Mainstreaming Broadcast Media In Educational Dev

According to the former Premier of Western Region of Nigeria and Asiwaju of Remo, Chief Obafemi Awolowo while speaking at the official opening ceremony of Western Nigeria Television at Parliament Building Ibadan in 1959, “Television will serve as a teacher and entertainer and as a stimulus to us all to transform Nigeria into a modern and prosperous nation.”
Awolowo pointed out that the aim of his government was to bring information about Nigeria and the outside world into people’s homes so that they might benefit from the knowledge.
As if that was not enough, he emphasized that the venture was initiated because the regional Government was convinced that it could play a major role in increasing both the pace and standard of education which was regarded as the key to progress in all other fields.
A critical examination of Chief Awolowo’s address, 61 years ago, shows  due emphasis on the use of broadcast media in this case, television, to clearly serve as a teacher and promote the standard of education in addition to carrying out its traditional roles of creating awareness on government policies and programmes as well as its watchdog function, among others.
It is also inspiring to note that earlier in history, the pioneer General Manager of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Sir Lord Reith, while inaugurating the BBC Empire Service which later transformed to BBC World Service said the radio would become a connecting and coordinating link between the scattered parts of the British Empire and the home government in the United Kingdom.
This, again, is another clear thought-out road map to the use of radio broadcasting to serve its audience even to the educational development of citizens.
To this end, credit must be accorded some public sector broadcast outfits that had in the past used their platform to serve as instructional aid for direct teaching of subjects such as Mathematics and English Language offered in the General Certificate of Education Examination (GCE), WAEC and JAMB.
It is on record that NTA Channel 10 Port Harcourt, in the mid 1980s, had airtime allocated to the teaching of Mathematics while Radio Rivers 99.1 FM had a programme tagged English by Radio for the teaching of English Grammar.
This is not to undermine the programming of other radio and television stations across the country tailored to meet the educational needs of learners.
One thing is clear: scholars have posited in history that electronic media (radio and television) have removed the barrier of physical presence, walls of building and place in the process of acquiring knowledge.
In his book entitled No Sense of Place, Professor Joshua Meyrowitz of the University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA, himself demonstrated and eulogized how television has aided human communication and information dissemination with others without meeting in a place.
Accordingly, Meyrowitz, who was the winner of the 1986 Best Book on Electronic Media Award, noted that the physical structure that once divided our society into many distinct spatial settings for interaction has been reduced in social significance.
Better still, it is instructive to appreciate the fact that electronic media, long before the advent of social media, had been adopted to disseminate information to heterogeneous audience simultaneously.
It is therefore expedient to fully utilize the potentials of broadcasting media, radio and television in particular, during COVID pandemic era over virtual, e-learning or online learning platforms for teaching and learning in public schools across the nation.
It is common knowledge that Coronavirus, popularly referred to as COVID-19 pandemic has posed great challenges to nations across the world. Even nations with acclaimed best healthcare systems have been brought to their knees with businesses forced to close down, leading to sudden economic meltdown.
The education subsector of the global economy is equally affected as schools- basic, high schools and tertiary institutions alike are still under lock and key; jobs were lost and death toll increasing accordingly.
Examples abound of nations that reopened schools but were forced to close due to upsurge in statistics of casualties while some nations are observing a second wave of COVID-19 outbreak.
Unfortunately, no universally acceptable vaccine or drug has been discovered.
In Nigeria, for instance, high schools have reopened for candidates to write exit examinations and this is ongoing throughout the country.
It is still in doubt when all classes will resume studies nationwide.
It is truly a hard time worldwide as people and nations are living with conditions hitherto considered as abnormal and this is referred to as the “New Normal”.
The New Normal was a situation during the era of the great depression of the 1930s and financial crisis of 2008 where people lived in tempting environment hitherto not envisaged.
To maintain social and physical distancing, the use of virtual, e-learning or online learning have been clamoured by many to enable learners resume studies.
No doubt, virtual learning and other electronic devices and platforms are required in the new normal to save lives and undertake business transactions.
However, virtual learning cannot address educational needs of the critical mass of school-age children in an underdeveloped economy such as Nigeria.
For instance, the 2015 National Educational Development Survey (NEDS), there are over eleven million out-of-school children in Nigeria for which Rivers State alone accounted for 110,654 children.
This is why the Federal Government, World Bank and state Government are collaborating to mop-up out-of-school children under the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDSA) initiative.
The number of out-of-school children per state based on 2015 NEDS is as follows:
Kano 1,307,106; Borno 1,229,425; Katsina 1,135,379; Bauchi 1,031,524; Sokoto 925,621; Kebbi 814,945; Zamfara 802,049; Jigawa 764,586; Kaduna 727,766; Yobe 658,770; Niger 513,693; Gombe 453,030; Taraba 285,767; Oyo 272,847; Adamawa 239,564; Rivers 110,654; and Ebonyi 52,759.
Accordingly, 17 states are leading on the chart of out-of-school children with Kano, Borno and Katsina occupying first, second and third places, in millions while Adamawa, Rivers and Ebonyi are occupying 15th, 16th and 17th positions with respect to out-of-school children in their thousands.
Consequently, the use of virtual learning cannot address this emergency and tragedy when states are battling to reduce the gap.
Worse still, the data required to undertake the virtual learning is cost- intensive when compared to competing basic needs of life such as feeding, medicare, housing and clothing.
At this juncture, it is adviceable for governments, at all levels to return to their first love, which is the use of traditional media, considering the demographics of learners in question.
It is therefore not only elitist but a harbinger of gross insensivity to advocate virtual learning in post COVID-19 Nigeria when open air radio and television stations can address the inbalance.
The time to act is now!
Sika is a public affairs analyst.