The ripples of the recent radio revolution have reached the classrooms too. Its arrival, as it was in some of the primary schools in Kozhikode, was promising to make the process of learning a lot more interesting and interactive for students.
Students' radio
Because, unlike the usual Radio, it has made sure that the students are not mere listeners. They are made to script, edit and present the programmes with the help of their teachers for the benefit of the whole school community.
If we consider the mechanism involved, it's doubtful if it can be called a community radio. But if we examine the purpose it serves, it is nothing but a community radio at a school. Let us graciously overlook the possible mistakes in the nomenclature and listen to the ‘Kunjoos Radio' (kids radio) as it was named by the students at the Ganapat Lower Primary School at Chalappuram in Kozhikode.
It's an imaginative initiative from the school authorities to nurture and nourish the creative talents of children simultaneously contributing to achieving academic excellence. Students read news, hold discussions, present cultural programmes and deliver talks in front of a microphone set up at the school studio. These programmes are being made audible to students in every classroom through a speaker.
At times even recorded programmes from different radio stations are played from the studio for the benefit of the students. A small studio is set up inside the office room of the school. A microphone, amplifier and other essential equipment are purchased. A speaker was fitted in every classrooms for the “airing” of the programme.
A popular news reader from the Kozhikode station of the All India Radio inaugurated ‘Kunjoos Radio' at Ganapat School here recently. The programmes were ‘transmitted' during interval time and other common free times such as before the first bell goes in the morning.
News bulletin
Among other programmes, students also prepare a news script after going through the day's newspapers, to be read out through the microphone. “All the students avidly listen to the programmes as they were presented by one among them,” says K. Aravind, a Std IV student from the school. “Friends often come and appreciate and give their creative comments on our programmes,” he adds.
The items being ‘aired' include interviews with high achieving students from other schools, discussions on academic and non-academic issues, theatre adaptations of textbook portions, songs and recitations.
Headmaster V.P. Manoj is proud about the initiative. “It helps and makes the process of learning a lot more interesting and participatory,” says Mr. Manoj.
AIR News Reader Anil Chandran, who inaugurated the facility at the school also, was all praise for the initiative. “It may not be called a community radio in the strict sense of the term, but it serves the exact purpose,” he said. Mr. Chandran also said that many schools in the district had recently installed this “Mini-Radio” system to the benefit of the students.
The headmaster of the school attributes the success of the project to the creative intervention and support of the PTA. “A vibrant and functional PTA is our strength,” he says. Besides, financial help from the SSA and social service organizations such as the Lions Club have also come handy in carrying on the project, he adds.
