Brett Davidson
Auckland Park’s education division is forging ahead on a number of fronts, laying the foundations for the future of public service broadcasting.
It is forming innovative and complex relationships with the government and other stakeholders, promoting local production and lobbying against the increasing pressure towards commercialisation.
“There are some educational programmes that can compete successfully for audiences and advertising revenue,” says Nicola Galombik, the head of SABC education TV. “And even private broadcasters have some obligations to get involved in public education.
But programmes that support formal education won’t necessarily have broad appeal, and they need to be provided with sustained funds and appropriate airtime – and the government has realised the value of this.”
Indeed, in September 1996, the SABC and the national Department of Education joined forces, in the “Learn’n’Live” partnership, establishing formal ties and providing substantial government funding for educational broadcasting. Under this partnership, SAB C TV is currently broadcasting at least 10 hours of locally made programming a week – ranging from Dumani for pre-schoolers, to the acclaimed heal th-care series Soul City, to Educator Express, which is aimed at teachers. There is also a host of imported material.
“On the one hand,” says Galombik, “the SABC has complete editorial independence. On the other, defining educational priorities is not the SABC’s area of expertise.
“To ensure that we provide a useful and meaningful educational service, we have to define priorities in consultation with a number of partners and stakeholders.”
There are three levels of partnerships the SABC is involved in. Firstly, educational broadcasting is jointly managed by the SABC and the education department. Here the broad needs and goals are decided. Secondly, working groups are formed to draw up spec ific briefs – for example, on what should be covered by programmes dealing with high- school science. These working groups consist of a variety of experts in the specific field. Finally, the SABC manages the production of the programmes to fulfil these briefs.
“This relationship is based on research from around the world, and it’s a very complex and often very difficult one to manage, especially with the short delivery times we have,” says Galombik. Nevertheless she feels the effectiveness of the end product makes it worthwhile.
Despite the fact that this sounds incredibly top-heavy, Galombik feels the current educational programming is very audience-driven and that this is one of the main things distinguishing it from the programming of the past.
“There’s a clear emphasis on disadvantaged South Africans, and on representing their life experiences. It is rooted in the philosophy that education must be relevant to people’s lives.”
Research is being boosted to ensure the SABC stays in touch with audiences. At the moment every series from last year is undergoing evaluation. That means looking at audience figures as well as more qualitative research to determine what people really le arned. “It’s not yet perfect,” Galombik admits, “but we’re getting there. With new projects we’re planning to make pilots first, and pre-test befo re commissioning a whole series.”
At a recent international conference on educational broadcasting there was a lot of debate about whether there should be a separate educational channel. What does Galombik think about that?
“There’s lots of value in it,” she feels, “and a technical team is investigating the issue.
“It is certainly an option for formal education, but some educational programmes can still live within a commercial framework, and it shouldn’t be seen as an alternative to education also getting a place in the general channels.”