Students in remote areas to e-learn

Education Ministry permanent secretary Chinnapat Bhumirat  said the four-year project, called MOE Channel, aims to enable   two-way communications via a satellite for primary- and secondary-school students.

The project is an alternative means to promote educational development in Thailand. It will solve the problem of a lack of professors and experts, especially in the science, math and english fields.

"The project also plans to develop multimedia courses, which will be available through the e-learning model, for students located in remote areas," Chinnapat said.

He said the project will teach math, science and english, focusing on students in Phatomsuksa 4 to Phatomsuksa 6 and  Mathay-omsuksa 1 to Mathayomsuksa 4 in 3,000 schools across the country.

He said the project is divided into four phases. In the first phase, which will start in November, the ministry will launch a demo project in which teachers from Horwang School, Suankularb Wittayalai School and Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School will teach students  in Mathoyomsuksa 3 in 12 schools in remote locations through e-learning. 

Next year, in the second phase, the project will provide e-learning to students in Mathoyomsuksa 2 and Mathoyomsuksa 3 in 280 schools.

The third phase will target students of 1,200 schools in Phatomsuksa 4 to Phatomsuksa 6.  

Finally, the project will cover 1,300 schools, focusing on students in Phatomsuksa 4 to Platomsuksa 6 and Mathay-omsuksa 1 to Mathayomsuksa 4.

Samart Communication Services will provide the infrastructure for the project. The Education Ministry expects to spend about Bt3.2 billion on the project.

"The project will be another step toward promoting literacy among Thai students and giving a boost to the educational system. They will get opportunities to acquire knowledge and gain equal footing with international students, which will help Thailand develop competitiveness among knowledge-based societies," Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said.