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Getting to the place from the city of Córdoba takes about three hours by car. For some of the students who attend the school it involves up to two hours on horseback. It took us about 25 minutes by helicopter and the height allowed us to appreciate the isolation of the space. Boys who study in the middle of the rock at 2,400 meters above sea level, teachers who teach with nothing nearby for several kilometers around.
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Back to school. Llaryora inaugurated the school year of high mountain schools and announced satellite connectivity
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
The Ceferino Namuncurá hostel school is located in the Pampa de Achala, near the Quebrada del Condorito National Park. It is a special educational center, better known as high mountain. The intense winter experienced in the area forces a different school cycle to be developed that begins in August and ends in June of the following year. The great distances make it necessary for teachers and the majority of students to live at school.
The primary level has 10 children who stay at school for 15 days (where they even attend Saturday and Sunday) and return home for a week. In that same place, the IPEM 285 José Gabriel Brochero “Anexo Los Cerros” secondary school operates with an enrollment of another 10 young people who stay from Monday to Friday and return to their homes on weekends.
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / La Voz) At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
“The kids don’t suffer uprooting because they already know how it works. They already had siblings or cousins studying this way and they have incorporated it since they were little,” says Marcela Fernández, a teacher at the initial and first cycle levels.
While the classrooms and rooms are divided according to school levels and ages, the patio and dining room are shared. From 8 to 13 and then from 14 to 17 they learn music, literature, ICT, English, chess, folklore, among other subjects. During the afternoon and evening they always have a preceptor in charge of their safety. For the children, the school is a second home, and the teachers and classmates are a second family.
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / La Voz) At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
Overcome digital isolation
One of the difficulties that the school had due to its location in such a hostile and distant environment was connectivity. Something as everyday as watching YouTube, using WhatsApp, doing streaming, a video call or accessing sites to make appointments or do paperwork, was not possible for the local educational community.
“We had to look for a cell phone signal throughout the school. In a tree, in the square or wherever we knew there were. Any material that we wanted the kids to see, such as videos or movies, we had to bring it downloaded from our homes,” explains Fernández.
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
The use of the Internet was limited to administrative tasks such as sending an e-mail, but it was not a tool that allowed work or enhancing the study plan. It was in August, when the provincial government installed a new high-speed internet service with satellite technology, that the daily lives of these students changed.
Through the Starlink signature service, the school now has a download speed of 250 Mb and an upload speed of 25 Mbps, so that students and teachers can access educational resources online quickly. It also has a “technological floor” that facilitates internet access on mobile devices and desktop computers within schools.
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
“The satellites we used before were 36 thousand kilometers away and were few, so they had a lot of latency, little bandwidth and were expensive. Today the transmission capacity of a Starlink antenna is 300 megabytes with antennas at 550 kilometers,” says Rodrigo Pérez, Secretary of Innovation and Management Infrastructure of the Ministry of Economy and Public Management.
The equipment is of industrial quality and withstands temperatures of -20° and up to 50° and also has a content control system. “It is an educational space in which we do not want pornography, terrorism or online gambling to enter, which is why this team that blocks malicious content is essential,” says Pérez.
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
In addition, the plan includes connectivity inside and outside the school, in a range of between 20 and 30 meters without the need to enter a password to the network. Thanks to this, the benefit is not only for students and teachers but for the entire community.
“This connectivity plan began with high mountain schools and our goal is for the 860 rural schools in the province to begin the 2025 school year with this system. Today we are installing between 10 and 15 antennas per day,” says the official.
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Education. They will install satellite internet connectivity in 860 rural schools in Córdoba
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
For his part, the Minister of Education of the Province, Horacio Ferreyra, maintains that connectivity gives students other horizons of possibilities and ways of building knowledge that connect them with the world.
“That today rural and high mountain schools have the possibility of being connected will imply greater learning opportunities and will allow us to generate new educational proposals,” he says.
And he adds: “It also facilitates the teachers’ task so that they are not isolated but in permanent dialogue with other colleagues. This also strongly enhances educational possibilities and allows access to the same opportunities as the urban population.”
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
The transformation of the classroom
While the boys play soccer and run around the yard during recess, the teachers talk about what installing high-speed internet for the school entailed and how it changed their way of working in the classroom.
“It was a before and after, now there is support for educational personnel and as teachers we now have access to virtual training, conferences or meetings with our inspectors that are very valuable and in which it was very difficult to participate,” says Nidia Merlo, director. and second cycle teacher.
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
The woman attended her first grades of primary school at Ceferino Namuncurá and always had the dream of teaching classes in the mountains again. With years of experience at the institution, you can see the benefit that connectivity brought by allowing children to freely access different platforms.
“The first three days with internet access, the kids accessed everything they could and explored everything they could do. Now they are calmer and they use them a lot to investigate when they need to know something,” he adds.
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
Fernández adds that while before you had to bring everything downloaded or printed on video, now you can download the content on the spot or view it online. “They can practice reading, tics, open pages to interact or play games and watch videos or movies. “Sometimes they listen to music while doing other activities and when the day is over we play chamamé for them, which they really like.”
Many neighbors take advantage of the new technology and come to carry out personal procedures since otherwise, they would have to go to Nono or La Cumbrecita to have internet. Others come to charge their phone, take virtual courses or make a medical appointment.
At the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school in Pampa de Achala they already have 300 megabytes of internet connectivity thanks to the Starlink antennas installed by the provincial government. (José Gabriel Hernández / The Voice)
Silvina Reineri, deputy inspector general of the General Directorate of Primary Level, also highlights the administrative impact of this resource that gives them greater speed to exchange data, but assures that the pedagogical impact was its strength, allowing more and better learning for students.
“Since we have high-speed internet in schools, the training of students has been enriched and favored. Now they have the possibility of entering other possible worlds, seeing other places and connecting with other people. The benefits are enormous because today children can connect from school to the rest of the world,” he concludes.
What challenges did teachers and students face in accessing educational resources before Starlink was installed at Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school?
1. What were the difficulties that Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school faced due to its remote location before the installation of Starlink antennas?
2. How has the installation of Starlink antennas impacted the students’ and teachers’ lives at the Ceferino Namuncurá high mountain school?
3. What are some of the specific advantages of having high-speed internet connectivity in the classroom, according to the teachers at the school?
4. Can you provide more details about the content control system installed with the Starlink antennas? Why is it important?
5. How does the provincial government plan to expand this connectivity initiative to other rural schools in Córdoba, and what are the long-term benefits of doing so?
6. Can you share an anecdote or personal story about how connectivity has improved the students’ learning experience at the school?
