Vidula - Children's radio channel
Radio channel: On March 28, past mid day, I was entering SLBC (Sri
Lanka Broadcasting Corporation) premises at Torrington Square. To my
great surprise, I saw a great change in the entire atmosphere more like
children's carnival; a long forgotten merry-go-round, a giant's ride,
and an ice-cream stall. A special studio was installed for the purpose.
Children were running around celebrating an event of their own.
Children from various walks of life, from distant places and remote
schools, had to participate in a new media venture, with their parents
and teachers. It was a moment of excitement, introducing a new
broadcasting system, different from other forms known so far.
Children were seen as the main programme participants with the adult
broadcasters helping them to air their views on many matters. One child
had something to say on his school; he came with his colleagues to see
what is happening. Another talked about one of his hobbies: keeping
newspaper-cuttings in a file, which he believed, in the future, would be
useful material for research work.
Many aired their views on skills and activities. A small girl sang a
song of the past - a folk song. She wants to be a singer one day. Then
they were talking about the new technology: Computer and the Internet,
and how it should reach the village. The specialist-adults, in matters
of language and culture, were seen airing the views.
I had the opportunity of meeting some radio programme producers,
selected for the task of shouldering the function of both planning and
implementing the radio programmes mainly for children.
They seem to believe, that it is a challenge mainly due to the extant
of television channels and FM radio channels. According to Mahinda
Algama, a long-standing radio play and children's opera producer,
however, the children's programmes will reach the popularity, if new
radio plays are produced with children, and new children's songs are
composed, recorded and broadcast.
But an educationist-colleague of mine said that all these have to be
planned well, and a need to hold regular planning sessions is important.
Added he: "Small scale radio clubs have to be formulated at school level
as a part of the curriculum and be affiliated to the new radio channel,
Vidula."
Then I met the SLBC chairman, Sunil Sarath Perera who said that plans
are on to innovate new types of radio programmes, especially on subject
areas: culture, human values and history.
"We like to attract more and more children, but they are not going to
be the sole contributing team, as we have many adults, specialists in
various subjects, who will help the children creatively to 'know' and
'understand' the traditional as well as modern trends and development.
We need new ideas and new creations."
Some aspects of the traditional forms of broadcasting for children
are still popular all around the world.
For example, narrating stories is one of the most popular types of
broadcasting in the world. However, it is not so easy to obtain the
service of good narrators for children these days.
The story-telling element could be revived via radio, and quite a lot
of new messages could be inserted as a nation-building mission. The
service of the teacher could be obtained to meet this challenge.
I am reminded of the children's programmes of the late forties and
early fifties, how the poet U.A.S Perera, popularly known as Siri Ayya,
was behind the microphone in the studio with a group of children, where
he exhibited the talent to address the children both in prose, song and
verse.
It was the well-known Lama Pitiya (children's ground); the title
changed over time, and later came to be known as Lama Mandapaya
(children's forum). Siri Ayya's student, well-known lyricist Karunaratne
Abeysekara, was behind these new innovations, as he was the first
officially appointed Sinhala children's programme organiser of then
Radio Ceylon. The evening programme format, from five to six, was set
aside for children, and listened to by children, as they were at home.
The weekdays broadcast five general types of children's programmes;
weekends, special types. In fact, the whole week had daily programmes to
offer: Gita Nataka or children's radio opera, Ranga Pitaya or children's
playhouse, Tikiri Sinareli or children's magazine programme, Singiti
Suratal or kiddies programme and Bosath Lama Lapatiyo or the religious
programme.
Side by side grew the special stream of education programmes. With
the introduction of the Educational Service (adyapana sevaya), which was
initially titled as Pasal Sevaya (school's service), meant to be a
parallel stream of education as innovated by the new forms of
educational reforms in the commonwealth countries.
There was a keen sense of interest shown by the educationists as a
channel to obtain and create a better climate for the teaching of such
subjects as science, languages and creative skills.
Most of these educational programmes were designed by the specialists
from the National Education Institute at Maharagama and the Ministry of
Education at Palawatte, funded by UNESCO and a few other units. These
innovations may have helped the children, as well as the teachers.
But the fact remains that the patterns of education changed rapidly
at the schools level and the television took over most of the programme
formats meant for educational matters, making use of the image, and the
sound blended creatively and became a challenge for the local radio and
television producers.
When more and more television programmes were imported as material
commonly geared to many countries in the commonwealth, the intensity of
the creative function of the local producers abated gradually.
One good example is the introduction of 'Discovery' programme, which
was received as a variant to the traditional forms of presentation.
It is too early however, to comment on the innovations of the newly
introduced Vidula. But a dedicated team of communicators - equipped with
a new vision - is a must for the sustenance and development of the
channel.
(This columnist is an Advisory Board member of Sri Lanka Broadcasting
Corporation, and a regular broadcaster, who started his career as a
participant of children's programmes as far back as mid fifties. Being
attached to the then Radio Ceylon, as a script-writer and programme
producer, he was later selected as the managerial programme producer of
London based BBC World Service Sinhala programme 'Sandeshaya'.) |