Lemmens The Virtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education Bernd Wächter (ed.) Aca papers on International Cooperation in Education The V irtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education

Virtual education in the region
Indian Subcontinent
Hardware: On the Indian continent, as well as in Japan, China, Singapore
and to some limited extent in Malaysia and Thailand, there are a number of
large computer corporations which provide PCs and the various accessories
required.
Even if the sale of PCs is on the rise and the number of telephone lines is
increasing, the proportion of users is still relatively small compared to the
50

---

large population. The cost of a PC is still prohibitive for an ordinary worker’s
family. For example, a PC costs about 70,000 Rupiah and a telephone line
costs about 10,000 Rupiah a year, while the average income is only 6,000
Rupiah.
Software: India is the dominant producer and exporter of software in the re-
gion. Bangalore is the “Silicon Valley” of India. India’s relatively advanced
position is due to a good competency in English, mathematics and computer
science, as well as to a large talent pool.
IT institutions: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is a consortium of six
autonomous universities in India, which “produces” about 300 IT majors per
year. However, 90% of those migrate to other countries, and the rest are
absorbed immediately by local industry. Very few remain to initiate work on IT
applications in other fields, such as education. Universities usually cannot
afford the salaries and perks offered by private companies.
Because of a scarcity of trained personnel, the use of computers in schools
and even in universities is still relatively low. Computers are usually used in
computer and IT education only, but not in other disciplines. Use of computers
at home is also still low when compared to the totality of potential users.
Internet access: There is a great variation in the extent of access to the Inter-
net. It is a government monopoly in India. Good quality access is available
only in capital cities. There is still the problem of limited bandwidth and bad
connections between telephones and PCs.
Multimedia: The use of radio, TV and also of printed material is very popular
and effective. They therefore have a high potential for use in education and
information dissemination. However, literacy levels remain low in the whole
country.