The Hindu : New Delhi News : A unique teacher, a unique classroom

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 12, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

A unique teacher, a unique classroom

By Anjali Dhal Samanta

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 11. After a gap of more than two years, the President appears all ready to don his teaching hat once again. A unique classroom with an equally unique "teacher" -- this is the President's Virtual Institute for Knowledge (PREVIK) at the grand old Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Inaugurated a couple of months ago, this "virtual classroom'' is an attempt by the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to reach out to students, teachers and scientists all over the country, even in remote locations. And as part of PREVIK, a tele-education delivery system has been set up to facilitate interactions at multi-locations by using the benefits of satellite connectivity provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

And as there are attempts to revolutionise the education system, the historic 70-year-old mansion is also being fast-tracked into the 21st Century. First in the line was the V-SAT connection provided by ISRO about six months ago.

"This has been set up so that the President can interact with students, professors and scientists all over the country, even in remote locations. The President will be using this system to address a variety of education-related issues such as integrated approach, learning and moves towards removing illiteracy. Any university or educational institute can be a participant in this. They just have to approach us,'' says a Rashtrapati Bhavan official.

Connectivity will also be provided through ISRO's mobile van and the EDUSAT programme, another initiative by ISRO. Currently with regard to universities -- EDUSAT is being used to reach remote locations -- the mobile van will be put to use.

While this "virtual classroom'' is now spread all over, a multi-media studio is being planned inside Rashtrapati Bhavan. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the studio will provide facilities for videoconferencing, tele-education and recording. Apart from being used for PREVIK, there are plans to use the studio for recording the President's customary address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day and Republic Day. To be planned by the Broadcasting Corporation of India, work on the studio is likely to start within a month's time.

And to make the wealth of knowledge more accessible, the Rashtrapati Bhavan library is also being digitised. About 20,000 pages have already been digitised. And in case the President wants to share a particular page with a participant, all that has to be done is a search for the page and push the page to all the participants through the tele-education process.

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