Educational Television Project - Uzbekistan
In early 2003, the British Council in Tashkent (BC) began working with the Thomson Foundation on a project designed to help regional television stations in Uzbekistan use and understand basic educational programming. Designed to educate young people aged 14 to 16 (partly because of the wider availability of television equipment in their schools), the programme also aims to help small, independent, privately funded regional television stations flourish. The television programmes, which focus on English language, geography and the environment, adolescent issues, and vocation, were scheduled to begin airing in late autumn 2004.
Communication Strategies
This programme is designed to ensure the full participation of regional media in all elements of the production process. Five consultants associated with the Thomson Foundation worked with regional television stations in Bukhara, Jizzakh, Kokand, and Samarkand, as well as the national Yoshlar network. Based on this collaboration, participating stations produced their own programmes, as follows:
Participating stations will be free to transmit all the output from the project. The programmes will also be offered to other regional stations that are not involved in the production process in order to help make national coverage possible.
The consultants led a planning seminar and training course in Tashkent in March 2003. Each consultant acted as a mentor, helping the participating stations develop scripts and guiding them through the process of producing and editing the programmes. The material was shot and edited on Mini-DV equipment. Internews in Tashkent offered to provide a technical picture-editing course for those stations that needed it. One consultant comments that this project is designed to be "hands-on"; this strategy, he believes, could well be applicable in other areas with similar needs.
Although the timing of the process varied according to the subject and the station's resources, as of August 2004 the programmes were very nearly all ready and back-up publications were being prepared. A launch/teacher-training event is planned in Tashkent at the end of October 2004; the materials will be broadcast in the latter part of the Autumn Term.
- English language: Bakhtiyor Shakhboz TV - Jizzakh/Samarkand - 10 programmes
- Geography: Mulokot TV - Kokand - 5 programmes
- Teenage issues: Yoshlar TV channel - Tashkent - 4 programmes
- Vocational education (careers): Osiyo TV - Bukhara - 5 programmes
Participating stations will be free to transmit all the output from the project. The programmes will also be offered to other regional stations that are not involved in the production process in order to help make national coverage possible.
The consultants led a planning seminar and training course in Tashkent in March 2003. Each consultant acted as a mentor, helping the participating stations develop scripts and guiding them through the process of producing and editing the programmes. The material was shot and edited on Mini-DV equipment. Internews in Tashkent offered to provide a technical picture-editing course for those stations that needed it. One consultant comments that this project is designed to be "hands-on"; this strategy, he believes, could well be applicable in other areas with similar needs.
Although the timing of the process varied according to the subject and the station's resources, as of August 2004 the programmes were very nearly all ready and back-up publications were being prepared. A launch/teacher-training event is planned in Tashkent at the end of October 2004; the materials will be broadcast in the latter part of the Autumn Term.
Development Issues
Youth, Education, Regional Media Development.
Key Points
BC indicates that "Television is a potentially powerful medium for education. This is particularly true in rural Uzbekistan where educational resources are limited and Internet connectivity remains very low....We hope that the series made with the regional TV stations will help to develop an open and independent media in Uzbekistan."
Established in 1962, The Thomson Foundation is a charitable trust that offers practical, intensive media training and consultancy both in the UK and abroad.
Established in 1962, The Thomson Foundation is a charitable trust that offers practical, intensive media training and consultancy both in the UK and abroad.
Partners
BC, The Thomson Foundation, Internews, Ministry of Higher, Specialised Secondary Education of Uzbekistan, and regional and national media. Funding is provided by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
Sources
Letters sent from John Prescott Thomas to The Communication Initiative on June 16 2003 and August 23 2004, and from Aziza Shoismoilova to The Communication Initiative on September 2 2004; and "Educational Programming Project Launched in Uzbekistan", IJNet Newsletter #204, forwarded to the Young People's Media Network (YPME) list server on May 6 2003 (click here to access the YPMN archives). This article is also available by clicking here.
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