PM hands out first batch of tablet PCs to Thai students

BANGKOK, June 8 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday handed out the first batch of 2,000 tablet personal computers to Grade 1 students at public schools throughout the country under her administration's One tablet PC Per Child Program. When presiding over a ceremony at Bangkok's Government House to present the first 2,000 tablet PCs to the young Thai students, Yingluck said that the program is one of her government's urgent policies, aimed to promote unlimited but useful learning among Thai children with the support of advanced-technology. Yingluck acknowledged that her government has realized parental concerns over their children's future and has, therefore, paid attention to Thai youths' access to knowledge since they are in their early studies to develop and sustain their knowledge bases for national interest, and that the government has installed an security system to protect and prevent young students from accessing to irrelevant or unlawful websites or on-line contents. According to the prime minister, each tablet PC is installed with on-line contents of key subjects and useful general knowledge, covering religious teachings and royal activities, with supplementary electronic books and audio or video presentations in accordance with the Thai Ministry of Education's curricula. The Thai premier announced that her administration plans to hand out tablet PCs to all Grade 1 students of government-run schools nationwide by 2013. (TNA)