The two government schemes National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) and National Knowledge Network (NKN) has been merged. The Union Cabinet gave its nod for the merger.
NMEICT was run by the Human Resource Development Ministry and NKN was under the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and IT.
The National Knowledge Network aims to connect 1,500 educational institutions with high speed data communication network.Recently, the Cabinet meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, decided to provide e-learning in 25,000 colleges and 2,000 polytechnics.
“There will be a shift in technology from copper wire-based connectivity to optic fibre cable (OFC)-based connectivity in respect of already connected universities and university-level institutions. The remaining universities, university level institutions will be connected on OFC with the provisioning of 400 nodes of LAN (local area network) on an average (including private universities),” said Ambika Soni, Minister for Information & Broadcasting.
The estimated cost for providing connectivity to 2,000 polytechnics is Rs 13.50 crore a year, she said.
[Source: The Hindu]
