Five months in space, Edusat learns hard lesson: India not ready

Launched last September 20 as the world’s first dedicated educational satellite, it became operational a month later for a two-way virtual classroom instead of a one-way discourse available through INSAT satellites.

But there’s no readiness below. None of the 74 channels have been started. Only the pilot project at Chamrajnagar in Karnataka has been successful.

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is yet to install the 17 additional hubs required to spread the uplinking reach. The space agency hopes to have them in place by March-end, an IGNOU official said

• Other than seven states, the rest of the country needs to shift from the one-way C-Band to the two-way Ku Band for ‘‘virtual classrooms’’

• Nearly 5,000 rural schools or remote terminals will need to install satellite interactive transponders and train teachers to handle distance learning

• Regional diversity in culture and languages means that states will have to prepare content in 18 official languages and over 400 dialects for the programme to reach intended groups

Given that EDUSAT’s lifespan is seven years, the country will not be able to take full advantage of the Rs 1,000 crore it invested in

the satellite. Officials say remote area use would be limited to about 5 years as fund sanction for equipment and content generation would come in fiscal 2005-06, and money flow to states six months later.

‘‘Money has to come from the Planning Commission but no formal proposal has been submitted as yet for funds,’’ said sources. Since ground work requires another Rs 1,000 crore, money is expected to come in piecemeal. Higher Education Secretary B S Baswan in the Ministry of Human Resources Development admitted to The Indian Express that the ‘‘progress would be uneven’’. He has asked the states to spend money from their kitty to get the facility going. ‘‘The target is academic year 2005-06, hopefully by summer holidays,’’ he added.

But this trial run, scheduled for March 15, would be in seven states where

ISRO activity is well established and to the ‘haves’ such as IITs, IIMs, AICTE and IGNOU.

Baswan has suggested the creation of an Edusat Authority of India. ‘‘It’s a big task and we need a dedicated team,’’ he said. He has asked for posts to be sanctioned that would be filled with consultants who ‘‘can think out of the box’’.

Initially, the facility for targeted children in remote villages or in areas without access to good technical institutes would be limited to two districts of each state.

About 35 per cent of the country’s billion-plus population is illiterate and teaching through conventional methods would require an impossible 10,000 new schools each year.