The utilisation of primary school educational television programmes have risen from 71% in 2001-02 to 77% in 2003-04, the School ETV Survey has found.

The Education & Manpower Bureau said the rise was probably due to improvements to the content and delivery of Education Television programmes. The service has also been extended to pre-primary students, helping more youngsters learn.

The new productions are no longer confined to key academic subjects but will cover other areas like physical education, art and information technology.

The bureau said more emphasis will be placed on cultivating values and developing language skills. New programmes will be produced on moral and civic education, social and analytical skills, English language for the workplace and daily use, and communicating in Putonghua.

Improvement measures

In mid-2003, the Standing Committee on the Development of the Educational Television Service, on completion of the review on the school ETV service, recommended a number of improvements.

On production planning, it proposed using questionnaires to gauge the views of teachers and produce programmes to meet their needs. Cases in point include new programmes on moral and civic education and social skills.

Today school ETV programmes are provided to schools on VCDs or CD-ROMs and through the Internet. The bureau also plans to sell the programmes.

School ETV will reduce the frequency of repeat broadcasts and diversify content by incorporating other educational programmes produced by Government departments or other sources.

More information can be found on the ETV website.