Move to axe 'smart classrooms' needs further debate

Thai governments come and go and all of them say that they will something about education and reforming the system. But in the end, as the past has shown, nothing seems to change as students in our public school system don’t seem to be any better prepared for higher education or the real world.

The idea of targeting specific trades is logical but, unfortunately, many of our technical schools have turned into battlegrounds between students from rival schools. They beat, stab and shoot one another and few people seem to be able to do anything about this pathetic aspect of our society. 

Like the previous government, the current junta has also vowed to make changes that are needed. The junta has allocated the Education Ministry some Bt498.16 billion – a 3.2 per cent increase on last year’s budget and 19.5 per cent of the total budget allocation. General Prayuth has made education reform part of his plan to restore political stability. 

Like many things for the government, it is a long-term investment. Prayuth has to make sure that whatever foundation his government puts down is sustainable. But unfortunately, education has been a sector that major parties have sought to make short-term political gains. 

Such a mindset and attitude should be a thing of the past and only time will tell if this military-run government will have the political courage to do the right thing. 

At the centre of the latest debate is the use of information technology, or IT, in schools. The previous government led by Yingluck Shinawatra came up with the One (computer) Tablet Per Child scheme. 

Not much thought went into it. Critics said the initiative was part of Yingluck’s populist agenda, and it did little in terms of improving the education system or schoolchildren’s results. So there was little surprise when it was axed.

Initially, there was talk of the so-called “Smart Classroom”. The idea was to equip classrooms with interactive computer software. A typical feature would have included a large interactive screen as a replacement for the chalkboard, and either laptops or tablets for students to use during classes with cloud-computing capabilities. Each smart classroom would have cost at least Bt250,000, depending on its size.

But the National Council for Peace and Order, the ruling junta, decided to scrap the proposal, saying IT would be provided on a basis of needs instead. It noted the need to save money and cater to the different context of each school.

While this move sounds logical, there is nevertheless the need to ensure fairness and equality when it comes to educating our children. Hitting the right balance between the needs of each school and the need for standardisation at the national level is a tough nut to crack. But the junta should open the issue up for wider discussion instead of leaving this to the bureaucrats. 

Education is too important to be monopolised by officials at the ministry. On this note, the quality of education and the methodology they employed should also be examined. 

Instead of using students’ test scores as a benchmark for success, the government should also take into consideration teachers’ performances. We can’t just place all the blame on the students. Teachers must do their part and they must be held accountable for their performance as well.