Tablets cannot cure the cancer in Thai education

Nevertheless, the campaign ploy triggers more questions about whether the device is a solution to our failed education system.

To start with, anything free doesn't have an immediate negative impact. Free tablets are a fine top-up on existing free education provided by the previous Democrat government. Unfortunately, both populist policies are like icing on a cake that tastes awful. The difference, if there is any at first glance, is that free education leaves fewer questions and can be executed, while free tablets need a lot of preparation before distribution.

Parents know well that when kids get their hands on smart phones or tablet PCs, they will play games or go to entertainment sections rather than read news or anything educational, even crosswords. Many have raised the question of how educational these tools will be for Prathom 1 kids.

Schools need to ask the question of what role the tablet will take in supplementing education. A big question indeed, and if teachers or school directors fail to inquire and get answers, the whole thing will be like the Thai proverb "kai dai ploy" (the chicken gets a gem). The tablet could be an additional useless weight in a kid's schoolbag.

Let's try to imagine ourselves as a stakeholder - a parent or a teacher. These are questions to direct to our prime minister, the parent of a primary school boy:

Will the free Internet wi-fi be available for tablets to be functional in schools across the country? What kinds of applications are planned for kids at this level, as child development expert say they are at an age that needs a lot of exercise and absorbtion of languages? Will the gadget become an e-reader and if so, what kinds of e-books will be available for the tablets? (Most English-language books are automatically ruled out since most of our Prathom 1 students are not capable of reading English - not to mention that many teachers are not comfortable teaching that way.) Will parents have time to maximise use of the tablets? Who will be the main suppliers of applications? How do you avoid kids being exposed to porn and other unsuitable content? More to taxpayers than parents: How do we make the whole process transparent and convince taxpayers' that their money has been well spent?

There are more questions, but the tablet should never be taken to the step of an education policy. Try selling this idea to many other countries, and it is unlikely to be accepted as good policy. For ideas on real education reform, the Education Ministry should look at news of the recent past. There are many fundamental problems that need to be fixed, and if these remains, our country will lack competitiveness and be left behind in Asean.

On real education reform, here is the big picture for our PM:

PM Yingluck may want to be brave and make English the second language and implement a curriculum with another Asean language as a foreign language.

The teacher per student ratio is awful. In remote areas there is only one teacher for a whole school.

Thai curriculum is still based largely on our parents' generation. Students need to learn how to develop critical yet constructive thinking skills. The ministry should get rid of textbooks that teach kids to learn like a parrot, for this will lead Thailand nowhere.

Do you know how many students and parents suffer emotionally during the admission process at all levels from Pathom 1 to the undergrad? Do you know how many tests are out there? Try to scrutinise the Onet, A-net, PAT, GAT or SAT tests and you'll know how where our clueless education system is leading Thai students.

Seriously, the education minister and the premier can look into an even bigger pile of problems. However, a quick way to learn about the chronic problems in the Thai education system is to take all the kids of Cabinet members out of their international, catholic and bi-lingual schools, and put them into a BMA or temple-based school for free education. Now you'll have direct access to the problem without reading a pile of academic papers. My advice is sincere, not sarcastic. If Thailand's education system has been neglected for so long, it is now a cancer patient that needs chemotherapy followed by effective medicines. Tablet PCs don't have a place in this treatment.

You don't give a painkiller and hope that cancer will be cured, do you?