SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...
SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...
SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...
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materials to aid their instructi<strong>on</strong>; <strong>and</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong> Foundati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> SACHED Trust which use<br />
newspapers <strong>and</strong> magazines to disseminate educati<strong>on</strong>al materials <strong>and</strong> c<strong>on</strong>duct workshops to train<br />
teachers how to best use them as resources.<br />
The Educati<strong>on</strong> Foundati<strong>on</strong>, a South African NGO <strong>and</strong> Aurora Associates, a USAID c<strong>on</strong>tractor,<br />
are currently researching an inventory of educati<strong>on</strong> materials in all media which have produced<br />
by South African NGOs. It should be ready in mid-l995.<br />
Newspapers <strong>and</strong> Magazines<br />
Even with the low levels of literacy, printed media such as newspaper inserts, magazines, <strong>and</strong><br />
flyers also play a role in early childhood development in South Africa, although according to a<br />
report by the Centre for Educati<strong>on</strong> Policy Development, print media has had limited<br />
effectiveness. While pre-school materials are available, distributi<strong>on</strong> is c<strong>on</strong>centrated in mostly<br />
urban areas of South Africa. The publicati<strong>on</strong>s had a limited circulati<strong>on</strong> due to low-income target<br />
audiences with severely limited purchasing power. Only some 20% of the materials available<br />
were distributed directly to schools. However, projects are being developed to link into schools<br />
<strong>and</strong> teacher training colleges <strong>on</strong> a more systematic basis.<br />
The print media materials had limited impact because their use was opti<strong>on</strong>al, functi<strong>on</strong>ing in a<br />
peripheral way al<strong>on</strong>gside the educati<strong>on</strong>al process rather than being fully integrated into it. Ideally<br />
a mixed-media educati<strong>on</strong>al approach needs to build a relati<strong>on</strong>ship between print <strong>and</strong> electr<strong>on</strong>ic<br />
media as part of a supportive learning envir<strong>on</strong>ment.<br />
There are problems with printed materials in many South African communities. Rural<br />
communicati<strong>on</strong> is almost exclusively oral. A study by journalism students at Rhodes University<br />
found that rural people have trouble underst<strong>and</strong>ing pictures <strong>on</strong> a page. Many have heard of<br />
televisi<strong>on</strong> but never seen it. People of different cultures interpret pictures in different ways. Their<br />
percepti<strong>on</strong>s are shaped by their envir<strong>on</strong>ments.<br />
However, printed materials do have certain advantages. They are printed frequently, usually in<br />
large numbers. It is relatively cheap to insert an educati<strong>on</strong> supplement into a newspaper or to<br />
distribute such supplements to schools or other educati<strong>on</strong> centers. The Educati<strong>on</strong> Foundati<strong>on</strong> has<br />
found great success with their newspaper <strong>and</strong> magazine inserts <strong>and</strong> have a reach in the hundreds<br />
of thous<strong>and</strong>s.<br />
In SA newspapers in educati<strong>on</strong> started in late 70's in resp<strong>on</strong>se to the deepening educati<strong>on</strong> crisis,<br />
according to a 1993 report by EduSource <strong>on</strong> the role of media in educati<strong>on</strong>; some 20 newspapers<br />
were carrying educati<strong>on</strong>al materials, although most targeted high school students. We should<br />
look at targeting pre-schoolers <strong>and</strong> their caregivers. Currently the magazine Molo S<strong>on</strong>gololo is<br />
the <strong>on</strong>ly publicati<strong>on</strong> targeted for primary school children. There is a problem with distributi<strong>on</strong> in<br />
poor communities, since newspapers are c<strong>on</strong>cerned about advertising <strong>and</strong> d<strong>on</strong>'t see them as a<br />
viable audience since most d<strong>on</strong>'t read English <strong>and</strong> little is published in their mother t<strong>on</strong>gue. Also,<br />
advertisers have felt that poor communities had little discreti<strong>on</strong>ary income, therefore advertising<br />
them was pointless; recently, new wisdom has challenged this, pointing out that poor families<br />
still must make br<strong>and</strong> choices to purchase necessities.<br />
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