Summary : This article critically examines the policy to distribute 288,000 smart screens for classroom digitalization, including to schools in remote, frontier, and underdeveloped regions. The aim is to assess whether a device-centric intervention can accelerate equity in learning quality or risks stalling as a mere procurement exercise. Using a value-chain lens, the analysis highlights potential benefits (access to remote instruction, richer learning media, interschool collaboration, and higher student engagement) alongside key constraints: gaps in connectivity and power supply, teachers’ pedagogical readiness, the availability of curriculum-aligned, low-bandwidth content, the need for sustainable operations and maintenance (O&M), and governance risks that can lead to idle assets. The central finding is that learning impact does not stem from devices alone but from a policy design that puts teachers at the center, ensures infrastructure prerequisites, and ties procurement to real classroom use. Operational recommendations include phased distribution based on readiness, bundling devices with connectivity, training, and technical support, standards for offline-first content, outcome-oriented contracts with post-sale SLAs, explicit TCO budgeting, utilization incentives for teachers, and public transparency dashboards. In short, technology must serve as a pedagogical accelerator within a reform architecture focused on learning outcomes; otherwise, the program risks large spending with limited impact.
The Promise of Digitalization to the Last Mile
Picture a classroom at the far edge of the archipelago:
power flickers, cell service is unreliable, and certain subject teachers visit
only occasionally. Then a large smart screen arrives as a “gift.” The mission
is admirable, opening up live, remote lessons with top instructors from urban
centers. The government plans to roll out 288,000 smart screens to
promote a fairer learning experience. The key question is whether this will
truly solve core problems, or drift into a procurement-only project.
The core idea is both simple and powerful: technology as
a bridge. An internet-connected smart screen allows classes in
teacher-short schools to join lessons led by skilled educators elsewhere.
Ideally, a child on a small island can enjoy science learning as engaging as a
child in a major city, live virtual sessions, demonstrations, interactive
quizzes, and interschool collaboration.
Aligned with the broader push for digital transformation in education,…
