The Hindu : Front Page : Educational radio network to be launched

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 21, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Educational radio network to be launched

R. Krishnamoorthy

It will offer educational, cultural and music programmes through `Gyan Vani'

TIRUCHI: Bharathidasan University is set to launch an FM radio station to bridge the gap between literate and illiterate people.

Its Department of Educational Technology will offer educational, cultural and music programmes through the `Gyan Vani,' an educational radio network.

The service will be available at 104.4 Megahertz frequency and it will reach a distance of 75-km radius in and around Tiruchi.

The station will broadcast programmes on career counselling, employment, adult education, women empowerment, community development, rural development, consumer protection, health, sanitation and sports. It will also air programmes focussing on visually challenged, non-government organisations, mother and childcare, and knowledge enrichment of students right from Standard X.

Folk dance songs, folklore, and music will be entertainment components. But there will be neither advertisements nor film songs.

The university has undertaken the initiative as a part of its silver jubilee celebrations. It has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indira Gandhi National Open University in this regard, says R. Karpaga Kumaravel, Professor and Head, Department of Educational Technology.

A venture catalysed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and IGNOU's Electronic Media Production Centre, Gyan Vani enables the university to reach a large section of the society by building strong collaborations and firm partnership at the local level.

With its launch, Gyan Vani, Bharathidasan University, will be the 18th of its kind in India. Seventeen FM stations have been commissioned at various cities including Allahabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Chennai, New Delhi, Mysore and Guwahati.

The broadcasting unit will function from the Department of Educational Technology.

The department is in the process of forming local steering committees with renowned academicians as chairpersons and convenors.

They will decide the contents, timings and partner institutions based on local needs and expertise.

The programme will be produced by and presented with the involvement of students, youths, educational institutions and other academic entities.

The university is gearing up to meet the challenge on the software front - to develop language-specific and area-specific programmes with local expertise, and involving local listeners in its educational and development endeavour with the objective of empowering the people, particularly the disadvantaged and the physically challenged.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail