The Ministry of Human Resource and Development is all set to launch 32 Direct-to-Home channels which would do a live telecast of classroom lectures from top-notch institutions, including six IITs.
The Department of Space has agreed to allot two transponders on a GSAT series satellite for this ambitious project, while Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) have been signed with many institutions which will provide lessons and content that will be beamed on these channels.
“The government is focusing on using space technology to expand the reach of high quality education. Through the 32 DTH channels the aim is to ensure that live classrooms can be transmitted from ten ‘Teaching Ends’ out of which six will be IITs located in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur and Guwahati,” a senior official told PTI.
Lectures of over a dozen other premier institutions will also reach students on TV. The names of these institutions are currently being finalised.
Sources said that the Ministry is working to ensure that these channels are on air in a couple of months.
According to an official, the channels will be available for free on Doordarshan’s Free Dish DTH platform and the students will only need a Set Top Box to receive them.
At a meeting last month, a high-level committee chaired by Director, IIT Gandhinagar, worked out the finer details of operationalising the project. Sources said it had recommended that the channels be operationalised by August 2016.
