Govt vows strict quality control for tablets
The government is ensuring strict quality control in the production of the first batch of tablet computers for its One Tablet Per Child scheme.
“If any of the 2,000 devices contains a flaw in the main system, the whole manufacturing process must be revamped from the start,” Information and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap said yesterday.
If the flaw is minor, manufacturing for the next lots will be able to start after the change is made in line with the Thai government’s requirements, he said.
An extensive quality inspection of the first 2,000 devices will be part of the contract with the Chinese supplier, Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development.
The Office of the Attorney-General will review the contract before the signing takes place soon. Within 15 days of the signing, the first batch must be delivered to Thailand.
Anudith said that by Tuesday all the agencies that would receive tablets, except the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the City of Pattaya, would have to transfer funds to his ministry to arrange the procurement for them.
Chinnapat Bhumirat, secretary-general of the Basic Education Commission, said his agency was allocated just Bt1.18 billion for the scheme but according the government’s plan, it would have to provide tablets to all 560,000 Prathom 1 students.
“The budget we’ve got is enough for about 470,000 tablets only,” he said.
The Budget Bureau has advised the agency to borrow some of the funds allocated for other purposes for the purchase of the difference, or 90,000 tablets.
