1

Vol. 17 No. 2 April 2013 A Newsletter of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia

In this issue

Guest Column 2

Spotlight On 5

Worth While Web 8

CEMCA News 9

Case Study 14

Regional Round Up 19

Book Review 21

Forthcoming Events 23

Partner’s Page 24

From Director’s DeskConsidering the importance of CR to empowercitizens and its use in learning for development,having appropriate policy is a first step. Towardsthis, Dr. Pavarala has indicated the need for aholistic approach to issue license and improvecoordination amongst ministries involved. Incase study section, we present to you a successstory of community informatics that also usesCR. The spotlight section presents one of themost important initiatives of AMARC – theWomen’s International Network (WIN) thatencourages women to participate actively in CR.The gender guidelines developed by the WIN issomething that all CR stations and stakeholdersengaged in the movement should adopt. We havetried to put together useful information in thesections such as Worth While Web and BookReviews. In this issue, we have introduced a newsection called Partner’s Page, where we willregularly bring out your experience of workingwith us. Thus, this is your page to contribute!

Our efforts to bring you the newsletter would besuccessful, if you find the contents interestingand useful. We do not see this as only a platformto tell about our work. It is also a platform toshare ideas and information that are timely andrelevant. Without your feedback and support, itwould not be possible for us to keep therelevance of the newsletter. Therefore, werequest you to send your feedback andsuggestions to me. You can also reach us throughour website that also gives link to our workshoppresentations sharing site, video channel, andphotos of various events. The website is our one-stop knowledge sharing platform that Irecommend you to bookmark and visit regularly.

Dr. Sanjaya Mishra

The last three monthshave been quite eventfulat CommonwealthEducational Media

Centre for Asia (CEMCA). We present theseactivities through our website and also in thisnewsletter. You will see that we have been ableto organize regional activities with participationfrom Bangladesh, Malaysia, India, Pakistan andSri Lanka. This was a major recommendation bymembers of our Advisory Council during themeeting held in December 2012. We will striveto organize regional events covering allCommonwealth countries in the region. Ourefforts will also be to organize events incountries other than India in the months ahead toimplement our current Three Year Plan (2012-15). One significant event during this period isthe ICT Leadership in Higher Education, whichwas inaugurated on 24 February 2013 atHyderabad by Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju,honourable Minister of Human ResourceDevelopment, Govt. of India. We are thankful tohim for his kind gracious presence in the eventand for addressing the participant ViceChancellors.

We bring to you the regular features of theEduComm Asia with a difference. This time it isalmost a thematic issue on Community Radio(CR), beginning with the guest column by Prof.Vinod Pavarala, a champion for the voice of thevoice less in the grassroots, who has shared histhoughts on the 10 years of continuous strugglein the CR movement in India. From theCommonwealth Asia perspective, the only othercountry having a policy on CR is Bangladesh.

2

Guest Column...

Ten Years of Community Radio inIndia: Towards New SolidaritiesBy Vinod Pavarala

It is 10 years since a putative communityradio policy was announced by theGovernment of India in 2003, allowing‘established educational institutions’ toapply for a license to broadcast over alimited-power FM frequency. It took threeyears after that initial announcement wasmade for the government to concede theright to community-based organizations,which were not any more seen as ‘a threatto the security and sovereignty’ of thenation. There was much excitement (if notactual radio stations) in the air asgovernment luminaries like the thenInformation and Broadcasting Minister,Mr. Jaipal Reddy threw out numbers likea possible 4000-5000 community radiostations across the country. For a varietyof reasons, not least because ofintransigent bureaucratic procedures, wenow have about 145 operational stationslicensed under the policy, of which lessthan a third are those run by NGOs. Thisis indeed cause for cheer when comparedto the time when state-owned All IndiaRadio (AIR) held monopolistic sway overthe airwaves. That the commercialcacophony on the radio dial today oftenmakes you nostalgic for those ‘innocent’days of ‘Bhule Bisre Geet’ 1 and newssanitized for the naïve ears is a differentmatter!

However, contrast the community radioscenario in India with that of Thailand,where there are at least 6000 CR stations(started unlicensed, but now gettinglegalized) or with neighbouring Nepal

with about 200 stations or with Colombia(violence-prone though it is) where thereare close to 1000 stations or with theDemocratic Republic of Congo which hasover 250 community radio stations.According to a 11-nation survey in Africa,community radio grew at an astoundingrate of about 1386 per cent between 2000and 2006. So what is the problem in ademocratic and open society such asIndia? For readers not in the loop on theIndian CR policy, a little bit of history isin order here.

Number of C R Stations

India : 147

Nepal : 200

Thailand : 6000

Columbia : 1000

Democratic Republic : 250of Congo

Brief History

The Supreme Court (SC) of Indiajudgment of 1995 declaring airwaves as‘public property’ to be used for ‘publicgood’ (in a case unrelated to communityradio) set off an almost decade-longcampaign for democratization of theairwaves, in what is certainly the mostsignificant media policy reformmovement driven by the civil society inthe country. While the Bangalore

Declaration of 1996 signed by activists,academics, and advocates of free speechand expression could be seen as the firststatement of intent by the civil society infavour of opening up of the airwaves tocommunities, the Government of Indiawent in a different direction interpretingthe SC judgment, in a somewhat limitedfashion, as having green-signalled de-monopolization of airwaves in favour ofprivate, commercial players. Whatfollowed was the auction of FMfrequencies to commercial bidders andthe inauguration of the second tier ofbroadcasting in India, a process that hasseen the unrestrained growth of this sectorin the last 15 years. In July 2000, anumber of civil society activists,community media practitioners, andacademics met near Hyderabad andpassed the Pastapur Initiative onCommunity Radio (named after thevillage in Medak district of AndhraPradesh where poor, rural women hadbeen eagerly waiting for a license tobroadcast), articulating a systematic case,perhaps for the first time, for the creationof the third-tier of broadcasting in India tobe called ‘community radio’. Universalaccess, diversity, equitable resourceallocation, and empowerment ofhistorically disadvantaged sections ofsociety were the cornerstones of thisdemand. Among other things, thedocument suggested that “priority shouldbe given in issuing of communitybroadcasting licenses to rural areas andother regions and communities that areleast developed in terms of various socio-economic indicators, based on the factthat the least developed regions andcommunities of the country are also leastserved by media.” It was not untilOctober 2008 that the first community-run radio station in the country, SanghamRadio went on air, by which time the doorhad been cracked open by campuscommunity radio stations.

Policy Tangle

Today, many of us who have been part of1 Bhule Bisre Geet - long forgotten songs- a programme dedicated to old Bollywood melodies

3

this movement stand a bit exhausted, witha paradoxical feeling of having trekkedfar, yet seeing a longer, perhaps tougherjourney ahead. The recent arbitrary five-fold hike in the annual spectrum fee2

payable by community radio stations issymptomatic of the twisted and tangledmass (mess?) called CR policy in thecountry. While the Ministry ofInformation & Broadcasting (MIB) is thefront ministry driving the policy, with afairly pro-active approach to issuingpreliminary clearances, there are otherMinistries, some less conspicuous thanothers, which seem to control the pace ofthis process. The Ministry ofCommunications & InformationTechnology holds the reins of spectrumand seems to deploy completelymysterious and mystifying processes toallocate spectrum. A government with anavowed pro-common man orientation hasa Ministry that says the spectrum fee isagnostic of user and purpose. In otherwords, it makes no distinction between anindustrialist whose demands on thespectrum have a purely profit motive andthose of poor Kutchi 3 woman for whomaccess to airwaves is about a choicebetween silence and voice. That theMinistry gave a temporary reprieve lastmonth by holding back the fee at theearlier level only reinforces the image ofan opaque governance mechanism.

The CR Actors

The quantitative comparison I gave at thebeginning of this article was only tohighlight the slow growth of communityradio in India, but numbers alone aresurely not an adequate measure of thequality and vibrancy of the sector.Educational institutions, including privatecolleges for whom commercial gain ismore than a by-product of their primaryactivity, and agricultural universities and

Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs –Agricultural Research Stations) for whoma community radio station is merelyanother tool to further their philosophy ofextension (from the scientist to theignorant farmer) far exceed the number ofcommunity based stations in the countrytoday. From time to time one hears ofstated intentions of state governments andeager district collectors to ‘start’ CRstations. If you add to this mix thepronouncements from time to time byvarious other ministries such asPanchayati Raj, Rural Development, andHealth, one gets a sneaking suspicion ofstate attempts to appropriate and co-opt

CR spaces through the backdoor. A recentErnst & Young report on the FM radiosector in the country offers thepreposterous recommendation thatcorporate organizations must be allowedto set up and run community radiostations as part of their ‘socialresponsibility’ activities. I suppose theadmirable responsibility that thecorporates have been displaying towardsthe development of our tribalcommunities in resource-rich regionsgives us much hope!

Conflict over News

The Ministry of Home Affairs, with itshawkish approach to security matters,

decides that millions of people, for thesole crime of living in so-called ‘troubledareas’ of the country, are deprived of anopportunity to articulate their concerns.Pointing out the anomaly of the entirenortheast region of the country having nomore than two community radio stations,Patricia Mukhim, the editor of ShillongTimes, made the case at a recent CRconference in Delhi that it is precisely insuch areas that people need access todemocratic channels to voice theirconcerns and to mobilize young people towork for peace. Applications for CRlicenses from this region as well as fromthe states of Jharkhand and Chattisgarh,facing Maoist violence, are not getting thegovernment’s nod. One sees a similarattitude towards the demand for the rightto broadcast news on community radio.At the last CR Sammelan, the annual get-together of CR stations organized by theMinistry of Information & Broadcasting,the Minister as well as the Secretaryruled out news on community radio in thenear future. The latter, offered newscontent from All India Radio to CRstations. Remember, this is supposed tobe the much-vaunted third sector,autonomous of the state and the market!

