Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC)
SAIDE

Context:
While collecting information for this global distance education network, SAIDE held several interviews with organisations in Southern African countries. Impressions of each country were generated to give some introduction to distance education and technology use in the area. Each interview has also been written up separately as a case study.

Source:
SAIDE country visits conducted in 1999

Copyright:
Permission granted

Contact Details

Contact Person: Mr Fanie Lategan
Position: Head of Education Section NBC
E-mail: nbcra@iwwn.com.na
Fax: 09264 61 22 5612
Tel: 09264 61 291 2250/2256
Postal Address PO Box 321
Windhoek
Namibia

Description

The Education Section at NBC was launched in 1985. Over the years, its main focus has been to air informal and formal radio education programmes for pre-school children, children in lower and higher primary, young people in secondary schools, out of school youth, and adult audiences. However, there is a growing demand for television education programmes. NBC purchases a number of radio and television programmes from other countries and independent producers, but also develops some of its own programmes in areas which are of particular interest for Namibians.

Programmes Offered

1. Wonderful World – This informal education programme on health, agriculture, environment is broadcast on Mondays to Fridays at 19h30 on National Radio (English). It is a half-hour programme targeted at young people and adults. Much of the material used in the programme is given to other language services for translation.
2. Kiddies Rendezvous – This a fifteen minute programme for small children, which consists mainly of stories and it is broadcast daily.
3. Say it Loud. This daily hour long or half-hourly phone-in programme for the youth discusses topics such as Health, Drugs, etc. An expert is invited as a guest and s/he answers questions and shares information.
4. Ovambo programme – This programme concentrates on health and agriculture, and is aimed at adults. It is broadcast weekly, and lasts half an hour.

1. English lessons once a week for half an hour for Grades 11 and 12. This programme is repeated once a week.
2. In depth discussions once a week on themes from the History and Geography syllabuses.

The following programmes have been planned for 1999 in collaboration with educational institutions.

• In collaboration with NAMCOL a series about "Business Administration " For Grade 10. This programme is linked to a workbook, and it is intended that NAMCOL students use it in conjunction with the radio broadcasts.

• Informal Continuing Adult Education programmes which are developed with staff at CES, University of Namibia.

1. The Sunshine Club. This is a series is broadcast annually for children between the ages of 6 and 16 years.
2. A health series on topics such as AIDS, malaria, etc is produced annually.

Television Programmes Purchased by NBC

The following schedule provides examples of some children’s programmes, which are broadcast daily.

Week 2 - 6/6/99 > 10/6/99

Sunday 18h45 - 19h30

Monday 15h30 - 17h00

Tuesday 15h30 - 16h30

Wednesday 16h30 - 17h00

Thursday 15h30 - 16h30

ENABLING AND HINDERING FACTORS

Tight budgetary constraints and a small staff complement are two of the main challenges that make it difficult to meet the demands of target audiences adequately. However, the education section has established good working relationships with a number of people in the education and business sector, who collaborate with NBC staff to develop local programmes, some of which are linked to education programmes offered by the institutions.