Radio School

Airing curriculum-based lessons on the radio for boys and girls in Jss2

What is radio school?

Radio School is an educational radio program that delivers quality education to girls and boys in JSS2 in four core subjects (English, Mathematics, Civic Education and Basic Science). By putting curriculum-based lessons on the radio, this project goes a long way to address access to quality education for adolescents.

History of radio school

With the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation through the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education (PSIPSE), SSDO is currently implementing a brand new program called ‘Radio School’. This program, the first of its kind in Nigeria, aims at leveraging the power of the radio to deliver quality secondary education to adolescent girls and boys in Enugu and Adamawa States, using highly skilled teachers in live classroom situations.

Lessons were broadcasted everyday (Monday to Saturday) on Voice FM 96.7 in Enugu State and on Gotel Radio Yola 917 kHz in Adamawa State. These lessons were pre-recorded in live classroom settings with teachers employing simple, yet effective distance-teaching techniques. At the end of the school day, students are able to call the teachers on (toll-free numbers) if they have any questions about the lessons taught. With the support from state governments, all 292 public schools in Enugu and 150 schools in Adamawa are participating in the project.

Children like Dative, Kevin and Merveille listen to radio lessons at home while their primary schools are closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. ********** On 15 March, the Government of Rwanda recommended that all schools to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. These closures have been extended to at least late April, with over 3 million of students now out of school and expected to learn at home. **Finding rapid solutions** Every lost day of learning can have detrimental impact on a child’s future. Rwanda’s students needed immediate solutions to help them learn from home. “Radio is the most popular and accessible medium in Rwanda. As the national public broadcaster, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency’s radio stations reach almost 99 per cent of the population, including Radio Rwanda and five regional stations,” says Aldo Havugimana, Director of Radio with Rwanda Broadcasting Agency. “Given this expansive reach, radio lessons were identified as the most suitable immediate solution.” To begin, UNICEF utilised its network and expertise to leverage 144 radio scripts from other countries on primary level literacy and numeracy lessons. These lessons were then contextualised and adapted for Rwanda. UNICEF then leveraged its existing partnership with the national NGO Inspire, Educate, Empower (IEE) and Rwanda Broadcasting Agency to produce and air these scripts throughout the country. **Developing new radio lessons for students** With short-term measures in place to ensure learning opportunities for students, UNICEF is now supporting radio material that is aligned with the Rwandan curriculum. In collaboration with various development partners and Rwanda Education Board, UNICEF continues to support the production and airing of new radio material. UNICEF is particularly concerned that early learning opportunities are sustained, therefore developing radio content for pre-primary. “This lockdown is necessary to prevent further spread of Coronavirus.

Radio school and covid19

Amid the ongoing global crisis of the COVID 19 pandemic, with countries as well as Nigerians being forced to obey the quarantine and stay at home directives imposed by different state governments, it became necessary to explore a range of low-cost measures, targeted at mitigating the impact of the education emergency necessitated by the pandemic.

Against this background and commitment to her mission of ensuring that Nigerian students have access to quality education, improved pedagogy techniques and increased digital literacy, South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO) began partnering up with state ministries of educations around the country to provide continued teaching and learning process. The program is designed to improve adolescents’ learning outcomes by providing high-quality curriculum-based lessons for Junior Secondary School students in Basic Science, Civic Education including basic gender studies, English Language and Mathematics through the radio. The lessons at the moment are being aired on radio stations in Lagos sand Enugu State, with other states soon to key in.

Recent feedback from students, parents, school teachers and principals have shown great excitement towards the program with students commenting on the ease of understanding the lessons aired and their eagerness for the sequel lessons.

It is strongly believed that this model can be implemented across the entire country, serving as a solution to the current education emergency as well as bringing new or previously unavailable resources into the classroom for the enhancement of student learning most especially the classes that are scheduled to take National Standardized Examinations –Primary 6 (Common Entrance), JSS 3 (Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination) and SS3 (Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board).

Radio school lessons

Mathematics
English Language
Civic Education
Basic Science

Radio school resources

Radio School Testimonials
End-line Report 2017
Listenership Report 2017
Baseline Survey Report

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THIS DAY

Use radio school program to bridge learning gaps Caused....​

THE GUARDIAN

South Saharan provides alternative to schools closure​

VANGUARD

Lagos Partners Naija FM, SSDO on free radio lessons for ....

TRIBUNE

Lagos adds more educational radio programs

EDUCELEB

Group proffers solution to
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JOURNALIST 101

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