TVAfrica to launch interactive TV learning programmes

Called The Learning Channel, it will be presented as part of K Club -TVAfrica's children's section. Presenter William Smith will be answering questions live on air from children in their classrooms as they phone in. Countries, which will participate in the phone-in this year, are Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Botswana.

The initial broadcast will be aimed at Tanzania (as part of TVAfrica's East feed) and Botswana (Southern feed). The programme, which will focus on a different country each month, will embrace 13 schools in each territory, selected by the Educational Authority in each country.

All the school needs to have to join in the action is a phone line, a TV and to be within the transmission area of TVA. In Tanzania, a commercial company has agreed to sponsor the telephones and the TV sets to enable local schoolchildren to take part.

The one-hour programme will be broadcast every weekday between 9:30 - 10:30 (East) and 10:30 - 11:30 for South Africa, with times for the Western feed still to be confirmed.

Subjects will include Biology on Monday; Science on Tues and Wednesday, Maths on Thursday and English on Friday. The Learning Channel currently consists of curricular specific educational programmes in Maths, English Language, Biology, Physics and Chemistry. The target audience for the educational broadcasts are learners in the final two years of high school.

The programme has two components. The first comprises curricula-based educational material in these subjects, which is pre-recorded, and broadcast daily from Monday to Friday.

The second component consists of the "Live" Interactive Broadcast, featuring the daily live telephonic interaction with learners.

The Interactive Learning Broadcast will reinforce subjects which learners have particular difficulty in understanding. They will also have the opportunity to share and discuss problem areas with someone other than their teacher.

Mark Williams, Executive Producer for the Education Project, says the potential children's' audience for the programme is huge - although no exact figures of the likely viewing audience are yet available.

Williams is programme director for TVAfrica's non-sport local content. He was formerly 13 years with MNET - putting together MNet's first broadcast - and was Executive Director-Studio Manager of Supersport.

"This new interactive component will make the process of learning more challenging and exciting," says Williams.