Experts worry tablets will do more harm than good

Many academics have voiced concern about the government's plan to get Pathom 1 students reliant on tablet computers. They were speaking at a seminar, titled "Will handing out 900,000 tablets reform Thailand's education?" held recently by the Thai Journalists Association.

"If children use the tablets all the time, they will develop bad eyesight and abnormal brain development," Assoc Prof Nittaya Kotchabhakdi, a paediatrician at the Mahidol University's Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, said.

Nittaya said children between six and eight - the average age of Pathom 1 students - found it easier to learn from real situations rather than virtual stuff.

"They should be encouraged to interact with one another or they will grow up having problems with communication. Also, with tablets, they will become less active and get fat and lose out on height," she pointed out, adding that youngsters should instead be encouraged to read books and play.

Ratwinit School deputy director Waraporn Patangjaijing said Pathom 1 and Pathom 4 students at her school were participating in a tablet-use-for-learning study conducted by the Srinakharinwirot University (SWU).

"I have seen the content, and do not think it inappropriate for primary school students," she said.

She said SWU lecturers spent an hour every day teaching one of five subjects to the students. The project, under which the participants' eyesight was also measured, will be concluded next month.

At the seminar, Dr Worakorn Kamsingnok - deputy secretary to the education minister - said the government had gone ahead with the One Tablet Per Child policy so as to boost children's learning process in preparation for the establishment of the Asean Economic Community in 2015. The government will implement the plan by handing out tablet PCs to Pathom 1 students first.

An informed source revealed that the Education Ministry would call on the Cabinet to approve the budget today and provide guidelines on the implementation of the One Tablet Per Child policy. The source added that the ministry would seek more funds for the project because the Bt1.97 billion initially earmarked would not be adequate.