Bhutan Telecom and Ericsson today announced pilot eLearning project iSchool across six schools in Bhutan.
Ericsson has deployed video conferencing solutions and technology across one master school and five participating schools to offer better education to 250 students studying in grade nine across Bhutan.
Bhutan Telecom is providing high speed broadband connectivity (8Mbps bandwidth) to connect all these schools. There will be interactive lessons via live video conferencing, allowing real-time engagement between students and the faculty.
Nidup Dorji, CEO, Bhutan Telecom, said: “Providing connectivity to the schools is a key delivery and we look forward to bringing this opportunity for a 21st century education to students in Bhutan.”
There are plans to expand the initiative to approximately 200 remote schools of Bhutan across grades.
iSchool Project is based on the global education initiative, Connect To Learn. The initiative is based on the use of connectivity to implement low-cost and user-friendly ICT for schools through mobile broadband and cloud computing.
Chris Houghton, head of Region India, Ericsson, said: “iSchool project serves to realize 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. 3G and LTE can enable quality broadband reach remote rural areas, enabling the mass population to reap benefits of technological enhancements without the need to travel to big cities.”
Also read: Ericsson to power Bhutan Telecom’s 4G
Ericsson in early 2013 announced its agreement to supply telecom network to power Bhutan Telecom’s 4G services. Ericsson was the wireless infrastructure partner for 3G services of Bhutan Telecom — the largest telecom operator in Bhutan — in 2008 as well.