NGO-ization of CR

Even as we hesitantly join in the 10th

anniversary celebrations, one cannot butnotice some of the other aberrations thathave crept into the movement. Ten yearsago, facing a suspicious and reluctantgovernment, the community radiomovement strategically projected theargument for CR within the developmentparadigm, something with which the statecould identify, given its own post-independence history of mobilizing massmedia for ‘national development’. It isincreasingly becoming apparent that thishas become a trap. Well-endowed NGOsand well-meaning donor agencies haveupped the ante for smaller groupsstruggling to put out a few hours oforiginal programming a day. Content isoften closely tied to the programmaticagendas of NGOs, and the imperative of

2 This has been reverted vide Order No-P-11014/03/2012-PP(Pt-II) dated 12.02.20133 Belonging to the region Kutch, Gujarat in western India

Content is of ten closely tied to

the programmatic agendas of

NGOs, and the imperative of

putting together a ‘fixed-point-

chart’ of more and more hours of

daily broadcast forces many

stations to a stultifying adoption

of st andardized genres and

format s.

4

putting together a ‘fixed-point-chart’ ofmore and more hours of daily broadcastforces many stations to a stultifyingadoption of standardized genres andformats. Often this is all done in thename of ‘capacity-building’ workshops.The development of a small core ofprofessionalized station staff tends toalienate the community from the stationand inhibits wider participation,reproducing the same ‘pedagogicalapproach’ to ‘educating the masses’. Thequestion I ask myself these days as Itravel to CR stations in different parts ofthe country is whether the ‘NGO-ization’of community radio is blunting the radicaledge of a people-controlled medium bycompletely depoliticizing issues ofdevelopment and social change. I havelately been arguing for locating thecommunity radio movement, beyond thedevelopment framework, within acommunication rights paradigm.

The Sustainability Conundrum

While no one who has even cursoryknowledge of the working of a CR stationcan deny the critical importance offunding, excessive focus on financialsustainability (through, for example,government advertising) without adequateimmersion in the basic philosophy ofcommunity radio can be hugely self-limiting. The Community Radio Forumof India has built a systematic case forpublic funding of community radio in thecountry through an independentlyadministered Fund on the lines of manyother countries with more robust CRsectors. However, the government isreluctant to go on this path and is insteadformulating a ‘scheme’ to disburse fundsthrough the Ministry of I&B. Everythingdepends on how the scheme isadministered, but there is real danger of itreducing functional and potentialcommunity radio stations into supplicantsfor state largesse (the maa-baap sarkar4).

Community participation, along with agenuine feeling of ownership (notnecessarily in the legal sense), sustainableprogramming and staffing plans, and adiversity of small funding sources (ratherthan one or two ‘big’ funders) are the keyto any independent, effective, andresponsive community radio station.

New Solidarities

Looking back dispassionately at a decadeof community radio in India, one cannotbut get away from the picture of a policyin disarray – bad ideas and half-knowledge driving away good intentions.It is high time we had an integrated policyon community radio, with the governmentspeaking in one voice in favour of thepoor and the deprived getting the right ofaccess to the airwaves, rather thandifferent Ministries speaking in multipletongues and pulling the sector in differentdirections. To the movement itself, Iwould suggest self-reflectively that weneed to build new solidarities with othermovements in the country that arestruggling to secure people’s right to

information, food security, commonproperty resources, and the rights of thosetruly marginalized groups such as thedisabled, dalits and tribals, women andsexual minorities. This resolve, at thebeginning of the second decade ofcommunity radio in the country, may yetlead to genuine democratization of themedia landscape in India.

Vinod Pavarala is Professor ofCommunication and UNESCO Chair onCommunity Media at University ofHyderabad. He has been associated withthe community radio movement for over adecade and was the Founder-President ofthe Community Radio Forum of India.He is the co-author (along with KanchanK. Malik) of Other Voices: the struggle forcommunity radio in India, Sage: 2007).Email: cmchair.uoh@gmail.com

The views expressed in this article are that of

the author. CEMCA/COL does not necessarily

endorse the views expressed by the author in

the Guest Column.

4 Maa-Baap sarkar, literally ‘mother-father government’, is an expression commonly used in northern India,to refer derogatorily to a patron-client relationship between the government and the citizens.

New AppointmentsProf. M. Aslam has joined as Vice Chancellor of theworld’s largest Open University – the Indira GandhiNational Open University (IGNOU). Dr. Aslam isProfessor of Rural Development at the School ofContinuing Education in the University since 1992 andhas served as Director, National Centre for Innovations inDistance Education (NCIDE); Director of the School; andalso as Vice Chancellor of the University from October,

2011 to July, 2012. Dr. Aslam has served as expert consultant to several internationalagencies and as visiting faculty to 16 institutions in India and abroad. Wecongratulate Prof. Aslam for his appointment.

We also congratulate the following Vice Chancellors for their appointment:

• Dr. (Tmt). Chandrakantha Jeyabalan, Tamil Nadu Open University, Chennai• Prof. Vinay Kumar Pathak, Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University, Kota• Prof. M.G. Krishnan, Karnataka State Open University, Mysore• Prof. Subhash Dhuliya, Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani

5

AMARC-WIN Asia Pacific:A journey towards Gender EqualityBy Bianca Miglioretto

Spotlight On...

Twenty three years ago, a group ofwomen at the third AMARC 1 WorldConference in Dublin felt the need topush for stronger and more equalwomen’s participation within theemerging community radio movement.They formed the Women’s InternationalNetwork (WIN) within AMARC. Whatstarted with a group of women atAMARC in 1990 has now developedinto a global network with active sectionsin the Americas, Africa, Europe and AsiaPacific, with its members continuouslyworking towards active participation ofwomen in the structure of AMARC.

AMARC is composed of four regionalchapters, each with its own women’sinternational network. These chapterslikewise have their own board, with oneto two seats reserved for the vicepresident/s of their correspondingwomen’s international network. Havingthese seats reserved for WINrepresentatives ensures that a genderperspective is mainstreamed into theleadership of all regional sections ofAMARC, as well as into its governance atthe global level. This mechanism alsoensures that the stronger participation ofwomen in the community radio sector isincluded in the AMARC agenda.AMARC-WIN Asia Pacific (AP) is theyoungest among the regional AMARC-WIN sections, as it was officiallylaunched at the first AMARC Asia PacificConference in November 2005 in Jakarta,Indonesia. Though women community

radio practitioners in the Asia Pacificregion benefitted from the struggles ledby their sisters in otherparts of the world inearlier years, and whilethey did not have to fightfor their space, therewere no activediscussions as to whythere was a need toorganise women incommunity radio in aseparate network. Therewas also no talk aboutwhy it was necessary toempower women and incorporate agender perspective in community radiostations. Some AMARC members simplydid not understand the rationale behindWIN, but did not dare to question whatwas a standard in other – older –AMARC sections. This glaring realityreflects a need to continuously educatemen and women regarding the importancefor women’s spaces in progressivemovements.

A survey: Where are the womenin community radio in AsiaPacific?

Given the undisputed start of AMARC-WIN Asia Pacific (AP) in November2005 with the support of the AMARCInternational and the AMARC APregional office, the first task was toidentify women in community radio who

were interested in forming the network, asout of the 150 participants of the firstAMARC AP conference only 37 werewomen. In 2006 AMARC-WIN AP, inpartnership with Isis International,conducted a survey among its memberstations and networks on the situation andneeds of women in community radio inthe region. Though responses were notoverwhelming, with only 27 responsesfrom 12 countries, it was an importantstarting point.

Results from the survey show that there isno significant difference in the proportionbetween males and females in terms ofstaffing community radio. However,examining the results with a gender lens,a different picture can be gleaned. Interms of leadership and technicalpositions in radio stations surveyed, it canbe seen that women make up only 28% ofleadership positions. While this iscomparatively better than in mainstreammedia where women occupy only 20% ofleadership positions, it is evident thatwomen continue to be marginalised indecision-making in the community radiosector.

Most important changes thewomen community radiobroadcasters want in their radiostations:

• To increase women’s access toleadership, decision-making andmanagement;1 French acronym for the the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters.

6

• To increase access to all aspects ofradio production, especially technicaltasks; and

• To have more gender-sensitive andfeminist programs and perspectives inthe radio station.

The most important training needsthat the women broadcastersmentioned are:

• Production and technical skillsincluding ICT;

• Gender and feminist perspectives incommunity radio programming;

• Journalistic skills (e.g., interviewing,script writing, anchoring, reporting);and

• Management, administration, sharingof decision-making.

Action Research: Turning theresults of the survey into concreteactions

In December 2007, a meeting of thirtywomen community radio broadcasterstook place during the Global KnowledgeConference in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.This meeting gave birth to the idea ofdeveloping a gender policy forcommunity radio. The meeting, asidefrom having been able to conceptualisesuch an initiative, also empowered

members of WIN AP as they began totake responsibility for WIN Asia Pacific.They actively contributed their ideas,shared their experiences and voiced theiropinions and demands.

On the other hand in response to thetraining needs, Isis International and theAMARC AP regional office worked hardto organise interactive women’s trainingworkshops and has since 2008 organisedfive such workshops in Southeast Asia,and South Asia. The participants weretrainees, resource persons and trainers atthe same time, making use of the skillsand experiences of the different womencommunity radio broadcasters.

