SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...

countering the influence of the SABC. Very few people were able to gain first hand radio or
television experience.
While radio is virtually ubiquitous, TV has a much smaller penetration in the South African
population and as the demographic information in this report suggests, is concentrated among the
white more affluence populations. The absence of media training as well as inappropriate
materials for South Africa has resulted in teachers and students having a very negative attitude
toward electronic media in formal education and it is sometimes perceived as a poor alternative
to Areal education. Both the education system and the broadcast system were discredited over the
years along with the system of apartheid.
Currently, the SABC is in the process of transforming itself and questions of what role the
network will play in restructuring education is one important area presently under discussion.
Policies are being formulated and there may be some clear direction this year. At the present
time, despite its vast resources, SABC provides a limited educational service, in part the result of
little meaningful consultation between SABC and the educational agencies it says it intends to
serve.
There are few pre-school education programs on radio and television in South Africa. In urban
and peri-urban areas, 50% of the children in households with radio listen to educational
programs, 46% in households with television tune in. According to caregivers answering
questionnaires, pre-school education programs on radio are ranked as the most popular during the
mornings. On television pre-school education programs are the second-most popular for
television in the afternoon. However, half of the children sampled did not listen to or watch preschool
education programs at all which leaves considerable scope for expanding the audience.
A review of one of the main SABC productions from pre-schoolers "Kideo," which has been on
the air for 4 years, by a South African analyst who is a producer, researcher, and formerly
employed by SABC is as follows: the program is limited in outreach because it is broadcast in
English only; there is no input from organizations working with children; some of the programs
reinforce stereotypes about gender and class that are not progressive. Favorable observations
were that the pace was slow enough for assimilation by children, there was no violence and
strong reinforcement of positive values for children.
The unbundling of SABC is expected to create opportunities for new commercial broadcasters in
South Africa who should also play a role in education in general and early child education in
particular.
When considering the different types of venues which can be used to distribute information and
educational programming for early child development, public broadcasting through radio
commands center stage. South Africa has the basic infrastructure to support this.
There are no hard and fast timetables for SABC's transformation. The body entrusted with
reallocation of the broadcast spectrum, the Independent Broadcast Authority, is currently
conducting a "triple inquiry" into issues concerning public broadcasting, cross ownership of
media and whether stations would be required to broadcast local material. Only as these inquires
are completed will final decisions be made on granting licenses. At present, only licenses for
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