Turkish government pledges 10,600 more tablets for students

“We are now distributing 700,000 tablets in 81 provinces to students and giving them [as part of the government’s support] for the education system,” Erdoğan said May 22 speaking at the delivery ceremony for the project, entitled “The Movement to Increase Opportunities and Technology” (Fatih). 

The tablets, which will be loaded with pre-installed educational applications, are of superior quality to most other brands in the market, he said, noting that local tablet production would support the domestic information technology sector.

The Turkish government plans to replace traditional blackboards and textbooks in schools with electronic boards and tablet PCs as a part of the Fatih Project. Global tech giants, including Apple and Microsoft, have shown interest to take part.

The government has already given 737,800 tablets to teachers and students across the country. The new distribution will be mostly for ninth grade students, the Turkish Education Ministry said on its website.

The locally-produced tablets have a multi-core processor with 2 gigabytes of RAM, 32 gigabytes of internal memory, a high-resolution, 10.1 inch screen, Wi-Fi capability and cameras in the front and back, the ministry website said.