books don't cost $100 per child.

Your final claim:

The OLPC may fail, but it hasn't failed yet and it is silly to describe it as having failed before it's even been tried.

Makes my mind boggle. By this same logic, anything that hasn't been tried, no matter how stupid, far-fetched, or wrong-headed, should be tried. After all, if it hasn't been tried, it's silly to predict that it will fail, right? Might as well just spend the 50 million dollars and see what happens!

50 million dollars (500,000 laptops * $100) is a LOT of money to gamble with in a developing nation. I'd much rather see them spend that money on projects that have been shown to have a significant positive impact on educational quality -- smaller class sizes; basic health care so that kids don't miss weeks of school; upgrading school facilities with good lights, good water, and a reasonable amount of climate control -- good roofs to keep the rain out, ventilation to keep things cooler in summer, heaters to keep things cooler in winter. Save the OLPC project until it's actually shown that a laptop in the hands of each child will benefit them, rather than wasting money, wasting time, and putting yet another cement block around the neck of developing countries.

Cancellation is extreme

I don't see cancellation as being necessary. Perhaps a more moderate, phased in approach would work. Start with magnet type schools and go from there. Taking time to do it right makes sense but to outright cancel seems extreme.

Glad to see that rationalism is not dead yet

The guy sounds quite rational there. I mean, there's bad education and then there's complete and utter lack of education. If you're in a country where 10% of people can't read and write (1% in USA, Canada and European countries, 0.5% in Russia) - you'll be better off if you spend the money on teaching them how to read and write. No fancy hardware is necessary - just a pen, a book and some paper. If you're in a country where 95+ percent of people are literate but computing is not easily accessible to high schoolers - that one can benefit from OLPC type program a lot more. Things are incomparably worse in India (which is why I guess it declined to participate early on). 30% of male and 52% of female population can't read or write. In Nigeria, percentages are 25 and 40% correspondingly. In Brazil - 14 and 13% correspondingly. In Argentina - 3 and 3%. Based on this, out of four countries in OLPC project (Brazil, Argentina, Thailand and Nigeria), only one country - Argentina - can potentially benefit from spending on OLPC more than from spending on basic education. In order to run, you first need to learn how to walk.

High levels of government corruption in participating countries is not a coincidence either. Someone will make a lot of money on this, and you can bet it won't be teachers.

Re:Glad to see that rationalism is not dead yet

Thailand already has basic education covered. Thailand's adult literacy rate is male 95%, female 91%. For children, it is 98%. See here [ilo.org]. By your own definition, that would potentially allow Thai children to greatly benefit from the OLPC.

Some contextual links deleted by the editors

Some links in the story submission were deleted by the editors.

The "junta" being referred to is the Council for National Security [wikipedia.org], a clique of the Thai army that seized power in the 19 September coup [wikipedia.org].

The Education Minister is Wijit Srisa-arn [wikipedia.org], a former Opposition member of parliament.

http://en.wikipedia/wiki/ [en.wikipedia]

Re:

With respect, I disagree: I don't feel that children in developing nations need a chance to learn about computers nearly as much as they need encouragement to dream of and plan for ways to improve their society using their ideas and their heritage.

Perhaps

Re:Steel ones

Which part of "military coup" did you not understand?

More likely, he is canceling this because the last thing a military dictatorship wants is informed citizens.

Re:Steel ones

What surprises me is how few people really disagree with you here. I think there's a growing sense that OLPC is a boondoggle, and it is to their credit that more and more geeks are realizing it.

It occurs to me that one of the stories told about widespread internet use is that people would be able to do things like "look up how to fix their irrigation systems on the web". Well, I've been using the web since Mosaic 2.0, and I'm much less able to fix a truck, repair an irrigation system, care for a garden, or do a whole bunch of other things that I know a lot of other people who aren't using the net know how to do. If I want to learn how to fix a truck, I might use my laptop to find a school or a place to do it - but then I'm just replacing the yellow pages. I'm more likely to find someone in my own personal social network who has the skills I want to acquire, and hang out with them.

The one practical thing that net connectivity has given me is access to recipes for cooking that I didn't have before. If the OLPC enables children in the developing world to cook eggplant parmigiana, I guess that's a good thing, but it's probably a lot less ambitious than what the creators had in mind.

The early zeal of the project isn't even a matter of "having a hammer and seeing every problem as a nail," it's more like "having a cantaloupe and thinking it's a hammer, and then throwing your cantaloupe at vaguely nail-shaped kittens."

Re:Steel ones

It depends on the person.

Some people aren't into DIY, so they use the web to look for someone to buy from.

Some people are into DIY and use the web for things other than shopping.

In my case, some of the things I have used the web for are:

• Information on growing food in my garden: varieties of plants, propagating from seed, care of plants, ...
• Information on caring for and chemistry of swimming pools.
• Design of irrigation systems and rainwater collection systems
• Investigating the feasibility of systems to supplement my house's electricity supply
• Information on house maintenance and how to do various jobs
• Furniture and cabinet making

Probably not the things a person in a developing country might look for, but that is because I don't live in a developing country. It does demonstrate that the web is a useful reference library, and I contend that the web contains information that is useful to a person in a developing country, that they would otherwise miss out on.

For example I've heard of villagers using the web to monitor world prices for various crops they grow, placing them in a stronger bargaining position when the people they sell to try to understate prices.

I don't think there is any question that the developing world needs the Internet. The question is how to best get it to them. Many people seem to view the Internet as a luxury, which it is if used for entertainment or amusement. The flip side of the Internet is textbooks, meteorological reports, market prices and the like, which are necessities for anything but a subsistence life style. Maybe people in developed countries take these necessities for granted, so don't notice the Internet's role in providing them?

If not OLPC what then? Information can be distributed on paper but as the volume and timeliness of information picks up the Internet is cheaper. OLPC seems like a cute misnomer for "Internet without infrastructure".

Re:Steel ones

I taught in a Thai high school for a year. Thai children, at least in Bangkok, are quite proficient with computers, more so than you would think. BKK is rife with pc cafes and gaming spots, and the schools are largely wired. However, the level of teaching ALL SUBJECTS is appalling, outside of the private schools. Thai children constantly do very poorly on benchmark testing, within ASEAN itself.

It is not permitted to fail in a Thai school. So, the teachers either keep testing and testing until a pass is obtained, or they simply make the lowest grade a pass, and distribute the rest of the marks accordingly. I know, because I was forced to do this. The Thais need to focus on sham. And as far as I know, the Thai university system is not accredited.

In the provinces, things are the same, except not nearly as wired.

Your experience does not translate.

I didn't see my first computer until I was 11, didn't own a Pc until I was 13, and didn't own a PC with a GUI until I was 18. Yet here I am, a member of the "techno elite".

Your schools could afford textbooks and libraries. That's why most of your peer