The main opposition PNCR has called on the Education Ministry to revisit the programme content and guide for the Educational Television Broadcasting Service (ETBS), which it says was launched before it was ready.
Last Thursday, the party in a statement said it welcomed the ETBS, but noted that an analysis of the programming would show that it “leaves much to be desired” and that “there has not been proper planning for the acquisition of the local lessons which should be done in sequence.” According to the party, the haste in the finalising of the project is linked to elections due this year and the need for the Minister of Education to boast of achievements. “But what is the use of boasting about the number of things done in education, when it is not properly done?” it questioned.
ETBS, broadcast on channel 29/cable 80, was launched on April 1 by President Bharrat Jagdeo. Recently, in an interview with Stabroek News, ETBS head Seeta Shah Roath said it is aimed at providing instructional material and teaching the teachers how to integrate the material into their lesson planning, but “not for the technology to take over the lesson or replace the teacher.”
The PNCR said teachers are being recorded in class without being given notice. “It is unacceptable for a camera crew just show up in a classroom, without any notice to the teacher,” it said. “To make matters worse the teachers who were featured on the opening programme were not even told that they would be on air.”
Having taped the lesson, the party noted, the teacher is then told that he/she must prepare another 60 lessons for the programmes without discussions of a contract or what the remuneration will be. The party said that lessons being aired have not been properly edited, while a number of the old television programmes, including quizzes, debates, and mathematics lessons, are being repeated. “This clearly indicates that there was not enough planning for the lessons to be aired. There should have been a number of lessons prepared and ready for presentation in order to have a smooth flow,” it argued.
While the PNCR said the imported programmes are good, it questioned who is really benefiting, including whether the programmes were being aired via television in the various schools and whether they were replacing the classroom curriculum?
Shah Roath had told this newspaper that locally-produced content was designed using the content experts combined with the curriculum guide and instructional design methodology and intended to meet specific outcomes. She had pointed out that local content was created “by young people for young people” and most of the work created was pre-tested.
In addition to programmes designed to complement the curriculum of the various educational levels, cultural shows and general education shows dealing with physical fitness and home economics are aired. In the evenings, a movie that is educational in nature or has a positive message is aired at 8 pm.
“We have done a preliminary survey and noted that most day care centres [and] nursery schools have TVs,” Shah Roath also told this newspaper. She added that they show programmes that are similar in content as the ETBS and therefore “it complements our curriculum.” She said that in order to ensure that every institution benefits, management is willing to assist those that do not have television sets, with acquiring one.
The PNCR said while the ETBS may be a “well-intended” feature in the education system, there are “too many unanswered questions” about the project. It noted that party leader Robert Corbin, in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, had asked that the ETBS project profile be made available for scrutiny at the level of the National Assembly, but this did not happen. It said the fact that a project that was originally intended to be a Multi-Media Centre should somewhere along its development become the ETBS was “unacceptable.”
It further charged that senior officials of the Educa-tion Ministry, who should be integrally involved, are not quite au fait with the project profile. “They… cannot even provide information as regards the ‘aims and objectives’ of the project,” it said, while adding that “it seems that any information required must be gotten from the Office of the President.” In this regard, the party questioned who is really responsible for ETBS.
