| Schools
Broadcasting Division Contact Details
Contact Person: Thandi Hirschfield
Position: Acting Principle Education Officer
Tel: 09 267 374810
Fax: 09 267 374812
Name: Nonofo Mankhi
Position: Education Officer Broadcasting (Training)
Name: Cedric Thobega
Position: Education officer (Broadcasting)
Description
Botswana has two radio channels – Radio Botswana 1 and Radio Botswana 2. The
former is a public channel while the latter is commercial. The Educational Broadcasting
Division, which has been divided into Non-formal and Schools’ broadcasting sections,
broadcasts their programmes through RB1.
The schools broadcasting section broadcasts 15-minute radio programmes from 08h10 to 11h00
and from 14h00 to 15h15 every weekday. These programmes focus on supporting subjects in
schools. There are usually 28 programmes in a series for a specified subject and standard.
It broadcasts a weekly half-hour programme for teachers called Teachers Forum and a
weekly current affairs programme
The educational broadcasting division (EBD) collaborates with curriculum development
officers to produce these programmes that supplement the curriculum. Review committees
consist of:
- Education officers from the regions, with a subject specialization;
- INSET education officers from the department of Teacher Training and Development
(TT&D); and
- Teachers from schools.
The committee used to meet every two months, but now it is not
functioning as effectively as previously and is supposed to meet at least twice a year.
Short-staffing at the division is one of the key reasons for this decline in effectiveness
of the review committees. The EBD has been involved in training INSET education officers
through ‘train-the-trainer’ workshops focusing on using audio resources
(particularly for English) in the classroom. It holds regional workshops approximately two
or three times a year. Some workshops are run at schools in order to train teachers in
radio use. The EBD feels that teachers must be involved in the learning experience and
that radio programmes should be interactive.
The EBD does not currently have a production cycle, but responds to
production needs as the curriculum changes. How often programmes are reviewed or adapted
varies from subject to subject. For example, social studies programmes have to be reviewed
every term to retain currency and relevance, while science and language programmes have a
longer shelf life.
Teachers’ notes have been created for some subjects like English,
Social Studies, and Science. The following texts are good examples of such resources:
- Educational Broadcasting Division, Teachers’ Notes: English Time Programmes for
Standard 3, Government Printer: Gaborone.
- Educational Broadcasting Division, Teachers’ Notes: English Time Programmes for
Standard 4, Government Printer: Gaborone.
EBD tries not to be too text bound or to ‘stigimatize the
text’. While reference is made to prescribed textbooks at times, this is not frequent
as, if the texts are changed, the programmes will become irrelevant. The division draws on
various scriptwriters and education officers for programme production. Most scriptwriters
are teachers in schools. It recruits children and adults as actors or script readers and
uses music teachers for background tunes and lyrics for songs in the programme. Sound
effects are either bought or recorded on location, where possible.
All schools are issued with radios and audiocassette players. This
equipment requires maintenance and repair, and often classrooms have to share equipment.
Not all schools have electricity – particularly those in rural areas. Batteries are
often a problem, as they are not available timeously or are supplied in bulk and go flat.
In addition, reception in remote more rural areas is not clear. As a result of these
difficulties, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) supported a project to
distribute audiocassettes of the radio programmes to schools. The EBD has a bulk cassette
dubbing facility, and, in the first year of the project, distributed approximately 5,360
cassettes to about 700 schools. It has found that cassettes are more reliable than
broadcasts and allow for frequent repeats on demand and encourage teacher preparation. The
government now supports the cassette project, and all schools can order cassettes when
they are required. Last year approximately 8,000 cassettes were sent to schools. The
cassettes are often distributed with the teacher guide notes.
Non-Formal
Education Division
Contact Details
Contact Persons:
Doris Bogatsu (Adult Education officer)
Postal Adress: P/Bag 00483 Gaborone
Tel: 09 267 374810
Fax: 09 267 374812
David Kelebonye (Adult Educator)
Postal Adress: P/Bag 00483 Gaborone
Tel: 09 267 374810
Fax: 09 267 374812
Dudu Mphane (Senior Adult Educator)
Postal Adress: P/Bag 0043 Gaborone
Tel: 09 267 365 6300
Fax: 09 267 313199
Mmatau Serojane (Adult Education)
Postal Adress: P/Bag 00483 Gaborone
Tel: 09 267 374810
Fax: 09 267 374 812E-mail:
Description
Botswana has two radio channels – Radio Botswana 1 and Radio
Botswana 2. The former is a public channel, while the latter is commercial. RB1 has an
Educational Broadcasting Division, which has been divided into Non-formal and
Schools’ broadcasting sections. The non-formal division produces distance education
programmes to support BOCODOL, adult literacy programmes and civic education programmes.
Distance Education Programmes:
These radio programmes are produced collectively by radio producers and
course development officers at the Botswana College of Open and Distance Learning
(BOCODOL). BOCODOL is responsible for distance education provision for the Junior
Certificate (JC) and General Certificate of Education (GCE) in the school curriculum.
Fifteen-minute programmes are broadcast every Tuesday evening Previously, there were some
repeat broadcasts, but currently this is not possible. All subjects and levels share a
single slot. Many of the students taking these courses are out-of-school youth or people
wanting to improve their JC or GCE results. The radio programmes are used as enrichment to
supplement the printed course materials produced by BOCODOL.
The course design is not radio-based for the following reasons:
- Some students do not have access to radios;
- Some students do not have time to listen to programmes at the time broadcast; or
- Some students are excluded due to radio coverage and problems of reception.
Students can receive support at study centres. These centres are no
equipped with radios. The courses are promoted in brochures and through support services
broadcasting slots, which are run during enrolment and examination preparation periods.
Many politicians promote the courses by mentioning BOCODOL in speeches and public
statements. In addition, the Ministry of Education’s Department of Non-Formal
Education has a field division that coordinates promotion and operations of the courses.
This involves holding public meetings, giving presentations, and producing fliers and
brochures on BOCODOL.
Adult Literacy and Adult Basic Education
Educational radio programmes are also produced to support the work of
the National Literacy project coordinated by the Department of Non-formal Education. Two
15-minute programmes are broadcast per week on Mondays and Saturdays. The format of these
vary and include:
- Interviews with learners and learner testimonies;
- Encouraging enrolment into the programme;
- Encouraging literate people to support illiterate people to enrol – a motto of
‘literacy is our problem too’ is used.
Some programmes include elements of encouraging functional literacy and
income-generating projects, which are available on completion of the programme. These
income-generating projects focus on skills like knitting, sewing, baking, and jam making.
These are coordinated by the home economics division in the Department of Non-Formal
Education. Approximately 20,000 learners are enrolled annually in the project, although
numbers fluctuate. Most learners (approximately two-thirds) are women. The programme has
not been accredited historically. This may change, as the Non-Formal Education Department
is currently in transition with the launch of BOCODOL as a parastatal.
Civic Education
The Non-formal section of the Educational Broadcasting Division also
produces radio programmes focusing on civic education. These were started in the early
1980s and focus on issues like health, politics, food safety, shopping, transport and
topical issues. These 30-minute programmes are broadcast at 19h00 on Saturdays. The format
varies, including features, talk shows, interviews, and talks. Listeners are able to
telephone the radio producers after the show with comments and questions. RB does not make
use of ’phone-in facilities during broadcasts. Historically, listeners have written
to the producers with queries. These letters were responded to by directing the writer to
relevant support organizations. This is currently, less prevalent. |