GP4CR – Gender Policy forCommunity Radio

The GP4CR contains six sections whichprovide ways and means to achieve the

goal of equal participation of women andmen in community radio. The sections

are: Women’s Access to Airwaves;

Women’s representation on air; SpecialNeeds of Minority Women; Women’s

representation at all levels of station

management; Use of AppropriateTechnology and Funding and Capacity

Building for Women. The GP4CR was

approved by the AMARC InternationalGeneral Assembly in Argentina in 2010. It

has been translated into 23 local

languages by volunteers of AMARC-WIN

Asia Pacific. “In China, there is no

community radio yet but this policy is

very useful for the government radio

stations at national, provincial and local

levels and for the NGOs who broadcast

on the internet. This is why I am happy totranslate it into Chinese.” Cai Yiping

Download the GP4CRhttp://tinyurl.com/c4cucd4

Second AMARC AP conference:A leap forward?

Women’s participation higher by 10 % -ONLY!

While there has been an increase in thenumber of women participating theAMARC AP conference, it has not beenvery significant. From 37 out of 150 in2001 to 88 out of 250 in 2010, there hadonly been a 10% increase in women’sparticipation. Though this is progress thatmust be acknowledged, for me, as theregional WIN Vice-President on theboard, it was a rather disappointing result.

While we have worked hard in ensuringthe equal participation of men and womenin most AMARC AP activities and inseveral other spaces such as the GlobalKnowledge Conference and World SocialForum, and have garnered the support ofthe AMARC Executive Board andregional office, there is still a lot of workto be done.

Challenges for WIN Asia Pacificin the futur e

The last seven years of organising theAMARC-WIN in Asia Pacific haveshown that within the movement there isan aspiration for women’s empowermentin and through community radio.However, much of the time individualradio stations do not give women thesame opportunities to develop as men.Moreover, men in leadership positions areoften unwilling to share their power. They

POSITION TOTAL WOMEN IN% MEN IN%

Overall staff 291 130 45% 161 55%

Leadership positions 75 21 28% 54 72%

Technical Staff 54 15 28% 39 72%

Administrative Staff 61 27 44% 34 56%

Program Producers 108 47 44% 61 56%

Volunteers 316 137 43% 177 57%

Where are women in community radio in Asia Pacific?

7

have not yet realised the great potential ofthe full participation of women and theinclusion of women’s issues in thebroadcast programmes for their station.

Therefore, the implementation of theGender Policy for Community Radio inthe individual stations is of utmostimportance. So far what we have is apromising document but we need todevelop instruments for its concreteimplementation, which include tools forneeds assessment, implementation plansand impact evaluation. Further we need tocontinue the capacity building for womenin radio management because the womenneed to be prepared to take up leadership

Bianca Miglioretto is Vice President AMARC-WIN AP and can be reached atbianca@tinig.ch

positions so that they are able toproactively contribute to the radio station.

More training and exchange in technicalproduction and feminist content

development are requested by WIN

members. Last but not least, we need toinvest more efforts and clear strategies to

the equal participation of women and men

in our movement. Gender equality mustnot remain a goal that we hope to achieve

in the distant future, but should be

something we are practicing Right Now!

CEMCA offers internship to graduate and post-graduate students to gain work experience in the areaof CEMCA’s field of competence and enhance theiracademic knowledge through practical work

Internship Availableassignments. Internships are available for 2-6 sixmonths, and should be part of the learning anddevelopment plan of the candidate. For details visitKnowledge Management page at CEMCA Website.

Gender Policy for CommunityRadio (Excerpts)

Women’s equality and the importantrole of women in every field of humanendeavor have been acknowledged byinternational instruments, nationalconstitutions and societies across theglobe. The rights of all people,regardless of gender, sexuality, race,religion, have been acknowledgedunder the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights. Further, governmentshave acknowledged the rights ofwomen under the Convention for theElimination of all forms ofDiscrimination Against Women(CEDAW)...

1. Access of women in radio waves

2. Representation of women in radiowaves

3. Special representation of minoritywomen

4. Representation if women at alllevels of station management

5. Use of appropriate technology

6. Financing and skill developmentfor women in Radio

Read full document at:http://tinyurl.com/d6asqem

8

Worth While WebWe bring you here useful information and links for community media practitioners.

All the links were active at the time of going to the press.

1. A guide for people interested in presenting on the radio: http://www.radiopresenting.com/

2. Community Radio Toolkit- Supported by OFCOM, UK: http://www.communityradiotoolkit.net/

3. Radio Resources from a Norwegian Government-funded UNICEF project: http://www.unicef.org/magic/resources/radio_resources.html

4. AMARC international NGO serving community radio movement with members and associates in 110 countries:http://www2.amarc.org/

5. Audio content and resource exchange platform - EK duniya anEK awaaz One world, many voices: http://edaa.in/

6. International NGO with a mission is to empower local media worldwide: http://internews.org/

7. I Trainonline: http://www.itrainonline.org/

8. Community radio in India. Sharing capacities. Empowering communities: http://www.communityradioindia.org/

9. A community radio facilitation centre set-up by CEMCA: http://ccfcindia.net

10. Creative commons that include a repository of sites that permit downloads: http://creativecommons.org/videos

11. Technology. Media. Development: http://www.gramvaani.org/

12. Free Music Ar chives: http://freemusicarchive.org/

13. Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/

14. Ideosync Medi Combine - Synchronising communication ideas for development: http://www.ideosyncmedia.org/

15. MARAA - A media and arts collective: http://maraa.in/

16. Manch - A platform that enables community media practitioners across regions to share, collaborate and learnfr om each other: http://manch.net.in/adda/

17. Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) –provides a range of services for community radio:http://www.becil.com/

18. Nomad India - Communication technology services: http://www.nomadindia.net/

9

CEMCA News

Thr ee CommunityRadio ConsultationWorkshopsOrganisedOn behalf of the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting, Govt. ofIndia, CEMCA organised threeconsultation workshops in NorthernIndia to create awareness aboutCommunity Radio (CR). The firstworkshop was held at Orchha, MadhyaPradesh from 26-28 December 2012,the second at Agra, Uttar Pradesh from10-12 January 2013, and the third atDharamashala, Himachal Pradesh from16-18 March 2013.

At each location, about 40 participantsfrom the neighbouring states,comprising potential applicants as wellas Letter of Intent (LOI) holders, mostlyfrom civil society based organisationsand a few educational and agriculturalinstitutions in the regions were invited

to attend the workshops. The statescovered were Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh,Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar andMadhya Pradesh. Over three days,participants interacted with Ministryofficials, CR practitioners and expertsgaining insights of CR policy, licensingprocedures, technical requirements aswell as funding and sustainabilityopportunities for setting up and runninga community radio station. Ademonstration of transmission arrangedby Broadcast Engineers ConsultantsIndia Limited (BECIL) followed upwith a visit to a local CRS - RadioBundelkahnd in Orchha, Aap ki Awaz inAgra and Tashi Delak at Dharamshalagave participants real feel of a CRS inaction. The workshops concluded withover half of the participants giving theirExpression of Interest (EOI) inapplying for a CR licence.

http://tinyurl.com/czhmq9fhttp://tinyurl.com/d7smv4ehttp://tinyurl.com/cqy9r75

Quality Guidelinesfor Open EducationalResourcesExperts from the Asian region discussedand debated the necessity, usefulness, andrelevance of the draft criteria andguidelines for Open EducationalResources (OER) in a three day regionalconsultation workshop held at theMaulana Azad National Urdu University(MANUU) campus at Hyderabad from13-15 March 2013 during the secondWorld Open Education Week (11-15March 2013) which brought togetherparticipants from the CommonwealthAsia, including India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia.The workshop hosted a mix of keynotepresentation, paper presentations andgroup discussions on quality criteria forOER developed and facilitated by Prof.Paul Kawachi, Professor of InstructionalDesign, and Editor of the Asian Journalof Distance Education.

Inaugurating the three day consultationworkshop, Prof. Mohammad Miyan, ViceChancellor of MANUU emphasized theneed for quality learning materials thatare the backbone of distance education.He urged the faculty of MANUU to lookinto the OER movement critically andembrace the best practices. Prof. V.S.Prasad, Guest of Honour, emphasized thatthe quality guidelines should be useful toall the three stakeholders of OER -teachers, students and institutions. Tan SriProf. Gajaraja Dhanarajan, FormerPresident and CEO of the Commonwealthof Learning, delivered the keynoteaddress highlighting the quality concernsin higher education system the worldover. He discussed the quality criteriastipulated by international and regionalagencies, and linked that the quality ofOER should be within the internationalframeworks acceptable to the community.In the inaugural session, Prof. K.R. IqbalAhmed, Director of the Directorate of

10

Distance Education, MANUU welcomedthe guests, while Dr. Sanjaya Mishra,Director, CEMCA proposed a vote ofthanks.

http://tinyurl.com/cmrvh46

ICT integratedTeacher EducationWorkshopWorld Open Education week, March 11-15, 2013 was marked by the opening offirst “ICT Integrated Teacher Education”workshop by Dr.Sanjaya Mishra,Director, CEMCA. Organized inpartnership with DEP-SSA (DistanceEducation Programme- Sarva SikshaAbhiyan), IGNOU and IT for Change atIUC Multimedia Lab at IGNOU, NewDelhi, the workshop focussed ondeveloping ICT skills amongst teachereducators of District Institute ofEducation & Training (DIET) fromnorthern India.

While opening the workshop, Dr. SanjayaMishra, stressed on three aspects - ICTintegration, resource generation andparticipation in Community of Practice(CoP) as a combined strategy fordeveloping a framework for continuousprofessional development of teacher

educators. He also highlightedCommonwealth of Learning (COL)support for creation of strong openeducational resource platform, includingthe Open Resources for English LanguageTeaching.

