Almost one year after Thai children were promised computers under the populist One Tablet per Child policy initiated by the Pheu Thai-led coalition government, 10,000 units finally arrived amid criticism that the programme offers the country no benefit and only wastes taxpayer money.
But Olarn Chaipravat vigorously defends the policy, saying that the tablets are effective educational tools.
Dr Olarn, an economic and educational adviser to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, is the one who initiated the policy to provide tablets for Prathom 1 students. The scheme requires a total budget of 2.4 billion baht for the first 860,000 units.
(Source: Bangkok Post)