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4. Distance Education through Radio Broadcasting: The BBC-DZJO Experience

4.1 The Birth of an Idea

In 1977, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the Philippines, became involved in a human development campaign called “Alay Kapwa” (Help Thy Neighbour). At a planning seminar for this campaign, it was agreed that 36 villages should be covered by the campaign in the shortest possible time, and a very strict deadline was imposed. Yet, the organisers realised that even their 40-person strong speakers' bureau would need at least three months to accomplish this task and cover the whole area. The bureau was to be divided into four teams of eight persons each. To cover all the 36 villages, each team was to give more than nine seminars.

Then a relatively new and unusual idea emerged. One participant questioned the need for speakers to personally give the seminar in all the villages and presented a new idea. He explained that it would only take one night to cover the whole area and only five speakers, the best in the group, would be required. The other participants thought this man was crazy. Then he said: “we will use radio”.

This new idea of using radio to reach a huge audience aroused a great deal of interest and excitement. The notion that thousands of people would be able to hear the seminar during the same night was amazing. A strategy was then developed to use the other members of the bureau as facilitators. It was agreed that a facilitator would be stationed in each ‘barangay2 to guide the group of listeners tuned in to the radio broadcast. At the time of the initial broadcast in 1977, some 65 to 70 participants in each village tuned in to the broadcast and discussed it with the help of the facilitator. This was the birth of the Bayanihan Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)-DZJO school on-the-air.

Two decades later, BBC-DZJO's facilitators continue to meet monthly to discuss plans and programmes of action and to share their experiences. In these meetings, the facilitators are kept abreast with current issues. Questions and issues are discussed to prepare them for effective facilitation at the village level. Since the time the first facilitators went out to the villages, the radio school has also realised that farmers have become more sensitive about development issues than the facilitators. Consequently, facilitators are now selected based on their knowledge of the topics to be covered by the radio school.

4.2 The Radio School Methodology

Radio school programmes are prepared and broadcast based on the following methodology which has been tested and refined over the past twenty years. A sample module and curriculum for a programme on soil conservation and management is included in Annex 2 as an example.

2 A barangay is the smallest administrative unit at the village level.

4.2.1 The Group Learning Approach

The concept of group learning is strongly advocated in the radio school methodology. Listening as a group is emphasised over and above individual listening. It is impossible to create a sense of community when individual listeners are not joined together in some way. However, for group listening to be interesting, the dynamics of the community in question must be evoked. Therefore, facilitators must always seek to build linkages and bridges between the radio station and listeners, and among the listeners themselves. In addition, the radio school broadcaster should be familiar with the situation of the station's listeners. He/she should study the station's listeners well and be attuned to their needs.

Imagination and creativity also play a vital role. For instance, listeners' clubs can be organised in villages, towns and provinces. Sponsoring contests can be used as a means to entice people to listen to the radio school's programmes. Village correspondents can be identified and organised to gather relevant local news. Key people from the grassroots can be identified. Community celebrations such as parties, fiestas and festivities also provide opportunities to gather news and ideas, and gain insights regarding the concerns and feelings of local people. Imaginative ways to actively involve the whole community should continually be sought. Broadcasters should be able to respond to listeners concerns through the radio. Programmes should seek to effectively adapt to the changes in people's perceptions and needs. If ways to give the people being served a voice can be found, then it must be done. After all, this is the essence of empowerment.

4.2.2 Building Linkages

Expanding linkages with NGOs involved with in rural areas and other community-based organizations (CBOs) can provide opportunities to maximise resources. For instance, horizontal linkages can be built by identifying areas where different organizations can complement or supplement each other's efforts. In addition, vertical linkages can be encouraged by connecting rural listeners to power centres at different levels; for instances, from rural radio to urban radio or from local government to national government.

4.2.3 Printed Materials as Complementary Resource Materials

Print media can be used as a complementary resource material to radio programmes. A newsletter can be used to present a more thorough and comprehensive analysis of the issues discussed during the radio school and can provide the names and addresses of people to whom grievances and comments can be submitted. Printed materials can also include illustrations and letters from listeners, as well as technical and instructional materials such as those used in agricultural, health and nutrition programmes. Print media helps to reaffirm and supplement the retention of learning. Similarly, supplementary printed materials explaining enumeration or how-to steps in a process are useful to listeners once programmes have finished. For instance, where steps in a process are outlined over the radio, they can easily be forgotten, while in print listeners can refer back to them as necessary.

The BBC-DZJO experience illustrates the potency of the radio as a tool for education and community development as illustrated below in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Power of Radio as an Educational Tool

POTENCY OF RADIO

IDEOLOGY

VALUES FORMATION

POPULARIZATION

CLOUT


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