State to launch exclusive TV channel for school students by January ’19

A committee headed by the director, Directorate of School Education, and comprising experts and academicians, including from Tamil Nadu State Council of Educational Research (SCERT), has been formed.

A senior official told DT Next that the channel would be aired in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation. “The proposed 24-hour free-to-air television channel is exclusively for students studying from primary to higher secondary level”, the official added.

The programmes that are to be telecast by the channel are being prepared by experts, said the official, adding that the channel would have quiz, debate and other educational programmes. “Learning videos already created by SCERT for various classes will also be broadcast over the channel,” he said, adding that it would also have career counselling programmes to make the students aware of the opportunities available in different fields. According to the official, other programmes such as yoga, child rights, value integrated teaching and learning (VITAL), life skills, personality development, pre-service teacher education, communicative skills in English, Image Recognition Application Technology (IRAT), disaster management, preparation of continuous and comprehension evaluation (CCE) worksheets, and soft skills would also be included in the channel in the future.

“In addition, programmes to improve communication skills and information technology learning, especially for rural areas, will also be given priority in the proposed education channel,” he added.

The official said the department would hold talks with private parties to launch coaching programmes for competitive exams including the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).