Satellite medium bridges urban-rural divide in educational

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Bangalore, May 10 (UNI) Educating rural youth through satellite has become very popular in village schools and scientists should further explore such a medium to bridge the education gap between the urban and rural areas, Department of Space Additional Secretary S V Ranganath said here today.

Speaking at a two-day workshop on 'Communication Strategies and Delivery Systems to promote Science and Technology among the rural people', organised jointly by ISRO and DAVP, he said the standard of education in rural areas still remains very low and governance, which had 'gone to the pits', should be blamed for this.

''The standard of governance in this country had steadily declined during the last three decades. Problems faced by rural masses is due to the decline in standards of governance and people in power should seriously introspect this problems'' he said.

Mr Ranganath said modern governance mediums like e-Seva in Andhra Pradesh, Gnandoot in Madhya Pradesh and e-Choupal in some Northern states had been useful. Though well intended, their use was still in the primary stage and the government should strive harder to popularise them.

''It is disturbing that three out of four engineering graduates in the country are not fit for employment. What can we expect from the education we are giving to the rural youth?. If urgent steps are not taken, the country will remain urban oriented. It is time to ask ourselves whether we are performing to our potential'', he said.

''The government wants to take up the present strength of 27 million in schools to 50 million by the end of the 11th plan. But we do not have enough teaching staff. Education through satellite programmes will be the best medium as it was found out in Karnataka,'' he said.

Likewise, telemedicine was also proving to be a popular option as people suffering from various disease in the rural areas had access to expert advise in many parts of the country where the system had been implemented with the help of the private sector, he said.

MORE UNI

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X