Swedish technology and communication solutions provider Ericsson today launched an Internet-based school learning programme here in collaboration with the Bhutan government to provide world-class education in the country.
Ericsson, the Bhutan Ministry of Education and Bhutan Telecom together rolled out the iSchool e-learning project in six schools in the country on a pilot basis for one year.
The programme was launched at Pelkhil school, which will be the master centre providing e-learning classes to five other schools. Pelkhil is a privately owned school while the five others are owned by the government.
"The iSchool project serves to realise the benefits of ICT for these students and we expect to bring these benefits to more students in Bhutan and other parts of the world," Chris Houghton, Head of Region India at Ericsson, said during the launch.
"Technologies such as 3G and LTE (Long Term Evolution) can enable good quality broadband reach remote rural areas, thereby enabling the mass population to reap benefits of technological enhancements without the need to travel to big cities," he said.
Under the programme, 250 ninth-grade students will be connected via live video conferencing for subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, English, environment and social studies.
Ericsson has deployed the video conferencing solutions and technology while Bhutan Telecom provides high-speed broadband connectivity of 8 Mbps to the schools.
"Today's event is about collaboration in improving the quality of education. This is about using the best of IT technology for quality education," said Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Bhutan.
ISchool is based on a global education initiative, Connect to Learn, which is a collaborative effort of Ericsson, The Earth Institute of Columbia University and Millennium Promise that leverages ICT to enable access to high-quality education to students everywhere.
The programme is expected to benefit Bhutan because there is a lack of quality faculty in many parts of the landlocked country due to its difficult terrain and remote areas.
"Providing quality education is a big challenge in Bhutan. We need to find a cost-effective way. This will herald a new era in education in Bhutan," said Nidup Dorji, Chief Executive Officer of Bhutan Telecom.
