The entry of conventional Iranian schools into the digital world has gained traction in recent years, as projects to connect urban and rural educational centers to high-speed internet are implemented at an accelerated speed.
The National Information Network, the domestic network with content compatible with Islamic values, is being developed throughout the country as an infrastructure to achieve this goal.
NIN has been used as the primary platform for school connectivity that aims to facilitate users’ access to indigenous content and curb educational disparity.
Domestic telecom operators, including the Telecommunications Company of Iran, which is the top fixed-line operator, Irancell and Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran, also known as Hamrah-e Avval, are tasked with linking schools to the network.
TCI CEO Majid Soltani has stated that in the last two years, his company has connected 45,600 schools to the internet, ISNA reported.
The business was tasked with connecting 81,591 schools to NIN, including 40,490 urban and 41,101 rural schools, by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2017-22).
"Despite the delay, the project has progressed by 65% so far and work is proceeding," he added.
The official noted that TCI upgraded the outdated internet infrastructure of 33,507 schools, while the remaining 12,090 schools lacked equipment such as modems and fixed-line telephony.
Fiscal Injection
According to Soltani, more than 1 trillion rials ($3.22 million) have been invested in the initiative to connect all schools to the internet via NIN since 2012.
"The project was allocated 150 billion rials [$483,000] in the 2021-22 budget bill, allowing the Education Ministry to connect all Iranian urban and rural schools to the internet in the near future," he added.
He cited former information and communications technologies minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, as saying that the government set a March 2022 deadline to fully implement the project.
“If that date falls short of funding, it should be supported through alternative resources, because this may be the last time the government devotes a portion of its funds to the project," Soltani said.
Scheme’s History
The telecom connectivity measures followed an initiative jointly launched by ICT and education ministries in late 2019 to upgrade schools into smart educational centers.
The agreement includes various projects, such as connecting all schools to NIN and equipping them with modern tools needed by students and teachers, in a phased manner.
In the first phase, the project envisaged the high-speed internet connection of 76,400 schools around the country, comprising 38,333 urban and 38,067 rural schools. The project was financed under the Universal Service Obligation Plan, proposed by the ICT Ministry, for providing broadband internet access to rural areas.
To realize the goals set by the project, domestic internet operators also joined hands.
Irancell company provided infrastructures for around 13,600 rural schools, Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran equipped 4,482 schools with ICT requirements and TCI linked 19,949 schools to NIN.
These achievements in e-schooling could not have been realized, if ICT infrastructures were not developed in rural areas.
Therefore, the government extensively invested in the development of ICT infrastructure in rural areas over the past few years, which have also boosted their quality of life.
Rural Telecom Infrastructure
ICT officials say the development of communications and internet infrastructure in rural areas will peak by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2022).
In the southwestern province of Kerman, 400 billion rials ($1.29 million) were allocated to expand rural ICT infrastructure in late November.
Hossein Dehdashti, a deputy ICT minister, said villages of Qalan, Dehmirza, Bideshk, Abdashtou, Ahmadabad and Ardikan are slated to be connected to high-speed internet by March 2022.
Besides the villages, around 90 kilometers of fiber-optic cables will be laid along the rural roads, preparing the ground for the connection of 120 villages in future, he added.
Work is also on track to widen ICT coverage in the western province of Zanjan.
According to the ICT Ministry officials, 100 villages with over 20 households each in Zanjan will be connected to the internet soon.
An ICT development center will also be inaugurated in the province with an investment of 320 billion rials ($1 million).
