Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated a national broadcasting education channel to compensate student losses due to the closure of educational institutions until 31 May in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Teleschool is a dedicated TV channel that will be aired through a beam provided by Pakistan Television (PTV) from Tuesday across the country from 8 am to 6 pm for online education from class 1 to 12.
“Teleschool would help students learn during the closure of schools. This initiative would also help the government reach the remote areas, which didn’t have access to education facilities and infrastructure,” said the Prime Minister.
“Pakistan had a large number of out-of-school children (OOSC), this initiative could promote primary education and focus on the OOSC,” he added.
He said that no one can estimate when this global pandemic would be ended that’s why teleschool is an appropriate platform in this time of crisis. The project will also be aired after the pandemic gets eliminated, it would bring awareness and promote education in remote areas of the country.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood told, “The education ministry was also mulling to develop an app to benefit over 20 million out-of-school children and promote adult literacy.”
“We have just a 60% literacy rate. The education ministry was trying to link education with technology so that adults who wanted to learn had access to education through mobile phones,” he added.
Teleschool will be available on satellite, terrestrial and cable networks, making it open to most parts of the world, including remote areas that are difficult to reach, ensuring equality in learning.
Joint Secretary Education Syed Umair Javed supervised this project. “The credit of making this project possible in less than a month goes to unsung heroes: content developers, teachers and staff of Federal Directorate of Education, editors, techs, and producers of Allama Iqbal Open University and PTV,” he said.
