First delivery of tablets delayed by a day
The Education Ministry has decided to delay its first delivery of tablets to the five provinces by a day yesterday, according a top ministry official.
Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the delay had been caused by a problem in the translation of the warranty documents from English to Thai. The Chinabased manufacturer needs to first correct the translation before the qualityapproval committee gives the shipment its stamp, though he insisted that there was no problem with the quality of the actual units.
Chinnapat Bhumirat, secretarygeneral of the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec), said the committee was scheduled to complete the checking of the tablets yesterday but since it took time to prepare the units for delivery, the ministry had decided to postpone it by a day. Up 35,000 tablets were scheduled to be delivered to Krabi, Kanchanaburi, Kamphaeng Phet, Kalasin and Bangkok yesterday.
“The delivery ceremony will probably be held tomorrow and on Thursday we will hand out tablets at Darakam School in Bangkok’s Klong Toei district. A discussion between academics, education officials and the minister about how the tablets can help solve educational problem in Thailand will also be held there,” Chinnapat said, adding that another discussion about the use of tablets would be held in Samut Sakhon later.
According to him, Obec will deliver tablets to about 48 per cent of Prathom 1 (Grade 1) students in every province in the first round, with the rest being given the units in the second round. All students should have a tablet this semester, he said.
