Tablets have come about to play a very significant role in a number of fields. Specifically, in the educational sector, it is viewed as somewhat of a revolutionary product that can help students immensely with their education. And that is precisely why a number of projects have been launched to equip younger students with tablets. However, Thailand seems to have overtaken all these projects.
The government in Thailand has now inked a whopping deal worth $32.8 million which aims to furnish one million tablets to equip the students around the country. This is, by far, the largest distribution of tablets that is going to happen anywhere in the world.
The deal has been expected for quite some time since the present regime in Thailand had promised such a venture last year during the elections. Though it took them quite some time to finalize the deal, it is happening now. The lucky vendor who has been chosen by the government to provide the huge amount of tablets happens to be Shenzhen Scope. The company will initially bring out 2,000 test units after which it will be providing another 400,000 devices within the next 90 days.
The government has further plans of getting another 530,000 tablets from Shenzhen Scope, a deal which has to be finalized yet. If this part of the deal is also eventually sealed, this will catapult the overall budget of the venture to a massive $75.7 million.
The primary objective of the government in Thailand, through this project, is to equip every first grade student across Thailand with a personal tablet. If all goes well with the distribution of these tablets, this can indeed trigger an educational revolution in the country.
The tablet which will be distributed as a result of the deal is Scopad SP0712. While it is not one of the well-known ones at the international arena, it still comes with fairly impressive specifications, at least for first-graders. For instance, the tablet tools Android ICS on a 7-inch touchscreen and 1GB of RAM together with 8GB of storage and the feature of GPS.
According to the chairman Liu Jun, “Thailand is the first country in which we have provided large numbers of tablets for students. Now we are talking with other governments to provide this kind of tablet device for [other] students, including Pakistan, Brazil and South Africa.” It would be interesting to note that Shenzhen Scope is providing the Thai government with the tablets against a price tag of mere $81 per unit. Also, as a result of the huge demand that will occur with this deal, the company is building newer facilities to increase its production volume.
Initially while the project suffered a number of setbacks and delays, it is great to see that a venture of this kind is finally going forth and aims to bolster an immense educational revolution which can truly have a very positive impact. And one hopes that similar ventures are undertaken in a number of developing countries.
Source: FutureGov
Courtesy: The Next Web
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