Chapter 5: Edusat: Harnessing Educational Potentiality in India

The universalization of education has become the top priority, especially for developing nations. But the extension of quality education to remote and rural regions becomes a herculean task for a large country like India with a multilingual population separated by vast geographical distances. In this perspective, EDUSAT technology has become very powerful media for the interactive participation between educators and students in urban and rural regions. It is especially configured to meet the growing demand for an interactive satellite-based distance education system employing direct-tohome (DTH) quality broadcasts through an audio-visual medium. EDUSAT, which was launched in 2004, addresses this need by providing many facilities and possibilities, including the eradication of illiteracy in India. This chapter highlights the educational paradigms of EDUSAT including the advantages, challenges, and limitations of providing quality education via a satellite distance-learning platform.