STATE-FUNDED TV Pendidikan is in need of polishing and better quality productions in order to sustain students’ interest, said Harry Tan, the secretary-general of the National Union Of The Teaching Profession Malaysia (NUTP).

He said the need had become more acute due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with schools closed and lessons conducted online.

He told The Malaysian Insight the education programme, which follows the school syllabus, can certainly help students who do not have gadgets or access to the Internet.

However, Tan added, the programming is not interactive.

“Teaches will always use any tool, including TV Pendidikan, to teach their students, especially if they are effective or to make their lessons more interesting.”

TV Pendidikan would do better if it were produced as a form of edutainment, like Discovery Channel and National Geographic programmes, Tan suggested.

“It should not be just a recording of a teacher teaching a class or just disseminating information.

“TV is TV. We need innovation, actors, special effects and the like to keep the ratings up,” he said, referring to its effectiveness among students.

Tan said teachers can provide input to the Education Ministry, but talented producers and educators are needed for the programmers to retain students’ attention.

Teacher Amelia Natasha, 27, who teaches drama, mathematics and English to primary school students, said the attractiveness of TV Pendidikan depends on the students’ age and demographic.

“It may be more useful for kids aged three to five than older children because it is competing against YouTube, Google and other learning platforms that are more attractive,” she said.

The government would need to invest more if it wanted TV Pendidikan to provide more impactful learning as a non-interactive platform.

TV Pendidikan can help, but if online lessons and learning at home is to be a long-term norm because of the pandemic, more funding must be allocated to maintain learning standards, he said.

“Budget should be given to teachers and students at schools so that teachers can enhance their tools or advance their pedagogy. Or even to allocate it for children who prefer experiential based learning,” she said.

Education Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Jidin said educational programmes on TV Pendidikan have chalked up some 6.3 million views since April.

The movement control order to curb Covid-19, which included school closures, began the previous month.

TV Pendidikan was re-introduced via TV Okey for two hours a day beginning April 6, making its total airtime nine hours per day, including on Astro’s Tutor TV (four hours) and NTV7 (three hours).

Radzi said 1.8 million viewers have watched the programme on TV Okey since April 6, with a further 5.4 million viewers catching it on the Astro channels. – December 21, 2020.