Wednesday 11 July, 2001
Radio Education For Afghan Children
New programmes, broadcast weekly on BBC World Service’s Persian and Pashto Services, have been especially designed to awaken children’s curiosity and to stimulate their desire to learn without the help of teachers or books.
REACH is a pioneering education initiative aimed at the children of Afghanistan who, due to conflict, have received little or no education for many years.
REACH Does Not Teach
Thanks to more than 20 years of fighting, and more recently, because of Taliban government restrictions, many children and young people, throughout Afghanistan, have missed their schooling.
Whilst there can be no substitute for formal education, REACH (Radio Education For Afghan Children) takes the popular medium of radio and broadcasts informative and inspiring programmes to children who have few other opportunities for learning.
Speaking of the initiative, BBC World Service’s EurAsia Regional Head, David Morton comments:
‘REACH is not really a replacement for schooling: you can not provide formal education with a curriculum over the radio when there is no support on the ground – no teachers to reinforce the messages, no texts and notes for pupils to study in their own time.’
| ‘REACH does not teach: it gets children to learn by awakening their curiosity, helping them understand and ask questions about the world, helping them set their lives in a wider context.’ | |
Programme Makers
REACH is funded by the UK Department for International Development, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the project is managed by BBC Afghan Education Projects in Peshawar.
Peshawar, the biggest city in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, is just over the border from Afghanistan and is home to hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees.
All of the programme staff, writers and actors at BBC AEP are themselves Afghan refugees and by liasing with Afghan children and piloting ideas in refugee camps and in Afghanistan itself, the programme makers take their cue from the audience.
In addition, because of difficulties in distributing books or worksheets to potential listeners in all parts of Afghanistan, and because many of the intended audience will have low levels of literacy, the programmes are designed to be effective without print materials.
Our World, Our Future
The result is a series called Our World, Our Future. Aimed at children from seven upwards who listen to radio at home.
It comprises three different weekly programmes, which contain information about Afghanistan’s diverse traditions, its culture and history, as well as covering present day concerns such as mine awareness and health education.
The programmes encourage young people to become active learners, by giving them tasks to do during and after the programmes that will stimulate learning.
New Home, New Life
This pioneering radio initiative follows the success of the BBC radio drama New Home, New Life which has become required listening for millions of Afghans both inside and outside the country.
In fact an independent survey (CIET 1997) concluded that of the 50% of Afghans, who regularly listened to the BBC, 93% listened to New Home, New Life.
This study went on to conclude that listeners of the BBC radio series were more aware of the dangers of landmines from the drama and were twice as likely as non-listeners to avoid injury from mines.
Speaking on the hopes for the new education initiative, Baqer Moin, Head of BBC Persian and Pashto Service, said:
‘BBC World Service is a popular medium in Afghanistan and many people are great fans of our soap. We hope children in Afghanistan and the child refugees will be equally spellbound by the Our World, Our Future series and encouraged to ask questions and learn about the world, their history and culture.’
‘The REACH programmes are for children aged seven and older who have missed most or all of their schooling and are to be enjoyed by everyone.’
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| Time For REACH |
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The REACH programmes are broadcast six days a week at 0700 GMT and repeated in the evenings in Afghanistan.
The half-hour Our World, Our Future series comprises different programmes, which are repeated within the same week. They are:
Stories For Living: Stories to stimulate children’s imaginations.
Curtain Of Secrets: Reveals the secrets in the natural world.
Faces and Places: Information about places inside Afghanistan and beyond.
The Pedlar’s Bag: A magazine programme for younger listeners that includes stories, interviews, numeracy games and riddles.
Castle Of A Thousand Windows: A magazine programme for older listeners that deals with topics that affect young people’s lives.
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