T he season of examinations, results and grades is around the corner and it is testing time for students and their parents. Tough decisions regarding higher studies, choice of professions and colleges have to be made in record time. fast approaching, beckoning and challengingstudents and parents to make life-changing decisions pertaining to choice of study options. And in an age that offers multitude opportunities, selecting that right option is something that so important. is all the more confounding. Information is vital while making a choice and this is where ‘Vidyabhyasa Varthakal,' billed as the only educational news bulletin in a regional channel, scores over other channels. tries to do. Siju Madhu, the producer of the programme, which is telecast on all days from 7 to 7.30 a.m. on Amrita TV, highlights the salient features of the programme.
News bulletin on education
‘Vidyabhyasa Varthakal' is a first-time attempt in Malayalam television; a programme that is exclusively dedicated to educational content. Education is accorded high priority in the State. We realised that there is a group of viewers who keenly follow developments in the education sector; the bulletin is for those viewers.
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Around 70 to 80 per cent of households in Kerala have at least a student each. Parents take a keen interest in their children's education. The emphasis is on infotainment. We ensure that the information provided does not sound too officious or didactic.
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The show has four experts in its panel. P.V.Venkataraman talks about various courses, major institutions offering the courses, criteria for eligibility and admission and so on. Information on foreign institutions including recognition and points that students should bear in mind are explained by T.P.Sethumadhavan. Raju Krishnan, former Joint Entrance Commissioner, describes various aspects of the entrance examinations and Chandraprasad Sreedhar provides counselling to students. Gopakumar Karakonam is a content contributor.
A segment called ‘Manthriyodu Chodikkam' has Education Minister M.A. Baby interacting with viewers and taking questions from callers. Telecast on Sundays, viewers can speak to the Minister by dialling 0471-4001170/71 (at the designated hour). The programme guides the viewers to the official website of educational institutions.
Unforgettable feedback
Most of the time, it is medical and engineering education that gets highlighted.
But the fact is that a subject like commerce has more than 100 choices for higher studies and an equal number of job opportunities. We did a story on the openings available to commerce students wherein Dr.Venkataraman explained what the options available to students of commerce were. After the programme, we got feedback from several commerce students saying that the programme was a boost to their morale.
Highlights
One was an episode we did on interviews; it showed students how to face an interview, what to prepare, how to face questions and so on. The response was overwhelming and it was re-telecast three times. We get plenty of calls from outside the State. Some viewers say that they record the programme so that their children could watch it later. Students also call us up to request information on specialised streams.