Elementary Teacher Educators fromHimachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjaband Haryana were welcomed by Prof.C.B. Sharma, DEP-SSA, IGNOU and histeam by inviting them to become MasterTrainers in the pursuit of creating a broadbase of teachers integrating ICT at thedistrict level.

Mr. Vikram Sahay, Joint Secretary, SchoolEducation, MHRD brought the reality ofICT while speaking to the participantsfrom his office via Skype/phone. Anumber of audio, visual and socialsoftwares were demonstrated by theresource persons. The participantspractised andparticipated in theTeacher-Networkforum actively.Seventeen participantsfrom DIETs wereinitiated as MasterTrainers in ICTintegration throughCEMCA Teacher-Network platformdeveloped by

ITforChange with the support ofCEMCA.

http://www.teacher-network.inhttp://tinyurl.com/cmhmalf

Community WomenBroadcasters’ MasterTrainingBuilding capacities of community womenbroadcasters and developing leadershipskills among them was the theme of therecently concluded CEMCA’s CommunityWomen Broadcasters’ Master Trainingheld at Sohna, Haryana from March 6-9,2013.

Six community radio stations (CRS)participated in the event - namely, RadioDhadkan (Shivpuri); Voice of Azamgarh(Azamgarh); CMS Radio (Lucknow);Tashi Delek (Dharamshala); Alfase’Mewat and Radio Mewat (Mewat). Fromeach CRS, a team of three comprising astation representative and two communitywomen were selected for the training.One of the high points of the workshopwas a visit to Alfas e’Mewat CommunityRadio Station on March 08, InternationalWomen’s Day to participate in theircelebrations. One representative fromeach CRS also got an opportunity tospeak before a large communitygathering.

http://tinyurl.com/cxthfom

Participants at the workshop on Quality Guidelines for Open Educational Resources

11

Inaugurating the maiden ICTLeadership in Higher Education eventheld from February 24-26, 2013 atHyderabad, the Honourable Ministerfor Human Resource Development,Government of India, Dr. M.M. PallamRaju called upon the participating ViceChancellors to maximize the use oftechnology to enhance quality ofeducation. He emphasized that ICT is aleveller between rural-urban divide andbetween the poor and the rich. Thechallenge remains in preparing the firstgeneration learners to use technologyoptimally for learning, he added. Theevent was collaboratively organised byCEMCA, Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU), the BritishCouncil in India, and Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University. In hiskeynote address by Prof. ArunNigavekar, set the tone of thediscussions to follow, and highlightedthe range of issues before the seniorleaders in Indian institutions. Whileemphasizing the need for creatingenlightened leaders in Indianuniversities, he emphasized the role ofteachers in the ecosystem of ICTintegration in teaching, learning,

research and administrative activities ofthe university.

The three day meet was attended by 39participants including 20 senior leadersand Vice Chancellors of IndianUniversities. ICT experts from India andabroad, including five experts from theUK participated in the event sharingtheir experiences in various areas of ICTin education, especially in the areas ofICT policy, eLearning strategydevelopment, and use of OpenEducational Resources. Besidesinteracting with the experts based on thepresentations, the participants engagedin peer group discussions to share bestpractices and lessons learnt to outlineactions that should be taken by everyhigher education institutions toeffectively use ICTs in teaching andlearning. The participants also discusseda draft institutional policy on OpenEducational Resources developed byCEMCA and offered comments toimprove the policy template.

http://tinyurl.com/cwlstuv

Institutional OER Policy Template (odt file):http://tinyurl.com/ccvb26d

Open EducationalResources and OpenLicensing Policies inthe Indian ContextIn association with Creative Commons,CEMCA organized a workshop on “OpenEducational Resources and OpenLicensing Policies in the Indian Context”on 22 February 2013 at the IndiaInternational Centre, New Delhi. Mr.Anant Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary,Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment (MHRD), Government ofIndia inaugurated the event, while Dr. P.Prakash, Vice Chancellor, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University was theGuest of honour. Ms. Catherine Casserly,CEO of Creative Commons presided overthe inaugural session. WelcomingCEMCA’s initiative Mr.Singh, who is alsothe Govt of India nominee to theAdvisory Council of CEMCA and focalpoint of COL in India, emphasized thatfrom a philosophical viewpoint, alleducational resources should be availableand accessible to all freely beyondnational boundaries. Dr. Prakashemphasized that improving access toquality learning resources as OERprovides increased opportunities for thelearners to learn from diverse learningmaterials. Ms. Catherine Casserly whilegiving an overview of the importance ofopen licensing emphasized the CreativeCommons approach that reduces the‘permission request’ process to produceeducational materials. Besidespresentation by the Creative Commonsteam to orient about the various types oflicenses, five institutional experiences onuse of OER were also presented by fiveparticipants — National Institute of OpenSchooling (Dr. S.S. Jena, Chairman),Acharya Narendra Dev College (Dr.Savitri Singh, Principal), Indira GandhiNational Open University (Prof. UmaKanjilal), National Programme onTechnology Enhanced Learning (Prof.

Maximize Use of Technology to EnhanceQuality of Education

12

Kushal Sen, IITD), and Pratham Books(Mr. Gautham John). In all 27 participantsfrom different sectors participated in theevent. Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, Director,CEMCA facilitated the discussions andpresentations. During the discussions, Ms.Jessica Coates and Jane Hornibrooks ofCreative Commons team provided answerto different legal questions, andresponded to scenarios presented to them.Participants in the workshoprecommended steps to be taken to OER.

http://tinyurl.com/bldbtbn

Seminar Recommendations at:

http://tinyurl.com/c2vpsd8

Capacity BuildingWorkshop for Vir tualOpen SchoolingA three day Technical workshop wasorganized by National Institute of OpenSchooling (NIOS) with support of

CEMCA at the IUC-TEFED Multimedia Labof the Indira GandhiNational Open University(IGNOU), New Delhifrom 11-13 February,2013. The objective of theworkshop was to sensitizethe academic staff ofNIOS and other StateOpen Schools towards the

use of online technologies and theemerging technologies to be used in theplanned Virtual Open Schooling platform.The feasibility study of Virtual OpenSchooling in India was also released

during the workshop. The feasibilityreport emphasizes integration of existingtechnologies at NIOS and building anopen platform to provide open coursesand didactic learning through a suitable

Learning ManagementSystem (LMS).

Working on therecommendations of thefeasibility report, theworkshop was designed toprovide skill training onthe use of MediaWiki &Moodle LMS availablewith the NIOS. Staff ofNIOS and representativesof State Open Schools(Karnataka, Rajasthan,

Assam, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir,Tamil Nadu, Kerala) participated in theworkshop.

http://tinyurl.com/cv26rzn

Capacity Building forOER-based e-LearningTwenty-seven participants from eightinstitutions in the Asian Commonwealthregion participated in the 1st workshop onOER-based eLearning from 29 January to

1 February 2013 at magnificent 12-storeyAlbukhary tower building of the WawasanOpen University (WOU), Penang,Malaysia. Inaugurating the workshop,Tan Sri Dato’ Professor GajarajaDhanarajan, Chairman, Board ofGovernors of Wawasan Open Universityappreciated the support of CEMCA instrengthening institutional capacities inthe region, and specially thanked forchoosing WOU as the venue for theworkshop.

The workshop facilitated by Dr. SomNaidu, a leading scholar in learningtechnology and distance education,enabled participants to discuss issuessurrounding OER, open licenses, teachingand learning issues, and finding and

13

selecting OERs. Participants throughgroup work developed a set of fivelearning outcomes essential to integrateOER in teaching and learning, especiallyin eLearning scenario. The contentdeveloped shall be used for launching ofthe Online Professional DevelopmentCertificate in OER-based eLearning.

This activity is part of three year plan ofCEMCA to develop institutionalcapacities in the region and assist trainingof 500 teachers in the region to use OER-based eLearning. Besides teachers formWOU, teachers form Allama Iqbal OpenUniversity, Pakistan, Asia eUniversity,Malaysia, Open University of Malaysia,Open University of Sri Lanka, IndiraGandhi National Open University,National Institute of Open Schooling(India) and KK Handique State OpenUniversity, India participated in theworkshop.

During the inaugural session of theworkshop, Vice Chancellor Dato’Professor Ho Chin Chaye (WOU) and Dr.Sanjaya Mishra, Director, CEMCAsigned MoU to continue working in thisarea and release the materials developedas OER. While WOU may develop anonline course for OER-based eLearning,CEMCA will also use the material tolunch an open course for capacitybuilding on a regular interval using anappropriate eLearning platform.

http://tinyurl.com/bsvxq7g

DevelopingSustainable Modelsof Community RadioOne of the biggest challenges facingCommunity Radio Stations (CRS) issustainability. As part of its efforts toencourage good practices in communityradio, CEMCA is working closely withselected CRS to help develop a blueprintfor sustainable CR operation. The firstpart of this activity was initiated with

Radio Deccan, run and operated by AbidAli Trust, Hyderabad from 10-12December 2012. During the workshop,CEMCA along with a mentor consultantMs. Pinky Chandran, from Radio ActiveCRS, conducted a baseline study and heldin-depth discussions with seniormanagement of Radio Deccan, staff andvolunteers. A SWOT (Strengths,Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)analysis was conducted and the teamcame up with both short and long termaction plans to improve all aspects ofsustainability.

http://tinyurl.com/cmwk59j

Scholarship forPGDEL StudentsAs a step towards enhancing theknowledge-base of women teachers,CEMCA has offered ten scholarships byway of reimbursing the fee of PostGraduate Diploma in eLearning (PGDEL)programme of Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University.

