The government has rolled out a radio learning program for the schools and institutions as one way to ensure continuity in learning and mitigate COVID 19 pandemic.A radio lesson program can’t solve present day educational needs. It is like one going to the bar to get drunk so that problems can go.
From a pedagogical point of view,a radio lesson will only get the children informed but will not help assess and grade learners in holistic manner. A primary school for example is literary a foundational/ basic or beginners’ school. The Swahili version puts it better “Shuleyamsingi” meaning foundational school from noun ‘Msingi’ (foundation) e.g., of a building yet very key in the setting.
By definition, ‘primary’ Implies that the learners are in the basics of the process, the formation stage in all aspects of learning. Any professional teacher will concur with me that learning is not only rated by the presence of the teacher and learner but also the environment, instructional tools and mode of instruction.
Children of pre- primary and primary in their stage of growth need to see, touch, hear and feel whereas radio lessons only offer the (audio) hearing alone. This can’t produce a balanced growth of a child according the Bloom, the renowned taxonomy educationist who categorized the learning aspects into three; the cognitive(thinking), affective (emotion or feelings), and the psychomotor (physical or kinesthetic).People will remember 20% of what they hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss with others, 80% of what we personally experience and 90% of what we teach others (Edgar Dale). Within a week, people can forget almost 80% of what they heard.
The program will therefore likely to be hampered by:
Communication challenge:
A radio is an audio, a one- way form of communication yet communication requires reciprocity. It will be hard for the thousands of listeners to respond to one teacher on radio after a lesson. Even if they called the teacher, he won’t be in position to answer all of them due to lack of time.
Learners’ attention span:
children have different attention span and rate of understanding given the background and environment yet in this setting, one teacher will conduct a lesson to unseen audience depending on the radio station’s catchment area.If it can be hard for a teacher to conduct a successful lesson to a hundred learners in one classroom, how hard will it be for a class of all listeners of (UBC Radio) which is nationwide? interludes given by radio programs are rarely in line with lesson. Instead, they are adverts of sponsors but not energizers. When children interface with the teacher, he can detect their mood and vary methodology.
Knowledgeability of radio teachers:
How many radio teachers have been trained to handle the lessons? How many children and parents have been guided on how to take classes through radio? Children need close monitoring. Civic education is paramount for effective planning prior to implementing the program otherwise, you will assume children are listening when actually not. The program looks modern but without thorough sensitization and training, it is a total mess.
Syllabus coverage:
We may procure radios for the learners but may not launch more radio stations to match the programs required to be aired. To be precise, one academic term’s work may require full year of teaching on radio.
For example, P6 alone takes: English, 6 lessons, MTC 6 lessons, SST 5 lessons,Science 6 lessons and R.E 3 lessons in a week. A total of 26 (radio programs) for a period not less than 40 minutes each will be required. There are insufficient radio stations to air primary and secondary lessons unless all other radio programs are totally suspended. Otherwise, if the curriculum can be downsized to suit the radio program, the products of such education system shall be affected on international job market.
Assessment strategy:
An effective lesson not only aims at the teacher delivering the lesson but also evaluates the it in terms of achievement and behavioral change in learners. A lesson evaluation must also show challenges and suggest a way forward for the next lesson.
Assessment can both be formative (correcting the leaner) and summative (for promoting learner at end of the course). Thousands will listen; others half a lesson, some a quarter, yet their perception is rate different. In the Nationwide class, some are slow while others are fast learners. Fast learners will get bored while slow learners will not grasp. What tools will be used to promote those learners to new classes?
Amidst COVID 19 pandemic, the government should have a comprehensive plan to restart schools under strict SOPs. Nonstop lockdowns will not solve any problem apart from duplicating and recreating more. It is like one who goes to drink with motive of getting intoxicated in order to deal with stress and pressure from many problems. Temporarily, he will be relieved but immediately he becomes sober, the same stress and debts will reemerge as before.
The government should carry out risk assessment of the radio program prior to implementing it or else our young generation is gradually facing ‘educational genocide’.
mumbej@yahoo.com
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