Telecom Lead India: Mobile service provider BSNL will connect 4,000 Kerala schools with broadband internet.
Moreover, IT@School Project of the Kerala government will provide VPN over broadband internet connectivity to 300 education department offices in the state.
As per the agreement between the Kerala government and BSNL, there will also be unlimited data sharing without the need to avail normal internet bandwidth.
“Kerala has achieved this unique landmark of high speed broadband connectivity to all schools, a feature that is unavailable in schools and colleges in any other state in the country,” said K Anvar Sadath, executive director of IT@School Project.
The new VPN based broadband connectivity will be provided to 2,461 high schools, 1,236 higher secondary schools, 377 vocational higher secondary schools, 233 upper primary schools, offices of deputy directors, district education officers and assistant education officers, District Institute of Educational Technology offices and 35 block resource centers.
A 100 Mbps leased lined connection supported by a MLPS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) with 20 Mbps bandwidth will be the backbone for establishing the VPN model. BSNL has provided the new VPN model of broadband connectivity at 1/5th rate of the existing market rates.
Seventy-five percent of the Rs 4 crore project will be absorbed by the Union government under the ICT@School scheme. A specialty of the scheme is that BSNL is providing the VPN at one-fifth the market rates.
Education Secretary Shiv Shankar said at a press conference that the VPN would be up and running in about a month. The State government has claimed that this would be the first-of-its-kind network in the country for educational institutions in a State.
The VPN would also enable students to seamlessly access ICT-enabled learning content and operate in a much more efficient manner the School Wiki.
Administrative functions such as the dissemination of examination results, operations relating to the single window admission system for Plus One courses, and transfer and posting of teachers can be made more efficient and fast using the VPN.
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