The recipients of the Scholarship for 2013are:

1. Dr. Mamta Srivastava, NIOS,Noida.

2. Dr. Sachi Shah, IGNOU, NewDelhi.

3. Dr. Mallika Banerjee, IGNOU,New Delhi.

4. Dr. Lakshmi Gade, Dr.BRAOU,Hyderabad.

5. Dr. Shika Rai, IGNOU, NewDelhi.

6. Dr. Anjuli Suhane, IGNOU, NewDelhi.

7. Dr. S.P.Denisia, AlagappaUniversity, Tamil Nadu.

8. Dr. H.K. Haseena, KuvempuUniversity, Karnataka.

9. Dr. Nisha Jain, NMIMS GlobalAccess, Mumbai.

10. Dr. Manjari Agarwal,Uttarakhand Open University.

CEMCA AwardsMs. Meciya received the CEMCA Awardand certificate of appreciation for havingtopped in BCA Programme of TamilNadu Open University from hisExcellency Dr. K. Rosaiah, Governor ofTamil Nadu in the 6th Convocation heldon March 12, 2013.

Two women students from Tamil NaduTeachers Education University, Chennaireceived CEMCA Award in the 3rd

Convocation of the University held onDecember 30, 2012. Ms. M. Ramya forB.Ed. programme and Ms. S. Kalaiselvifor M.Ed. programme received a cashaward and a certificate of appreciationeach.

Ms. Juliana Binti Ngahdirn receivedCEMCA Award and a certificate ofappreciation for having been adjudged thebest student of Bachelor programme inInformation Technology (Honours) ofOpen University of Malaysia (OUM). Shereceived the Award form the President ofCOL during the convocation of OUM.

14

Case Study

A new bottom-up architecture fordevelopment: Case studies in communityinformaticsBy Anita Gurumurthy, Krittika Vishwanath, Nandini. C and Madhavi Jha

Intr oduction

Unlike the mainstream approach thatviews information and communication

technolgoies (ICTs) only as ‘tools for

development’, at IT for Change (ITfC),we have adopted a different lens. We

believe that the rapid diffusion of ICTs

leads to a coming together of thetechnical and the social in a manner that

is co-constitutive, and fundamentally

transformative of our immediate reality.The very architecture and methodology of

development must therefore adapt itself tothis newly emerging socio-technological

paradigm. It must also recognise the ways

in which the realms of information andcommunication can be altered, allowing

for power shifts in favour of the

marginalised. Hence, we focus on thecontextual embedding of ICTs and the

grounded analysis of the possibilities that

ICTs offer for social change, in a situatedmanner. In other words, we follow a

community informatics approach in our

work, exploring the potential of ICTs fordevelopment interventions, especially in

the areas of governance, gender and

education.

In this paper, we discuss lessons on

developing an appropriate ethos for an

effective community informatics practiceusing of our experiences with three

projects: Mahiti Manthana, Kishori

Chitrapata and Teachers’ Communities of

Learning.

Mahiti Manthana: Communityinformatics for empoweringwomen’s collectives

The Mahiti Manthana1 project is aninitiative of ITfC started n the year 2005

with funding from United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) thatattempts to use a three-pronged ICT

strategy using community radio,community video and telecentres, for

strengthening the empowerment processes

among grassroots women. We work withmembers of women’s collectives (locally

known as sanghas) at the village level,

initiated under the Mahila Samakhya

programme of the Government of India,

in three blocks of Mysore district. Mahila

Samakhya is a pan-Indian governmentalprogramme that works with the aim of

‘education for empowerment’ through a

collectivisation strategy that mainlyfocuses on rural women, especially those

belonging to economically and socially

disadvantaged sections.

So, how have we tried to support the

Mahila Samakhya initiative in a way that

its core objectives are supported by acommunity informatics architecture?

Using ICTs innovatively, we have soughtto:

1. Work with sangha women increating community radioprogrammes and communityvideos, to enhance peer learningprocesses.

2. Enable Mahila Samakhyaprogrammatic staff to harness thepotential of ICTs in strengtheningthe information andcommunication processes betweenstaff and sangha women, andamong sangha women themselves.

3. Support the creation of sanghamanaged ICT enabled informationcentres at the village level to helpsangha women overcome systemicimpediments to the access, use andappropriation of information.

Building a rich informatics culture

While designing Mahiti Manthana,Prakriye2, the field unit of ITfC tried tothink of a strategy that could tackle thedependency of sangha learning processesand mobilisation on the physical presenceof the programmatic staff of MahilaSamakhya. One of the goals of thepartnership was to give impetus to theongoing collectivisation efforts thatencouraged sangha women’s initiative.We felt that this could be developed as aspace for citizenship pedagogy, and as alocal knowledge institution that supportedwomen and the marginalised in thecommunity. This was also in keeping withMahila Samakhya’s own vision. Thecornerstone of our strategy therefore hasbeen in the building of a new culture - arich community informatics culture -based on three digitally enabledcomponents. First is a weekly radiobroadcast that is the sangha women’s ownvoice in the local public sphere, calledKelu Sakhi (Listen, my friend). Thesecond is an on-demand as well as push-based video system for information thatwomen seek to share inspirational1. Mahiti Manthana can be translated as ‘informational churn’.

2. Prakriye, translated as ‘process’, as in innovating new development processes.

15

biographies of sangha women, as well asto open up debates on gender andpatriarchy. The third component is avillage based telecentre model for publicinformation access called the NammaMahiti Kendra (Our Information Centre).It is run by sangha women in selectvillages through a young informationintermediary, sakhi (friend), trained bythe women and the Prakriye team. Thesakhi addresses the information needs ofthe village community and tacklesinstitutional non- transparency andapathy, through a continued dialogue withgovernment departments at the blocklevel.

Project impact: “I have learnt touse computers, handle cameras ...Now I feel I can learn anything Iset my mind to”

Mahiti Manthana has had a significantimpact in the following areas, asconfirmed by a recent evaluation studywe conducted:

1. In the villages where the sanghawomen have taken to discussionsbased on radiobroadcasts and tocollective video-viewing, developing anew culture ofquestioning andseeking informationthrough digitalmeans, a movetowards greatersangha autonomy andlesser dependency ofsanghas for theirinformation needs onthe programmaticstaff of MahilaSamakhya isperceptible.

2. It is evident that access to andeffective use of ICTs, in contextuallymeaningful ways, leads to a greatersense of empowerment. We sawilliterate sangha women grow in theirself esteem through their experiencesof handling ICTs, using digitallearning resources to conductmeetings, and confidently innovatearound peer learning processes,without the presence of externalfacilitators.

3. The Namma Mahiti Kendras (VillageInformation Centres) have beensymbolic of a new equation in thecommunity; they have improvedwomen’s bargaining power in theirvillage communities and enhanced thecommunity standing of sanghas.

4. The proximity of the governancesystem to the sanghas enabled throughthe project and a transformation in thelocal culture towards an entitlements-based access to public informationhas, to some extent, displacedtraditional information gatekeepers.

Challenges and the way ahead

At present, we are trying to hand overtotal ownership of the project componentsto Mahila Samakhya Mysore. This isbound to take time given that MahilaSamakhya, through its own programmeactivities as a funded government project,has multiple priorities. New projects,even with demonstrated long termbenefits, may be caught in the tensionbetween routine implementation and thelearning demands of a shift to newapproaches.

Kishori Chitrapata: Using acommunity informaticsapproach to empower out-of-school adolescent girls

Drawing on our experiences in the MahitiManthana project, ITfC, in partnershipwith Mahila Samakhya Karnataka,UNICEF and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan3,launched the Kishori Chitrapata4 projectin July 2009. The project works witharound 75 adolescent girls in two villagehubs - Attiguppe and Hosavaranchi andthe Mahila Shikshana Kendra (Women’s

Education Centre) inHunsur block of Mysoredistrict in India.

Kishori Chitrapataaddresses the learningneeds of out-of-schooladolescent girls throughinnovative uses ofphotography, video, radioand computingtechnologies. The projecthas adopted a socialconstructivist approach tolearning; and girls areencouraged, individuallyand collectively, toexplore, question andredefine their social and

cultural universe through thesetechnologies.

Taking advantage of the ease of use andsharing enabled by the digital camera and

3. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is a Government of India initiative to universalise elementary education by community- ownership of the school system. It is a response to the demand for quality basic education all over the country.

4. Kishori Chitrapata can be translated as ‘images by adolescent girls’.

16

video technologies, Kishori Chitrapatahas created opportunities among younggirls for creative expression, building aspirit of enquiry and teamwork. Thecurriculum has interwoven social themesand as well as topics for technicallearning.

The pedagogy has been largelyexperimental and experiential, integratingtechnical and social components. Trainingvideos, activities and games havesupplemented theoretical sessions and thishas helped the training to be vibrant andinteresting. The project has been sensitiveto the diverse backgrounds and capacitiesof the adolescent girls, helping them intheir unique journeys of learning and,possibly, empowerment.

The project, through localised examplesto explain technical words, and byallowing the learners to come up withtheir own terminologies, has demystifiedjargon5, ensuring technology does notbecome intimidating. Recognising thesocial risks attached to this age group,

significant trust- building measures weretaken to elicit commitment from theparents of the adolescent girls. Thanks tothe Mahiti Manthana project (discussedearlier), older women belonging to thecollectives of the Mahila Samakhyaprogramme became the support group forthe adolescent girls. Also, video emergedas a subversive technology. Digitallyenabled learning spaces seemed to enjoygreater legitimacy in the eyes of parentsand community members. The girls couldtherefore breach traditional boundaries toexplore new horizons of learning.

Project Impact: “We did not knowour village was so beautiful!”

