The Hindu : Kerala News : ISRO's stress on education, health

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Sunday, Mar 06, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

ISRO's stress on education, health

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, MARCH 5. The Indian Satellite Research Organisation (ISRO) is widening the areas of applying satellite-based communications, such as tele-medicine and tele-education, says R.V. Perumal, Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, ISRO.

Speaking at the 16th convocation of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) here this evening, he said: "a major lacuna in our health programme is the urban-rural divide in the reach of high-value specialist consultation. By linking district/taluk hospitals to specialist hospitals in metropolitan cities by a two-way voice-video linkage through satellite, the service of specialists is brought to every nook and corner of the country. This enhances the quality of health services and reduces the cost of such service." The most direct interface of the space programme is perhaps felt in the areas of television broadcasting and telecommunication. A good part of IGNOU education is being carried out through television. The ISRO has further enhanced this medium through launching a dedicated satellite called EDUSAT, for educational purposes.

In the formal sector, the explosive growth of educational institutions has resulted in inadequate number of quality teachers. Tele-education can make up for this, Mr. Perumal opined.

The Indian space programme is one of the most successful Government-funded research and development programmes. It is application driven, to meet the needs of society.

An important area is remote sensing. By developing and putting in orbit sophisticated remote-sensing satellites, India has achieved world-wide recognition and a market share of 20 per cent, he said.

New schools

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was the chief guest at the main convocation in New Delhi. Most of the 511 students were present at the convocation function held here.

The Regional Director, V. Vasudevan, said that 7,000 students have joined this academic year for various courses offered by IGNOU. Twelve new study centres were opened this year and five new academic courses started, he said.

The School of Agriculture and School of Law will be started this year. So too will be two new centres - the National Centre for Innovation in Distance Education and the National Centre for Differentially Abled.

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