Now, Kerala school children to get faster internet services

Thiruvananthapuram: Children in state-run schools will soon have high speed internet connectivity, thanks to a Kerala government initiative. The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) and BSNL have joined hands for providing 100 Mbps broadband internet connectivity in high schools, higher secondary schools and vocational higher secondary schools in the southern state.

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The present 8 Mbps FTTH (Fibre to the Home) connections in schools will now be upgraded to 100 Mbps which is 12.5 times faster as part of the initiative. The MoU was signed by K Anvar Sadath, CEO, KITE and C V Vinod, CGM, Kerala Circle, BSNL in the presence of Minister for General Education V Sivankutty and Principal Secretary A P M Mohammad Hanish on Wednesday, an official statement said.

The 100 Mbps internet connectivity would benefit 45,000 classrooms in 4,685 schools included in the Hi-Tech school project, with better ICT-enabled education. As part of the Hi-Tech school project in 2018, KITE had deployed laptops, projectors, USB speakers and networking in these classes.

Even though at present Samagra Resource Portal and Sahitham mentoring portal is available in all classrooms in offline mode, with the availability of 100 Mbps connection in classrooms, all such digital/online systems can now be used more effectively, it said.

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This would also enable the availability of KITE VICTERS educational channel in all classrooms. BSNL has agreed to enhance the broadband connection in schools to 100 Mbps without any additional cost and adhering to the existing rate of Rs 10,000 (plus GST) by which the earlier 8 Mbps broadband connection was provided.

Each school can now use up to 3,300 GB data per month as per this plan. "This step, which is the first in the country, would indeed strengthen the initiatives of the state towards becoming a knowledge society," Sivankutty said.