A key project learning for us was aboutthe amenability of audio-visualtechnology to exploring opinions,capturing ideas and consolidatingconcepts. We realised that an appropriatecurriculum for ‘video-aided learning’ cansupport not just alternative learning andempowerment processes for those who

are pushed out of the mainstreameducation system, but also help them re-integrate into the formal educationsystem.

The project not only created photographicand video resources for learning, but alsohelped adolescent girls acquire newcapabilities to understand and interprettheir environment. Many of them pickedup the confidence to explore their villagefor the very first time, in the process ofseeking suitable photographic locations.The girls began to articulate theiropinions and feelings, renewing theircommitment to learning and developing abetter understanding of themselves andthe community they belong to.

Challenges and the way ahead

As the mobility of adolescent girls ishighly restricted, and their interactionslimited to their own household membersand neighbours, their participation in theproject was not easy. Girls therefore oftendropped out from the training citingreasons like early marriage, intimidationfrom brothers, care-taking responsibilitiesat home and so on. Caste barriers werealso a severe obstacle to building a senseof collective identity among theadolescent girls who participated in theproject.

Teachers’ Communities ofLearning: The importance ofpeer learning networks

Based on previous research6, ITfC, alongwith the Department of State ResearchEducation and Training, (DSERT), PolicyPlanning Unit (PPU)7 and DevelopmentFocus, an NGO in Bengaluru, designedand implemented a ‘Teachers’Communities of Learning’ (TCoL) projectin 20 schools in 3 blocks of Bengalurudistrict, during 2010-11.

This pilot project aimed at creating anonline community of teachers to enablethem to network, share resources, seekassistance and voice their opinions on a

5. Using simple examples to illustrate a technical concept seemed to work. eg: lens is like the eye, frame is like a teviri (the boundary of a field)

6. Computer Learning Programmes in Schools – Moving from BOOT models to an Integrated Approachand Impact Assessment Study on the ‘Regional Resource Centre for Elementary Education’ which areavailable here: http://itforchange.net/BOOT_Integrated and http://itforchange.net/RRCE.

7. Both are part of the Department of Education, Government of Karnataka.

17

range of issues from day-to-day schooltransactions to the education policy. Thepurpose was to establish the advantagesof peer networking over working inisolation. Another objective was to helpteachers understand ways of effectivelyintegrating ICTs into their regularclassroom transactions and enhance thequality of the teaching-learning process,by making the lessons more engaging andconnected to real life. The larger vision ofthe project has been to support theprofessional development of teachers, byhelping them see themselves as activecontributors to the overall renewal of thepublic school system.

The initial set of schools for this pilot waschosen after school visits, a baselineresearch on the availability of computersin the school, as well as the interest ofteachers and the principal to participate inthe project. The programme wasvoluntary (an exception within the publiceducation system, where trainings areoften ‘compulsory’), and teachersparticipated only if they were keen to doso. The officials from the educationdepartment were involved in the designand curriculum of the programme andalso constantly gave their inputsthroughout the project.

Workshops on Maths, Science andLanguage educational tools8 wereconducted for the teachers, andbrainstorming sessions were held to helpthem find ways to integrate these intotheir teaching-learning processes. In theworkshops, conceptual and pedagogicalissues were also discussed. Subjectresource groups were formed from whichsome mentors emerged to support otherteachers in their learning process.Trainings on using email, email lists,blogs and discussion forums fornetworking were also held.

A web-portal and an email list, were

created for the teachers to communicatewith one another. Discussions ondevelopments in the State’s policyframework that would impact theeducational system were also conductedthrough these workshops. Relevantacademic articles on teaching-learningprocesses were read and presented by theteachers. Participatory and dialogiccommunication was encouraged in theseworkshops.

Project impact – “I see ourselvestransformed into a community ofeducators who have takenresponsibility for their ownprofessional development”

The voluntary nature of the projectbrought in interested and committedteachers, who contributed not onlythrough their participation in workshopsand online forums, but also through theirinputs and suggestions towards enhancingthis community of learning. Feedback wastaken at each workshop and implementedas far as possible in the next. Teachersalso asked for a few additional workshopswhich were not part of our initial projectplan; for example, on hardware andtroubleshooting and on using the cameraas a teaching-learning material. Theteachers also started giving us suggestionson the design of workshops, both in termsof curriculum and frequency.

As these workshops were held regularly,teachers started to develop a workingrelationship with one another. Theparticipatory nature of the workshopshelped in creating a tacit norm requiringall teachers to voice their opinions in aprofessional manner. They collaboratedwith one another to create lesson plansand activities, which were also peerreviewed. Such regular interactionpromoted trust, shaping the beginnings of

a sense of community.

Overall, this pilot project not onlyfocussed on building the academic skillsof the teachers by using ICTs, but alsoallowed them to examine the complexityof the education system and their ownposition in it.

Challenges and the way ahead

A significant challenge of this project hasbeen the lack of a culture of ongoingcommunication among governmentschool teachers. It is not enough forteachers to interact only in workshopspaces. Horizontal communication needsto be an everyday affair. Time andresource constraints do not allow forregular physical meetings, and so openingup the digital world offers alternatives forcommunity building.

Many of the teachers did not even havean email id at the beginning of theproject. Although teachers had beentrained extensively on how to email anduse the web-portal, they have not usedthese platforms much. According to them,one of the reasons they do not use theInternet often is because they do not haveaccess to ICT content and applicationsthat are meaningful to them. Sometimes,lack of time is a genuine concern. (Mostof them are women and have multiplework burdens).

Very few of the schools, which were partof the project, have Internet access.Further, the apathy of the publiceducation system towards technology isanother factor that has prevented teachersfrom coming online. Taking into accountsome of these challenges, ITfC iscontinuing this pilot in the existingblocks, bringing in more teachers into the‘community of learning’ and further,building the skills of existing members.

Conclusion

The three projects described here show ushow digital technologies in their socialapplications redefine communities, and

8. The list of public software educational tools are available here: http://public-software.in/PS-educational-tools.

18

open up new pathways in the localdevelopment process. Through acommunity informatics approach, wehave learnt some lessons across theprojects:

1. ICTs facilitate dialogue andhorizontal networking amonggeographically dispersed groups thatshare life experiences, sometimeseven providing the necessaryscaffolding to build a wider socialmovement.

2. Going beyond the written word as theprimary mode of communication,

ICTs bring new voices and visibilities.This not only creates a facilitativeclimate for peer learning processesamong non-literate groups, but alsoopens up spaces for subversion andpolitical action.

3. Sustained engagement with locallymeaningful ICT-enabled practices cansow the seeds for a new form andculture of development. This frontieris emergent and needs to be exploredand understood better.

All the projects also indicate thatcommunity informatics, as a

transformative development methodology,needs to be firmly embedded in acommitment to collectivities and socialjustice.

The team of authors work with IT forChange), an India-based NGO engagedin policy research and advocacy on ICTDand can be reached atitfc@iforhange.net.

Anita Gurumurthy is a founding memberand Executive Director of IT for Change.She can be reacherd at anita@itforchange.net

The theme of COL’s Seventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF7, 2 – 6 December 2013 in Abuja, Nigeria) isOpen Learning for Development: Towards Empowerment and Transformation. PCF7’s co-host, the Federal Ministry of Education,Nigeria, and the lead partner institution, the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) are working to make the conferencefruitful within the context of development in Africa. Abstracts of papers and proposals for various formats of PCF7 participationare invited under one of PCF7’s five themes:

1. Girls’ and Women’s Education

2. Skills Development

3. Promoting Open Educational Resources (OER)

4. Innovation and Technology

5. Institutional Development

Dates to remember

• 30 April 2013 – Deadline for abstracts and proposals

• 31 May 2013 – Notification of acceptance of abstractsproposals with feedback

• 31 July 2013 – Last date for submission of full papers

• 31 August 2013 – Notification of acceptance of fullpapers

Excellence in Distance Education Awards

Continuing the tradition of recognising and honouring excellence in open, distance and technology enhanced education throughawards, during the Seventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF7) four categories of awards designed to recognise excellence will bepresented for recognition: at the institutional level; in the development of learning materials; in student accomplishment; andaward for a lifetime achievement in and contribution to open and distance learning.

http://tinyurl.com/cqfj7hn

PCF7: Empowerment & Transformation

19

Regional Round Up

Celebrating a decadeof Community Radioin India

For the third consecutive year, Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting (MIB),Government of India, brought togetherfunctional community radio stations tomeet, share their experiences and takestock of the progress made. Organized byOneWorld Foundation India on behalf ofMinistry, the three-day meeting wasattended by 118 operational stations, 25GOPA (Grant of Permission Agreement)holders, Government officials,international and national donors, andexperts. A pre-conference high spot was afirst ever Twitter conference held by MIBa day before the event.

In various thematic sessions, participantsdeliberated over issues of communityownership, participatory processes,lessons learnt from the ground, role ofcommunity radio in influencing changefor inclusive growth, self regulation andcode of ethics, resource crunch faced byCRS and technological value to CRS.

The Sammelan (Convention) highlightsincluded presentations by threeinternational community radio experts

from Kenya, Senegal and Phillipines andspecial addresses by high ranking officalsof MIB including Ms.Supriya Sahu, JointSecretary, Mr. Uday Kumar Verma,Secretary, MIB and the honourable

Minster for Informationand Broadcasting Mr.Manish Tiwari, who alsogave away the NationalCommunity Radio Awardsto 10 CRS across fivecategories.

