Government to Buy Tablets for Armenian Schools at a Price Higher Than the Market Value: Press

In a Cabinet meeting held on Thursday, April 9, the RA Government approved the “One child – one computer” phased computerization program for Grade 1 pupils of secondary schools, “in a bid to boost domestic production.”

During the first round of the program 650 grade 1 pupils in Vayots Dzor province of Armenia will each be provided an ArmTab tablet; training courses will be held for teachers; wireless internet devices will be installed in 45 schools, the press service of the RA Government reported.

In his article for the local Haykakan Zhamanak daily, titled “It's Just a Tablet”, reporter Hayk Gevorgyan brings up the issues surrounding the program. 

The reporter recalls that on December 6, 2013, RA then-Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan presented an ArmTab tablet during a Government event, announcing that it was “the first-ever tablet of Armenian production.”

“Then it became clear that the said tablet had no relation to Armenia whatsoever: the components were made in the USA, while the tablets themselves were assembled in Southeast Asia. Thus, the Armenian tablet is ready. What made it different from all the other tablets in the world was that the software was in Armenian. But that is not really important. What matters is the price at which these tablets will be purchased for our children. When the tablet was first presented, it was announced that the prices would be under $200. According to the program approved by the Government on Thursday, however, each of the tablets is to be purchased at 112,000 drams ($235). Right now, on the world's largest e-commerce platforms (Ebey, Amazon) tablets equivalent to ArmTab are worth about $180," Gevorgyan stresses.

Therefore, with the help of the Government's program, the ArmTab tablets will finally find a consumer market and will be sold at quite expensive prices, the reporter writes.