Education TV as a remote learning tool during a pandemic
School closures as a result of the pandemic affected more than 30 million children in Pakistan, including approximately 12 million children in Punjab. According to the World Bank, at least one million children would drop out of primary and secondary school as a consequence. To ensure the continuity of learning, the country turned to educational technology (EdTech) tools like TV, radio, and mobile phones. Almost all of Pakistan (95 percent) and Punjab (90 percent) had access to TV, so this became the most viable option for remote learning for students and for teacher training.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT) and the School Education Department (SED) of the province of Punjab, Pakistan went into emergency education planning mode. In April 2020, Punjab rolled out the education TV program Taleem Ghar to support remote learning for its students. This was immediately followed by a roll-out of the federal education TV program TeleSchool across Pakistan.
As a response, the World Bank produced pragmatic guides called ‘Knowledge Packs’ to support policymakers in making quick yet informed decisions as they work with education ministries. For example, the Education TV Knowledge Pack includes case studies such as Pakistan’s to support with just-in-time pragmatic learnings from successful TV programing across countries; evidence of its effectiveness; steps and costs to start and enhance programing; and how to navigate the decision-making process. This initiative is part of the global program for Continuous and Accelerated Learning in response to COVID-19 supported with funding from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and implemented with UNESCO and UNICEF. Two World Bank projects have been providing financing: ‘Pandemic Response Effectiveness in Pakistan (PREP)’ provides funding for TeleSchool, and ‘Third Punjab Education Sector Project (PESP III)’ provides funding for Taleem Ghar.
Increasing student access and engagement, and the critical role of teachers
Education TV in Pakistan has been made available as on demand content on program websites, YouTube channels, and mobile apps. Punjab developed animated teacher characters for TV lessons (Miss DNA, Mr. Khawarizmi, and Miss Curie). “The biggest challenge was the disengagement of children from academic learning… The biggest question was—‘how will the children learn’? We started looking at what existed and what we could start immediately,” stated Umbreen Arif, Technical Advisor to the Pakistan Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, who led TeleSchool.
Public school teachers, subject experts, and timetabling specialists were leveraged to develop TV lessons and scripts for broadcasting aligned to the national and provincial curricula, and to curate existing educational content. Teachers also supported mass communication campaigns by appearing on TV network morning shows.