NationalCommunityRadio AwardWinners

Most Creative/ InnovativeProgramme Content Category

1. First Prize: Radio Mewat, Nuh,Haryana Apki Police Apke Sath

2. Second Prize: Radio Benziger,Kollam, Kerala Jana Shabdam

3. Third Prize: SSM CommunityRadio, Namakkal, Tamil NaduThaimaiea Thayangathey

Sustainability Model Category

1. First Prize: Radio Mattoli, Wayanad,Kerala

Thematic Category

1. First Prize: Puduvai Vani,Puducherry Ungalai Thedi

2. Second Prize: Radio Benziger,Kollam, Kerala EnikkumParayanundoru Katha

3. Third Prize: Community Rudi noRadio, Ahmedabad, Gujarat KaagajKamdar

Community EngagementCategory

1. First Prize: Radio Media Village,Kottayam, Kerala Thanal

2. Second Prize: Community Rudi noRadio, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Right toInformation

3. Third Prize: CMS Radio, Lucknow,Uttar Pradesh Janhit Mein Jari –Raushan Hua Jahaan

Promoting Local CultureCategory

1. First Prize: Kisan Vani, Sironj,Madhya Pradesh Hamare Kalakar

2. Second Prize: Neladani CR,Bengaluru, Karnataka Janapadaloka

3. Third Prize: CMS Radio, Lucknow,Uttar Pradesh Community kaKamaal: Ekta - Ramleela

CEMCA congratulates all the awardwinners.

Voices for Changeand Peace: TakingStock of CommunityRadio in South AsiaOver 60 community radio advocates,radio broadcasters, media academics,civil society groups, journalists, socialactivists and government representativesfrom South Asia (India, Bangladesh,Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan)gathered in Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU) Campus, New Delhifrom 17-18 January 2013 to articulateand review media mechanisms to promotea just and humane world throughcommunications and specifically throughcommunity radio (CR). The deliberationswere organized by AMARC Asia Pacificand the UNESCO Chair on CommunityMedia (University of Hyderabad) incollaboration with UNESCO,International Media Support, Community

20

Radio Forum of India and the IndianAcademy of Self Employed Women.

The group articulated several concernsthat make the emergence and sustenanceof a third-tier of community broadcasting(apart from public and commercialsectors) in the South Asian region achallenging task. Problems such asrestrictive policy frameworks, inadequateallocation of spectrum for communities,and the lack of a sustainable supportsystem are among the issues that need tobe addressed urgently for genuinedemocratization of media spaces in SouthAsia. Apprehensions over security arisingout of the activities of a variety of non-state actors in South Asia have alsocontributed to a somewhat hesitantopening up of airwaves in certain areas.

The two-day seminar took stock of SouthAsian experiences with community radio,including the strong potential of themedium for social change and promotionof peace in the region. After intensedeliberations, the group formalized fourcritical areas for reform. These includedpolicy, sustainability, technology, andknowledge & capacity-sharing an cameup with detailed recommendations in theareas o Policy, Sustainability, Technology;and Knowledge and Capacity sharing forCommunity Radio Stations. Dr. SanjayaMishra, Director (CEMCA) made a briefpresentation in the seminar andemphasised the need for clear policyformulation and development of self-regulatory frameworks for CR.

Source: Unpublished Seminar Report

Regulation andLicensing in theInternationalPerspectivesA one day international consultation on“Regulation and Licensing: International

Perspectives” was organised on February8, 2013, supported by Ford Foundation.The consultation provided an opportunityto look at legislations and practices fromvarious countries and deliberated on waysto incorporate the better ones into India’scommunity radio regulatory framework.Presided over by Ms.Supriya Sahu, Joint

Secretary (MIB) the consultation broughtthree international experts - Grace

Githagia who is closely associated with

the media, empowerment and democracyin East Africa (MEDIEA) research

programme, Alymana Bathily with over

17 years of experience in the field ofmedia and communication, and Lucio

Tabing, author of UNESCO’s How to do

Community Radio, besides several otherpublications. The experts shared their

experiences about the regulation and

licensing in community radio in theircountries. Dr. Ravina Aggarwal provided

the perspectives of Ford Foundation’s

engagement in this domain from anFreedom of Expression and Rights

Perspective. The recommendations fromthe consultation also fed into thedeliberations of the Third CommunityRadio Sammelan held at New Delhi fromFebruary 9-11, 2013.

Two New CommunityRadio Stations comeup in BangladeshBangladesh has granted licences to twomore stations located in the cycloneprone remote Char Island coastal region,bringing the total number of communityradios stations in the country to sixteen.Coastal Association for SocialTransformation Trust (COAST) at Bhola(http://www.coastbd.org) and DwipUnnauan Songstha ( DUS) at Hatia(http://dusbagladesh.org) have beengranted approval as a specialconsideration to disseminate informationand education to enhance people’s skillto combat disasters. DUS has alsoreceived funding support from JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Besides India, Bangladesh is the onlyother country in the region to have aformal community radio policy. Whenthe policy was first announced in the year2008, around 450 interested organisationscame forward, of which about 178actually submitted their applications.However, only fourteen licences weregranted at tht time. With COAST andDUS joining in, the number of CRS inBangladesh stands at sixteen, as of now.

Reviving the Spirit of Community Radio inSri LankaSri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF) and its apex body – Sri LankaCommunity Radio Forum (SLCRF) are organizing three-day national conference onthe role of broadcasting on democratization in August, 2013. The thrust of thediscussion is around media policy reforms.

Even though there were many successful examples of community basedprogramming, that was aired on the public radio - Sri Lankan BroadcastingCorporation (SLBC) in the 80s and the 90s, currently there is not much activity .While the commercial FM broadcasting sector has grown, community radio is yet totake root. Currently there is no policy for CR and SDJF expects over a hundredmedia practitioners and stake-holders to participate in the forum and raise thedemand for community radio as a way to heal the post conflict nation. Furtherupdates on the event can be obtained from the website http://www.idjf.org

Inputs from M.C. Rasmin, CEO/Director, SDJF

21

Book Reviews

Open Universities: India’s Answers toChallenges in Higher Education

By Nayantara Padhi

Open University system can be considered now as one of thegreatest educational achievements of the 20th century and themost suited educational system for the post-modern society.Open Universities (OUs) have the potential to provide highereducation to the masses through the wide choice of disciplinesthey offer. With an emphasis on use of technology, self-learningmaterials in multi-media formats and flexibility with regard toentry and exit, age and combination of subjects, they arecertainly the solution to challenges faced in the educationalsector today.

In this book, the growth of OUs in India over the past threedecades has been presented. It has explored the quantum andquality of contribution made by the Indian OUs in increasing theenrolment ratio, providing flexibility and variety in courseselection and professional development and the measures neededto consolidate and strengthen the system have been discussed. Itconsists of seven chapters. Chapter One gives an in-depthinsight into the historical developments of OUs across the globe.The evolution of Indian OUs has been presented in the light ofinitiatives taken by Government of India till late 2011. ChapterTwo is the best outcome of the research carried out by the author.It gives the complete statistical figures of Indian OUs in terms oftotal enrolment in higher education: in conventional and OUs,growth of enrolment in OUs from 1983 to 2010, profile oflearners in OUs, number of academic programmes offered byOUs, state wise enrolment of OUs, pattern of enrolment, totalnumber of degrees awarded by OUs. This chapter gives newdirections for research in OUs. Chapter Three covers the deliveryof programmes and the process of evaluation in OUs. It has alsoprovided the Distance Education Council (DEC) norms fordelivering programmes and courses through distance mode. It hashighlighted the importance of two-way communication in openand distance learning (ODL) and role of information andcommunication technology (ICT) in effective delivery of the

Srivastava, Manjulika (2012), Open Universities: India’s Answers to Challenges inHigher Education, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, ISBN : 978-93-259-5985-9.

programmes. ChapterFour gives thefinancing and fundingpatterns of OUs inIndia. It has covered various schemes and practices that areavailable for OUs. Chapter Five presents a quite unexplored areain Indian OUs i.e. research. It has covered areas like projectsundertaken, doctoral theses, publications etc. It provides aninsight into the possible avenues for research in ODL. ChapterSix analyses a very critical component of higher education i.e.assessment and accreditation of ODL system followed worldwide. In Indian context, it has discussed the role of DEC inassessment and accreditation of Indian OUs. The outcome of theentire research work carried out by the author is presented in theChapter Seven. It gives the vision, strategy and the new Modelsfor OUs.

To conclude, this book follows a systematic approach in terms ofall the vital facets of OUs. This book will be of great use to thepolicymakers and researchers in the area of ODL due to thefollowing uniqueness:

• Delineates how distance learning system can be thepanacea for India’s educational deficiencies;

• Explains how this system can leverage its inherentflexibility and technology to address the challengesfaced by the education sector;

• Examines the system’s ability to reach the masses; and

• Draws a roadmap for the future strategy of openuniversities.

Nayantara Padhi is Assistant Professor of Management atIGNOU, New Delhi, India, email: nayantara@ignou.ac.in.

22

By Kanchan K. Malik

Janey Gordon has put together abook with in-depth write-ups byacademics and practitioners ofcommunity radio who have spentsignificant chunks of their lives asactivists pursuing their commonpassion for ‘this third tier ofbroadcasting, which is neithercommercial nor state run.’

Janey Gordon was herself aprofessional broadcaster with theBBC before she took up teaching and research in areas ofcommunity radio, mobile phones and media pedagogy at theUniversity of Bedfordshire. She also manages the University’scommunity radio station – Radio LaB 97.1fm. Incidentally, theUniversity of Bedfordshire is hosting the international radioevent of the year – The Radio Conference ‘for all radio thinkersand doers’ – Radio 2013.

The three sections of the book present international perspectiveson history, theory and practice of community radio around theworld.

