The initial monitoring of the school connectivity demonstrated lack of the promised speed by Internet Service Provider. The internal wired and wireless infrastructure were the other issue of low connectivity leaving teachers and schools an opportunity to benefit from Internet provided by authorities.
Methodology
To assess the technical condition of the Internet infrastructure of 10 pilot schools in the Osh and Batken regions of the Kyrgyz Republic, the following activities were carried out:
- Video interviews with school principals and IT teachers were conducted in Kyrgyz to identify current challenges and needs of educational institutions.
- Remote diagnostics of the condition of equipment, communication lines and current Internet connection speed.
- Analysis of building plans to study the location of classes, network nod locations and used network equipment.
- Collection of data on internet service providers and tariff plans, as well as technical network parameters.
Based on our previous research we learned that all networking and information technology issues delegated as additional obligatory to the teachers of informatics, computer science classes. Therefore, the teachers were important source of information providing preliminary insights about the state of connectivity.
The remote diagnostics had been conducting using video call and overview of the cabling to the schools, media converters, routers and switches as well as end devices such as computers, laptops, etc. The connectivity speed had been tested using different measurement tec
We have used different testing platforms to monitor school connectivity including such parameters as speed diagnostics, browsing, Quality of Service, latency rate to key data centers and internet exchange points, as well as compliance of existing infra to LAN cabling engineering standards. Some parameters were tested using such diagnostics services as Ookla Speedtest, fast.com focused on quality of streaming services, and nPerf that rely upon the mLab measurement protocol (NDT7). Note that the GIGA Daily Check Up App was not available to Kyrgyzstan therefore ignored in testing stage.
The buliding information modeling helped us to understand the quality of wireless signal, possibility of wireless mesh network across the school, existing capacity, needs and challenges for schools to be fully connected and enjoy the seamless digital education experience.
Findings
A budget router with a maximum speed of up to 300 Mbps, limited processor performance and memory capacity. The device does not cope well with connecting a large number of users.
Both types of routers have limited bandwidth and functionality, making them insufficient for educational institutions.
Routers are located in the following rooms:
Computer science room.
Library.
Teachers’ room.
Principal’s office.
Connection type: Combination of cable connection (mainly for routers) and Wi-Fi for user access.
Actual speed: From 340 kbps to 16 Mbps. The speed was measured using fast.com and npref.com.
Since November 23, 2021, schools have begun to switch to a special tariff plan of the Ministry of Education and Science. The agreement was signed between the Ministry of Education and Science and the KyrgyzTelecom provider. The terms of the agreement are available only to the Ministry and KT.
Transition to the tariff: All schools gradually began to switch to this tariff between 2021 and 2023. By 2023, all schools have been completely transferred to this tariff plan.
The final cost, taking into account all expenses, is 2,500 soms, which is paid by the Ministry of Education from September to June.
