One hundred and three million children worldwide are not in school. Almost three quarters live in South and West Asia or sub-Saharan Africa, and more than half are girls.
Educational opportunities are limited in many developing countries because of a shortage of trained teachers, school buildings and books, and the mismanagement of educational resources, including public funds.
Media for development
We use media - radio broadcasts, audio classroom materials, television programmes and print publications - to support education and teacher training.
Media enables education to be delivered to children and adults with limited access to formal education, including:
- Women and girls
- Children and adults who can't afford to go to school
- People living is rural areas
- Disabled people
- Nomads
- Refugees and people who have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict or natural disaster
Our approach
We work in partnership with government departments, educational institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in developing countries to ensure that our programmes complement, support and extend their work.
Our programmes are produced in partnership with local broadcasters and media professionals. We aim to enhance their skills and strengthen their infrastructure so that they can produce their own educational programming in the future.
Our educational initiatives fall into three broad categories:
Literacy for life - basic education for adults
- We produce programmes that help teach literacy and numeracy
- We work with education authorities and non-governmental organisations in developing countries to support face-to-face learning
- We use mass media to advocate learning, and raise awareness of the importance of education for all
- We make learning practical by integrating learning about 'life skills' into basic education. For example, we include messages about health and hygiene and human rights and the environment in our literacy learning programmes
Teacher training
We produce radio programmes and audio visual material to support large-scale teacher training, including:
- Audio and visual material for use in teacher training courses, such as short dramas, personal testimonies and demo classes
- Media programming aimed at improving teaching skills
Advocating education
We also produce radio and television programmes that address barriers to teacher recruitment, training and retention. These include low status, the relationship between school and community and how educational budgets are spent.
We work with local media to create an environment where government resources earmarked for education reach all those who are entitled to them, including the rural poor, women and other traditionally disadvantaged groups.
Examples of our work
In Afghanistan, years of conflict have meant that many children in Afghanistan have had little or no education. Produced as part of our Afghan Education Projects (AEP) initiative, 'Our World, Our Future' is a radio series for 5-16 year olds. It involves five different strands, each designed to entertain, and stimulate their desire to learn. Run by Afghans for Afghans, AEP is the largest media-for-development initiative in Afghanistan. More
In Bangladesh, we are working on an initiative to use popular TV formats, radio and mobile phones to enhance English language skills throughout the country. Our mass media programmes will complement a significant teacher training programme, as well as formal classes in schools. Our aim is to improve livelihoods by making English language learning accessible to millions of people. With English as a tool for better access to the world economy, this initative will contribute to the economic growth of Bangladesh.
In Somalia, we are working in partnership with the Africa Educational Trust and the BBC Somali Service to deliver weekly radio programmes and face-to-face tutorials to improve literacy and numeracy skills in Somalia.The radio programmes have so far reached 250,000 Somali speakers, and almost 30,000 children and adults with no access to formal education have graduated with certificates from the face-to-face tutorials. More
