Scheme to equip Government primary schools with digital satellite receivers

22/10/98

Every Government primary school in rural Western Australia will be equipped with digital satellite-receiving equipment as part of a $650,000 State Government initiative.

Education Minister Colin Barnett announced today that the project would allow students to view a wide range of educational and community-oriented programs, and that all the new equipment would be installed in schools by the end of this term.

Mr Barnett said that with the new digital equipment, students would have access to:

·      educational broadcasts from the Leederville Interactive Television Studio of the School of Isolated and Distance Education (SIDE);

·      programs from TAFE and other educational institutions through Westlink;

·      ABC television;

·      Optus HORIZON Learning TV;

·      radio for the print handicapped;

·      ED TV from GWN;

·      ABC FM radio;

·      ABC national and regional radio; and -

·      information radio.

The Minister said the initiative was a bonus for many country schools that were previously not expecting to receive the technology.

"Under the Education Department's $20 million Technology in Schools initiative, around 200 country and remote schools were planned to receive digital satellite telecommunications receivers and decoders to replace analogue equipment," he said.

"However, all 308 country primary schools will now receive the equipment by the end of this term. Digital technology allows several simultaneous programs to be sent using the same amount of bandwidth currently used to transmit a single program.

"This means that high-quality, live television will be able to be broadcast to every country school in the State, providing a wealth of learning opportunities for all children."

Mr Barnett said many other exciting developments were being considered as part of this initiative, including data transfer, professional development programs for staff, access to SBS television and subscription radio.

Media contacts: Justine Whittome, Minister for Education, (08) 9222 9699

Robyn Cash, Education Department of WA, (08) 9264 4667