ISRO faces difficulties in content generation for EDUSAT

Bangalore, Nov 15 (UNI) The Indian Space Researach Organisation (ISRO) is facing difficulties in generating quality content for its Education Satellite (EDUSAT) programme, its Chairman G Madhavan Nair admitted today.

Speaking at the inauguration of an All India seminar on 'English Language Education through Satellite', organised by the Regional Institute of English here, he said the programmes under EDUSAT should not become just speeches, but there was a need to make it interesting for the students.

Mr Nair said the ISRO through EDUSAT had connected its main studio with over 100 engineering colleges that proved to be a powerful network for spreading education in the engineering sector.

''In the engineering sector, we are looking at specialised subjects like structural designs, embedded systems and designs,'' he added.

He said four channels had been operative in Karnataka, beaming six hours of programmes. The network, funded by ISRO and powered by solar energy, had proved to be a success. However, as taking the programme to the national level would cost Rs 2,000 crore, ISRO was seeking help from the Union and State Governments to connect its central studio to all districts of the country.

Stressing on the importance of learning English, Mr Nair said early training in the language would empower students, mainly from the rural areas, to brace up for global challenges.

''Students in rural areas should be trained in English as a link language to acquire technical knowledge. We need to train 540 million youth by the end of the decade who will be ready for the world market to take up technical jobs. Hindi as national language is sufficiently being promoted. English is also very important to empower our students to be globally competitive,'' he added.

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