Obec probes blank tablet claims

It's not possible that computer tablets issued under the “One Tablet Per Child's initiative for Prathom 1 pupils would have no content at all, the Office of the Basic Education Commis-sion (Obec) said yesterday.

The manufacturer, Shen-zhen Scope Scientific Development, is required to load the tablets, and the Information and Communi-cations Technology Ministry inspects the devices upon receipt, Obec chief Chinna-pat Bhumirat explained.

Obec has prescribed four types of content - e-books, learning objects, multimedia and applications - to be installed on the devices.

Tablets without any content were reported by educational-zone offices in Nakhon Ratchasima and Amnat Charoen, but those devices might have been procured by the schools themselves, Chinnapat said, adding that Obec officials were investigating.

Chinnapat yesterday presided over an Obec executives' meeting about the Prathom 1 and Mathayom 1 tablet procurement in the fiscal year 2013. They discussed whether the bidding might be divided into zones to ensure efficiency and competitive bidding, as well as reducing risks, he said