Scope of Edusat
SCOPE OF EDUSAT
Dr.R.SIVAKUMAR
INTRODUCTION
The pivotal role of education as an instrument of social change by altering the human perspective and transforming the traditional mindset of society is well recognized. The universalisation of education has become the top priority, especially for the developing countries. But the extension of quality education to remote and rural regions becomes a Himalaya task for a large country like India with multi-lingual and multi-cultural population separated by vast geographical distances and in many instances, inaccessible terrain. Since independence, India has seen substantial increase in the number of educational institutions at primary, secondary and higher levels as well as the student enrolment. But the lack of adequate rural educational infrastructure and non-availability of good teachers in sufficient numbers adversely affect the efforts made in education.
EDUSAT is the first Indian satellite built exclusively for serving the educational sector and it was launched successfully by GSLV-F01 on 20-9-2004. It is mainly intended to meet the demand for an interactive satellite based distance education system for the country. It strongly reflects India’s commitment to use space technology for national development, especially for the development of the population in remote and rural locations.
EVOLUTION OF EDUSAT
The concept of beaming educational programmes through satellites was effectively demonstrated for the first time in India in 1975-76 through the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) conducted using the American Application Technology Satellite (ATS-6). During this unique experiment, which is hailed as the largest sociological experiment conducted anywhere in the world, programmes pertaining to health, hygiene and family planning were telecast directly to about 2400 Indian villages spread over six states. Later, with the commissioning of INSAT system in 1983, a variety of educational programmes are
Dr.R.SIVAKUMAR
INTRODUCTION
The pivotal role of education as an instrument of social change by altering the human perspective and transforming the traditional mindset of society is well recognized. The universalisation of education has become the top priority, especially for the developing countries. But the extension of quality education to remote and rural regions becomes a Himalaya task for a large country like India with multi-lingual and multi-cultural population separated by vast geographical distances and in many instances, inaccessible terrain. Since independence, India has seen substantial increase in the number of educational institutions at primary, secondary and higher levels as well as the student enrolment. But the lack of adequate rural educational infrastructure and non-availability of good teachers in sufficient numbers adversely affect the efforts made in education.
EDUSAT is the first Indian satellite built exclusively for serving the educational sector and it was launched successfully by GSLV-F01 on 20-9-2004. It is mainly intended to meet the demand for an interactive satellite based distance education system for the country. It strongly reflects India’s commitment to use space technology for national development, especially for the development of the population in remote and rural locations.
EVOLUTION OF EDUSAT
The concept of beaming educational programmes through satellites was effectively demonstrated for the first time in India in 1975-76 through the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) conducted using the American Application Technology Satellite (ATS-6). During this unique experiment, which is hailed as the largest sociological experiment conducted anywhere in the world, programmes pertaining to health, hygiene and family planning were telecast directly to about 2400 Indian villages spread over six states. Later, with the commissioning of INSAT system in 1983, a variety of educational programmes are
References: http://www.edsatindia.org http://www.indiatelevision.com http://www.isro.org http://www.ncert-nic-in http://www.aicte.ernet.in http://www.icar.org.in http://www.ignou.ac.in http://www.ugc.ac.in