Technical hitches delay educational TV channel - PS

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Friday September 9, 2011 00:00

 

In an interview with Mmegi yesterday, Ramoroka said it was discovered at a late stage of preparations that the main editing suite needed to be reset. Nonetheless, production of programmes has been going on uninterrupted.

'We have set ourselves the target of starting broadcasting before the end of September,' he said. The educational broadcaster, which was officially launched with considerable fanfare last June, was initially scheduled to start broadcasting in mid-July. Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Education (MoE) Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi said it cost P22 million to set up the educational broadcaster and that half of the money came from Japan Broadcasting Corporation as partners in the venture.

The educational broadcaster grew out of the two-month public service strike that ended in June. MoE became the most exposed when primary and secondary school students became restless and took to the streets in support of their striking teachers. 

Although it was envisioned as a dedicated channel, Venson-Moitoi said the educational broadcaster would start by piggybacking on Btv with a two-hour slot from Mondays to Saturdays (11am-1pm).

The programmes were expected to 'mimic' existing schools broadcasting programmes on Radio Botswana so that students could watch them at school. Curriculum-based programmes to be broadcast include Science,Mathematics, Commerce, Music and Design and Technology.

Other remedial efforts to cover the backlog in the syllabus entail paid overtime work over weekends by teachers and using Botswana College of Distance Learning (BOCODOL) material for students' revision.