Jacquie Golding-Duffy
KAGISO Educational Television (KET) is a new production company that promises to make an impact on educational viewing this year through innovative ventures.
Headed by dynamic duo Leora Rajak and Coco Cachalia, the production company has clinched a deal to produce a 13-part television series called Educator Express for the SABC and the national Department of Education.
The company snapped up the tender, beating hundreds of independent producers vying for the commission. In less than three months after establishing the production house, which is backed by Mail & Guardian Television and Kagiso Trust Investment Company, Rajak and Cachalia have succeeded in completing the series of 28-minute programmes.
Viewers can catch the first programme of Educator Express on April 6 at 9.30am on SABC1.
It will be broadcast weekly on Sunday mornings on SABC1, with a repeat at 3pm on Thursday on SABC2.
The programme seeks to offer information which is relevant to the education sector, build morale and offer skills and ideas to help teachers, adult and early childhood educators with common problems they experience in the classroom and more broadly with education policy.
Rajak and Cachalia each contribute skills which complement each other. The former has experience in television production and the latter in education circles.
“What sets us apart,” says Rajak, “is that we are a company that is dedicated to producing high quality educational programming. Education and social development are as much of a priority for us as making good television. We want the two to go hand in hand.
“We are moving away from bland instructionist educational television and aim to offer alternative and interesting views.”
Cachalia agrees: “Educator Express is a major challenge. Not only do we have to reach out to the community of educators but we also need to hold their attention so that we can a provide a `home’ where each week they will get information that will help them in their professional lives.”
Concentrating on the commonality of educators, the company deliberately chose an ordinary teacher from Tembisa as the host on the show.
This, they felt, makes the programme more rooted in the concerns of teachers across the country.
The series is also “deliberately not studio-based”.
Apart from this programme, KETis also currently producing a number of other programmes:
* A 13-part series for SABC 1 which will explore diversity amongst children by using two puppets. Various cultures will be explored and the show will often take the form of a cross-country roadshow.
* Two educational videos on termination of pregnancy for the Department of Health and the Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa.
* A video on the office of the public protector, who he is and how he can help the ordinary citizen to better access the services of government.
* A set of videos on the new Labour Relations Act for a trade union training organisation.
“We believe that well-developed educational footage can go a long way towards social development,” says Cachalia
Although KET’s projects are challenging and breaking new ground, funds remain a problem. “We sometimes find that our creativity is being curbed because of budget constraints. The challenge is to show that television can be a great educational tool, especially in South Africa where it can be used to reach large numbers of students in both formal and non- formal learning environments,” she says.
KET has developed strong partnerships with the Swedish Embassy, the Commonwealth Secretariat and key government departments and has managed to get most of its projects off the ground.
Advertisers have welcomed the injection of creativity into the SABC’s educational programming but caution that this is a niche audience with a limited potential to market goods.
“Discount on schoolwear is the first thing that springs to mind when one thinks about educational television but hopefully this mindset will change with producers bringing more lively educational material onto our screens,” said one advertiser.