News Release Archive
EDUCATION/CULTURE--NEW RATE HELPS LINK STUDENTS TO INTERNET
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Nova Scotia's 164,000 elementary and secondary students and 470
schools got a boost onto the Information Highway today, as the
Nova Scotia Department of Education and Culture and MT&T
announced their commitment to offer students more affordable
access to the Internet.
The latest service to support this initiative is a new Internet
access rate of $150 per month which will make it even more
affordable for schools and libraries to connect to Ednet. Through
Ednet, schools will reap the significant benefits of accessing
SchoolNet, world-class libraries, databases, art galleries,
museums, scientists and experts, all at their fingertips 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. Students and teachers, no matter where
they live, will be able to communicate with each other and
collaborate on common projects.
Nova Scotia was the first province to offer special CRTC-approved
telecommunication tariffs to education. These rates have made
possible the growth of distance education across the province
through College de l'Acadie and Network Nova Scotia.
The Department of Education and Culture and MT&T have also worked
to provide high speed Internet access to schools and libraries
throughout the province. To date, more than 140 locations have
been connected through the Ednet program. This new rate is the
third to be offered and makes it possible to customize Ednet at
the regional and district levels, depending on the needs of the
individual schools.
Ednet options now include Internet access packages at $500, $300
and $150 per month. The newest rate permits up to 12 computers to
connect to Ednet simultaneously.
In addition, the Telephone Pioneers, an organization of retired
telephone company employees, provide training and technical
expertise on a volunteer basis to schools, enabling them to take
full advantage of these new initiatives.
Education and Culture Minister John MacEachern said, "Through
Ednet, the department is showing leadership in developing a
presence on the Internet and using technology to provide enhanced
levels of education services to Nova Scotia." Ednet also provides
the backbone for an administrative Wide Area Network which is
being developed with the Nova Scotia School Boards Association.
"New developments in telecommunications technology can make a
positive contribution to meeting the dual objective of educating
Nova Scotia's youth for life and preparing them for quality
employment. We are pleased to partner with the Department of
Education and Culture, to offer schools throughout the province
both the latest technology and the expertise to support it," said
Colin Latham, president and CEO, of MT&T.
The announcement supports a national partnership of Industry
Canada and Stentor, the alliance of Canada's major telephone
companies, which today committed to assist in providing all
Canadian schools with affordable, high speed access to the
Internet by the end of the 1996-97 school year. The intent of the
SchoolNet initiative is to position Canada as the first country
in the world to connect all of its schools to the Information
Highway.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: There is an accent grave on the first "e" in
College.
Contact: Donna MacDonald 902-424-2615
Alison Gillan 902-487-5284
or visit the Ednet web site at http://www.ednet.ns.ca
trp Mar. 26, 1996 - 2:30 p.m.