The first set of articles map the histories of the ferment forcommunity radio legislation in countries such as the UK, the US,Philippines, Uruguay and Bangladesh. Peter Lewis navigates thereader through the vicious circle of obstacles that the campaignin the UK, carried on over a quarter of a century, had toovercome before community radio was provided legitimacy in2002. Brandy Doyle accounts how it took a hula hoop event withsigns that read ‘Community radio now!’ to finally take on thecommercial radio lobby in the US and push for low-poweredcommunity radio.

Philippines is a unique case where community radio is treated asa commercial enterprise, writes Lisa Brooten and vividlydescribes the threats faced by community stations in a countryknown to have pioneered community radio development inSoutheast Asia. Evan Light narrates how community radio is nolonger a clandestine activity in Uruguay and is increasinglyvisible and vocal. Shameem Reza takes us through the debatesamong CR lobbyists calling for revisions in the community radio

policy which was passed by the government of Bangladesh in2008.

The final chapter in section one of the book is written by JaneyGordon in which she argues that members of the public areutilising community radio and other new media technologies suchas mobile telephony to reclaim the electromagnetic spectrum forpublic good and seeking to promote civic engagement, debate,activism and sharing of cultural products.

The second section of the book explores the theoretical contextswhich render community radio and its role amenable to analysis.The authors Kerrie Foxwell, Donald Browne, Susan Forde &Michael Meadows, Nick Rubin, and Michael Hunts-bergerproblematize concepts such as ‘community mass media’,‘community’, ‘citizens’, ‘music-based alternative media’ and‘public service’ and theorize about their applicability in thediscursive construction of community radio.

The authors in the concluding section dwell on the practice ofCommunity Radio and present some insightful case studies fromacross the globe. Mary Traynor focuses on the tenability andsustainability of community radio in Laos and China where ‘theimperatives of government are not democratic’. The possibleconsequences of the much debated Hungarian media legislationof 2011 for community radio in the country are featured in thechapter by Gabriella Velics.

Kennedy Javuru analyses community radio in three East Africancoun-tries: Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania by asking a rhetoricalquestion: For or By the Community? The case study from SouthAfrica by Last Moyo outlines the important role community radioplays in cultural citizenship of ethnic minorities.

Caroline Mitchell’s chapter on capacity building for communityradio and the chapter on audience analysis by Emma Ward, TomBuckham and Lawrie Hallett provide examples of newapproaches and methods that may be adopted by communityradio stations for greater community connectedness. In theconcluding chapter of the book, Janey Gordon discusseseducational stations which cater to listeners wider than thestudents on their own campuses.

This book of edited chapters celebrates the emergence andexpansion of community radio globally as a medium that has thepotential to invigorate communities and promote democracy by‘providing social capital, social worth and ultimately social gainto that community’. The book also documents issues that haveproved to be contentious in the growth of community radio sectorand must be addressed. Although there is no chapter that directlydeals with the Indian scenario or case study, but there is a lot tobe learnt from the richness and diversity of experiences,examples and discourses on community radio contained in thebook.

Kanchan Malik is Associate Professor of Communication,Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad. Shecan be reached at kanchank.malik@gmail.com

Community Radio in the TwentyFirst Century

Janey Gordon (Ed) (2012). Community Radio in the Twenty-First Century, Published Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlagder Wissenschaften. ISBN-10: 3034307284, ISBN-13: 978-3034307284

23

Forthcoming Events

The Unisa CambridgeInternational Conference onOpen and Distance eLearning2013

The University of South Africa inassociation with Cambridge DistanceEducation and the Commonwealth ofLearning presents The Unisa CambridgeInternational Conference on Open andDistance and eLearning from 30September - 3 October 2013 - SpierEstate - Cape Town - South Africa.

For more information, contact:

Genevieve JamesTel: +27124296948Email: pdrconf@gmail.comWeb site: http://www.unisa.ac.za/ODeL2013/index.html

25th ICDE World Conference inChina

The 25th ICDE World Conference will behosted by Tianjin Open University, China,on 16-18 October 2013.

Conference Theme: New Strategies forGlobal Open, Flexible and DistanceLearning

For more information, contact:

The 25th ICDE World ConferenceOrganizing CommitteeTianjin Open UniversityNo.1 Yingshui Road, Nankai District,Tianjin 300191, P.R. ChinaTel: +86 22 23679937Fax: +86 22 23678502Email: icde@tjrtvu.edu.cn

27th Annual Conference of theAsian Association of OpenUniversities

Conference Theme:Leveraging the Power ofOpen and DistanceEducation for Building aDivergent World -Today’s Solutions andTomorrow’s Vision

01-03 October 2013, Islamabad, Pakistan.

For more information, contact:

AAOU 2013 Conference SecretariatRoom-8, Block-7,Allama Iqbal Open University,Islamabad, Pakistan.Email:aaou2013@aiou.edu.pkWeb site: http://overseas.aiou.edu.pk/aaou.asp

63rd Annual Conference ofInternational Council forEducation Media

ICEM 2013 1-4 October 2013, NanyangTechnological University, Singapore

Organized by the Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity, in collaboration with theInternational Council for EducationalMedia, the conference theme ‘we-Learning: Content, Community andCollaboration’ recognises the pervasiveand rapid changes post the advent of Web2.0 that are taking place in education andsociety and having a profound impact onboth . It explores the paradigm shift frome-Learning to we-Learning and the broadconsequences for education in a changedworld. The 8th International LAMS(Learning Activity Management System)and Learning Design conference will alsobe held as part of ICEM 2013.

For more information:

Website: http://icem2013.ntu.edu.sg/

ISSN 0972-284X

is normally published quarterly by

Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for

Asia (CEMCA).

CEMCA, a regional centre of the

Commonwealth of Learning (COL)Vancouver, Canada, is an international agency.

CEMCA’s mission is to promote themeaningful, relevant and appropriate use of

ICTs to serve the educational and training needsof Commonwealth member states of Asia. For

more information,

visit us at:

13/14, Sarv Priya Vihar

New Delhi 110 016 India

please call us at:

0091 11 2653 71460091 11 2653 71480091 11 2651 6681

Our Fax No. is

0091 11 2653 7147or visit our website:

http://www.cemca.org.ine-mail: admin[at]cemca[dot]org

Editor -in-ChiefSanjaya Mishra, PhD

Editorial CoordinationRukmini Vemraju

Nutan Bharati

LayoutSabyasachi Panja

Printed and Published byR. Thyagarajan

For and on behalf of CEMCA

Printed atAnil Offset & Packaging

New Delhi

You are welcome to reproduce or translate anymaterial in this newsletter. Please credit us

appropriately and send a copy of thereproduced material for our information. Theviews expressed in the articles are those of the

authors and not necessarily that of thepublisher. Products mentioned in the newsletter

are only for information and do not meanendorsement by CEMCA or COL.

24

Partner’s Page

Making Radio Lively - Mann Deshi TarangVahiniBy Chetna Sinha and Shivaji Yadav

Mann Deshi TarangVahini (MDTV) gottheir community radiolicense in 2009 andstarted broadcast in May2010 with aprogrammatic focus infour areas – women,children, farmers andhealth. The radio teamhad limited training inbroadcasting and mostof the programmes werein the form of interviewsand narrations. Thechallenge before the radio team was tomake the programmes more varied,interesting and participatory by involvingthe community.

Today three years down the line, MDTVhas set-up a radio club with teachers,students, women, farmers and others whocontribute to programmes; increased itslistener base through outreach activitiesand broadcasts a wide variety ofinteresting programmes.

A New Appr oach to ContentDevelopment

Partnership with CEMCA was turningpoint for MDTV that breathed life intothe radio programmes. In the first trainingworkshop held by CEMCA in August2011, the MDTV radio team got its firstexposure to making programmes in asystematic and collaborative way thatwould enable communities to use radiofor their own learning and development.For the first time, the radio team workedtogether with women from thecommunity, local health workers, doctors

and other experts to identify local healthissues and explored how to developcontent for a learning programme and addvalue to the learning with outreachactivities.

Exploring Programme Formats

CEMCA’s content development trainingwas followed up with production trainingwhere trainers from two operatingcommunity radio stations in Maharashtra– FTII CRS and Vasundhara Vahini fromBaramati, provided a week-long hands-ontraining to the radio team and communitywomen on making programmes indifferent formats and combining theminterestingly into a magazine format.

A Series of 70 Programmes forBetter Health

Armed with training inputs fromCEMCA, MDTV developed a series of70 learning programmes on various healthissues that were identified collectively bythe team that included safe drinkingwater; healthy and balanced diets, special

diets for pregnant women, cleanliness andgeneral hygiene, common infections anddiseases, tuberculosis among others. Thebasic approach imparted by CEMCAtraining was used in developingprogramme content by asking a set ofquestions:

• What is the problem?(collaboratively identifying an issueof local concern)

• What is causing the problem(identifying negative behaviourassociated with the problem)

• What are the consequences (Listingthe negative behaviours associatedwith the problem)

• What should people do about it(positive behaviour that isadvocated)

• What would be the results of it?(communicating positive benefitsform such actions)

Doctors, nurses, health workers from thelocal health centres, teachers as well asschool children contributed both toprogramme content and outreachactivities like essay competitions inschools, poster exhibitions and publicdiscussions and talks.

A small feedback study conducted amonglisteners and stake-holders revealed thehigh level of interest and listenership inthe community.

Into its third year of broadcasting MDTVhas indeed come a long way both in termsof its programme quantity and quality .MDTV gratefully acknowledge thecontribution made by CEMCA in makingMDTV community radio vibrant andlively.

Chetna Sinha-Founder, Mann DeshiTarang Vahini and cab be reached atchetnavsinha@gmail.com

Shivaji Yadav-Station Manager, MannDeshi Tarang Vahini and can be reachedat shivajiyadav49@gmail.com