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."

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

[SQL Error]

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.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

[dch24]

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

[Anonymous Coward]

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 was oriented towards some very specific limited goals. https://foss.in/2006/cfp/speakers/talkdetailspub.p hp?talkid=183 [foss.in]

Re:Steel ones

[Potor]

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.

Some contextual links deleted by the editors

[patiwat]

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:Glad to see that rationalism is not dead yet

[patiwat]

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.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

[Threni]

> teachers in the south of the country start to spontaneously grow bullet holes.

That's not because of the coup. There's an issue with Muslims in the south which has been going on for a long time (indeed, since the south of the country was annexed by the Thai leaders almost 100 years ago).

Having a coup is a Bad Thing, but they're possibly correct in stating that a laptop isn't the most efficient use of a great deal of money.

Re:More hardware = More infrastructure

[rduke15]

They can't think around it - communism == EVIL!

This semms to be the case only in the US. In Europe, there is a very wide range of very diverse views about communism in general, and about each of the ex-communist states in particular.