Scheme to enable rural students to prepare for TEE via satellite TV

10/8/94

State of the art communications technology will help some 500 Western Australian country students prepare for this year's tertiary entrance examinations (TEE).

Students in about 50 schools and rural communities will participate, from next week, in TEE revision courses carried out via interactive satellite television.

Education Minister Norman Moore said the project would be one of the first to be carried out by the new Leederville Interactive Television Centre which was part of the distance education precinct.

Mr Moore today officially opened the centre, which was located in the former West Ed Media premises and catered for students in rural schools, those who lived in isolated and remote areas and those who could access the State's 70 regional telecentres.  The Minister spoke via satellite, using the two-way audio and one-way television broadband system, to students linked to the network.

The centre included new camera, editing facilities, dubbing machines and a link with a small lecture theatre to enable the broadcast of tele-lectures.

For the past six months, primary school-aged students involved with distance education and the five schools of the air (Derby, Port Hedland, Meekatharra, Carnarvon and Kalgoorlie) have been receiving four hours a week of pilot programs through the new centre, in subjects such as maths, effective reading and problem-solving.

Mr Moore said the launch marked a new era of Statewide interactive teaching and learning programs for students in metropolitan, rural and remote areas of Western Australia.  The centre would also be used to provide professional development and training for teachers across the State.

Other Government agencies would also use the centre to transmit programs to regional locations.  There were between 2,500 and 3,000 satellite receiving dishes across the State, all capable of receiving programs.

"The centre is part of the State Government's $10 million upgrading of distance education over the next four years, to ensure that technology can be used to overcome any tyranny of distance for students in the far-flung regions of our huge State," Mr Moore said.

"This is all about ensuring equity in education for WA students, no matter where they live."

The TEE revision project will involve subjects such as human biology, literature, accounting, mathematics and English.  Schools with satellite dishes can either view the programs live or tape them for later use.  Students can interact with their teachers via an 008 telephone number so questions can be answered during the course of the program.

Media contact:  Ross Storey 321 1444 / 222 9595