Tamil Nadu   

Meeting the demand for interactive education

B.S. Warrier

EDUSAT IS the first Indian satellite designed and developed exclusively for serving the educational sector in India.

It is mainly intended to meet the demand for an interactive satellite-based distance education system for the country, especially in remote and rural locations.

It is a collaborative project of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the Department of Space, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). ISRO provides the space segment for the EDUSAT System.

The launch of EDUSAT, the 1,950-kg satellite, on September 20, 2004 marked a major milestone, giving a fillip to distance education in the country.

ICT capabilities

The ICT capabilities of EDUSAT are being used for elementary education, literacy, vocational training and teacher training.

It would cover areas such as agriculture, health, and community development programmes.

In technical terms, it is equipped with five lower Ku-band transponders for spot beam coverage with 55 dBW Edge of Coverage-Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EOC-EIRP), one lower Ku-band transponder for national coverage with 50 dBW EOC-EIRP, six upper-extended C-band transponders for national coverage with 37 dBW EOC-EIRP and one Ku-band beacon to help ground users for accurate antenna pointing and uplink power control.

The following institutions play a vital role in the implementation of EDUSAT-based programmes: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) - nodal institution, All India Council for Technical Education, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, National Council of Educational Research and Training and University Grants Commission.

IGNOU

Indira Gandhi National Open University was established in 1985 to provide cost-effective, quality education to large sections of our population including those living in remote and far-flung areas.

IGNOU has about 15 lakhs of students with varied profiles, spread throughout the length and breadth of the country.

The university has an effective network of 58 regional centres (25 are IGNOU regional centres, 8 IGNOU North-East regional centres, 5 Army Command centres, 8 IAF Command centres, 4 Navy Command centres, 1 Assam Rifles Command centre and 7 CRPF centres), 6 sub-regional centres and over 1,409 study centres all over India. As an open university, IGNOU is assisting other developing countries.

AICTE

The All India Council for Technical Education is a statutory authority for planning, formulating and maintaining norms and standards, ensuring quality assurance through accreditation, funding priority areas, monitoring and evaluation, maintaining parity of certification and awards and ensuring coordinated and integrated development and management of education in the segments of engineering, technology, architecture, town planning, management, pharmacy, applied arts and crafts, hotel management and catering technology at different levels.

ICAR

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research functions as the Principal Advisor to the Government of India in all matters concerning research and education in agriculture and allied fields.

NCERT

The National Council of Educational Research and Training is an autonomous organisation that advises and assists the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Departments of Education in States/Union Territories in the formulation and implementation of their policies and major programmes in the field of education, particularly for the qualitative improvement of school education.

It undertakes research, development, training, extension, publication and dissemination activities.

UGC

The University Grants Commission is a statutory body of the Government of India for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education in India.

Two types of receiver terminals can be used to receive EDUSAT programmes.

Receive-only-Terminal (ROT): It is one-way video/one-way audio, no interactivity. Any signal originating from the main hub can be received on the ROT.

Satellite Interactive Terminal (SIT): It is one-way video/two-way audio. This terminal can receive the broadcast signal transmitted from the main hub and can interact with any other similar SITs configured under the main network. It can also receive the signal transmitted from the sub-hub.

The schedule of programmes transmitted can be obtained from the website www.edusatindia.org. The programmes of IGNOU, AICTE and NCERT are furnished separately on the site.

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