Her latest book Using Edu-Tainment for Distance Education in Community Work, recently brought out by the Sage Publications, provides guidelines on the preparation of distance education radio, TV and internet programmes using the unique “Edu-Tainment” format, where instructions can be passed over without any teacher. She spoke to Shruba Mukherjee of Deccan Herald about the process. Excerpts:

The concept of making learning attractive is not new in pedagogy. What is unique about Edu-Tainment?

The art of making learning attractive, has, as you say, been with us throughout history.  Fables, folk stories and songs, parables and other entertaining formats have been used to teach and encourage many acceptable behaviours. In today’s terminology, this type of teaching is called “Entertainment-Education”. As the title indicates, the first step and primary focus in this format is the creation of an entertaining “setting” that will engage the emotions of a general audience and hold their attention. The educational “lesson” is then woven into that setting naturally and gradually. So, in Entertainment-Education, the primary emphasis is on an audience-grabbing entertaining background (such as a serial drama) into which the behaviour change lessons can come very naturally.

Edu-tainment, however, puts the emphasis on direct teaching and has a primary goal of educating a particular audience in very precise knowledge and application of that knowledge. For example, teaching community health workers the principles of Inter-Personal Communication and how to use them in their work. In Edu-tainment programmes, therefore, the primary emphasis is on precise, clear instruction. Typically, the students being reached by Edu-tainment distance education programmes by radio or television have no contact with a teacher or with other students. The challenge, therefore, is to keep them motivated to tune in to lesson broadcasts.

Can you give some examples?

The Indian Edu-tainment radio serial Darpan, sponsored by SIFPSA, was designed to assist grassroots-level service providers in Uttar Pradesh to upgrade their skills in family planning services and learn more about how to interact positively with community members. The main content of each programme was a workshop where Dr Sahib and Behin Ji Didi (an assistant nurse midwife) gave clear lessons to community health workers. The entertainment was provided by the doctors’ driver, Badshah and his old, somewhat unreliable vehicle Hariyale. The audience, while improving their own skills through what they learned from the doctor and the nurse, were also encouraged to keep listening to the programmes by the antics of Badshah and Hariyale.

The 11th Plan target for the government is to increase General Enrolment Rate to 15 per cent from the present 10 per cent. Do you think Edu-Tainment can play an important role here?

I presume this question is relating to classroom education. Yes, Edu-tainment can be used to increase enrolment rate. Already throughout India there are several Interactive Radio Instruction radio programmes on the air, which employ the basic principles of Edu-tainment. The aim of these programmes is to encourage better teaching and better learning in the classrooms. Many of these programmes are being developed by the Education Development Centre, Washington DC. The programmes are designed to be played in the classroom, where teachers and students alike can learn from them.

Is it possible for Edu-tainment programmes to benefit the out-of-school children?

It is possible for Edu-tainment programmes to reach out to children who currently do not (or cannot) attend school and encourage them to learn. One of the greatest examples of the use of radio for increasing educational enrolment is the School of the Air in Australia which, for many, many years has educated children in remote outback areas of the continent. School of the Air is still the major or only education supplier for many children in outback Australia.