The Education Ministry remains committed to its tablet distribution project despite the budget being cut from 16 billion to 13 billion baht, Siripong Angkasakulkiat, an assistant to the Education Minister, said on Monday.
According to Mr Siripong, Education Minister Pol Gen Permpoon Chidchob is determined to implement the "One District, One Quality School" project to build a pool of educational resources -- both physical and technological -- among schools in each district.
The ministry will push the project forward and allocate budgets to support teachers while providing schools with innovative technologies, Mr Siripong said.
The proposed project includes the plan to distribute educational tools, including tablets, to Mathayom 4-6 students in 1,808 schools.
He said the ministry is recruiting contractors to develop the platform and teaching content.
As of now, the project is being reviewed for the 2025 budget allocation as the previously proposed budget of 16 billion baht for tablet distribution was cut to 13 billion baht.
Mr Siripong said the budget would be used for the five-year leasing contract for 600,000 tablets, or 400 baht per device, including the internet network service.
Currently, 1,808 district high schools are registered for the project. The ministry is considering adding small and medium-sized schools to the list.
According to the Education Ministry, the tablet distribution scheme aims to enhance learning flexibility by providing more than 600,000 devices to students and teachers and developing content they can access.
The ministry said last month that the cost for the entire programme, from 2025 to 2029, covering 29,312 schools, would be 22 billion baht.
This initiative has drawn comparisons to the controversial "One Tablet, One Student" project under the Yingluck Shinawatra administration. Before the coup in 2014, the Yingluck government had planned to buy or lease more than 2.5 million tablets, with a total budget of 12 billion baht, for students nationwide.
