Tablet may be delayed

The government will not be able to distribute tablet computers to Prathom 1 and Mathayom 1 students before the 2013 academic year kicks off because the shipment will not arrive on time.

Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanich said yesterday that the tablets procured under a budget of more than Bt5 billion could not be delivered by May 16 - the day schools re-open for the new academic year.

The government plans to purchase 1.8 million tablets for its One Tablet Per Child project this year, but relevant authorities are still working on the terms of reference (TOR) for the procurement.

"We expect the TOR to be ready by March 13 and the e-auctions to take place on April 25. After that, we should be able to sign the purchase contracts on May 10," Sermsak explained.

He added that successful bidders would have up to 90 days to make the delivery after signing the contracts.

"So, the tablets will arrive between late May and July," the deputy education minister said.

However, he added, that this delay should not affect students' lessons.

"It's just a short delay," he said.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry yesterday joined forces with the British Council and the UK Embassy to launch the "English Teaching Assistants Project 2013". Under this, 792 English native-speaking volunteers will get to teach at 621 institutes nationwide for eight weeks from July to September. The British Council will also help develop English lessons that can be uploaded on the tablets.