Broadband for Schools

Thursday, 22 April 2004, 2:35 pm
Press Release: Carter Observatory

For immediate release

The Carter Observatory welcomes the announcement that all secondary schools will have broadband access by the end of this year

The Ministry of Education's announced that it has signed 10 of the 14 contracts needed to broadband all schools in the country.

They will achieve their goal which is to provide a base level high speed internet connection for every school in New Zealand.

"This presents us with a real opportunity to improve the level of service we provide to schools" said Observatory spokesperson Robert Shaw.

"Broadband internet access will enable the Carter to more efficiently teach into every secondary school in New Zealand. We have been waiting for an assurance that the broadband project will complete on time."

The Carter Observatory provides online courses in astronomy that enable students to gain credits towards NCEA.

They believe the provision of high speed internet access will enable them to enhance their course delivery throughout the country.

"For the foreseeable future we will have to ensure our system works well for students at home with 56K modems, but we can also now confidently work to take advantage of the high speed connections to be available in all schools".

"Astronomy is a subject that lends itself to demonstration and the internet is an ideal way to deliver insights".

"We would like to use more animations but have felt a little cautious until now" Mr Shaw said.

ENDS

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