– HPS
Government has given its approval to the design of the educational television channel called the Learning Channel, Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) Dr. Roger Luncheon said at a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday at the Office of the President.
Dr. Luncheon said that one of the approaches that has been adopted by the Education Ministry in the education strategic plan, was the exploitation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in distance education.
The approval will be followed by implementation, which, initially, will see the State media offering 24 hour programming of an educational nature for the public via the learning channel.
“The initial geographic roll-out will cover the coastal regions where television signals are already received,” Dr. Luncheon said.
The content of the educational programmes would continue to be developed by the recently created multi-media unit of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD). The educational material will target nursery, primary and secondary levels.
The HPS said that the next planned phase will involve the use of the internet, through web-based portals, offering the same or similar content to educational institutions and home-based individuals, which can be accessed anywhere at any time.
Speaking at a forum in 2007, President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that the education system’s bureaucracy had become fossilized to a large extent, and as such, a revolutionary approach was needed.
“For years now I have been trying to get them to do things in Maths and English; very important areas for everything that we do. I said to them: prepare the learning materials for Forms One to Five, the whole course leading up to the exams and we will dedicate enough time on the national television or even set up a learning channel dedicated to education,” the President said.
He added that such programming would be very useful for those students who could not afford private tuition and other such facilities.  (GINA)