'NIGCOMSAT-1R VITAL FOR TELE-EDUCATION'

The Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) has said that NigComSat-1R, which replaced the deorbited NigComSat-1 Satellite, can play a key role in Tele-Education.

This was contained in a document obtained by LEADERSHIP from the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company.

The document said: 'NIgComSat-1R will work with stakeholders in the education sector to deliver unprecedented innovations in the area of tele-education.'

It said that NIgComSat-1R will enhance accessibility to education in rural areas and facilitate the creation of networks providing educational programmes and resources to both urban and rural dwellers.

'With the availability of real time data, voice, video and internet transmissions, age, distance or location will no longer be hindrance for learning,' it added.

Speaking at the national conference on ICT, the Minister of Education, Ruqayyatu Ahmed said that the attainment of qualitative education in the modern society rests heavily on the introduction of ICT in education.

Ahmed said: 'We believe that successful contributions to the meeting of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education For All (EFA) goals are likely to be made through the development and deployment of ICT in education, which can be achieved through increasing access through distance learning in order to bring educational opportunities to greater numbers of people including those who hitherto would have been excluded; enabling a knowledge network for students to facilitate timely transmission of information and knowledge; broadening the availability of quality education materials through the use of network technologies for the design of curricular that best meets the needs of the students and enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of educational administration and policy.'