Integrated satellite and terrestrial network operator Intelsat and nonprofit educational materials developer and distributor Mindset Network have extended their partnership to unlock access to educational resources across Africa.

The extension of the existing 18-year partnership will support increased access to high- quality, free educational television (TV) and online content through satellite connectivity for students, out-of-school youth, teachers, healthcare professionals and patients across Africa.

Intelsat provides free access to satellite capacity and technology that enables Mindset to rapidly and efficiently broadcast and Internet protocol (IP) multicast its educational content to over 1 600 schools and 1 025 healthcare facilities across South Africa, says Intelsat Africa regional VP Brian Jakins.

It also provides comprehensive educational materials for five-million homes in Africa through three platforms.

Using capacity on Intelsat 17 at 66 ºE, Mindset offers an unencrypted channel that allows national broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa within the satellite coverage area to downlink and redistribute health and educational content on their own broadcasting networks, helping to extend its reach to clinics and schools across Africa.

The partnership extension comes as nearly 300-million students throughout Africa are impacted by school closures and other learning disruptions, owing to Covid-19 and the various restrictions in place to combat the virus.

With users spread across a vast area of Africa, Mindset notes that satellite technology will allow it to rapidly and efficiently reach facilities across its targeted regions.

In addition to the broadcast, and the IP streaming and multicasting distribution that Intelsat assists with, Mindset also delivers its educational content through multimedia, DVDs and print materials, as well as a newly launched application, explains Mindset Network CEO Dylan Green.

Mindset educational resources focus on topics such as HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, Ebola, child survival, physical sciences, mathematical literacy, life sciences, geography, accounting, business studies, economics, computer applications technology, information technology and English.

An independent research study analysed the impact of 34 hours of Mindset-created and Intelsat-broadcast educational content on students at eight schools in four provinces in oSouth Africa.

The test schools were provided with a satellite dish, a TV and a server to host the resources, with the test school teachers attending workshops and encouraged to share best practices.

The test schools showed consistent improvement in student performance in every category.

The study revealed a 22% increase in student reading comprehension and a 128% increase in letter naming frequency from 39.2 to 89.2 letters a minute.

Eight control schools, located within a 5 km radius of test schools, were not given access to any of the resources during the evaluation period.

Student performance was measured in the early-grade reading assessment for letter naming frequency, familiar words, oral reading frequency and reading comprehension.

Using satellite capacity on Intelsat 17 as the primary distribution method, resources were disseminated to 73 teacher centres across the country.