Both the delivery and content of education in Barbados could soon be significantly transformed.

This is as a result of a recent initiative implemented by several agencies engaged in the preparation of products for public education, information and entertainment, including the Media Resource Department, which have undertaken to work closely together to increase the volume of locally produced programmes and disseminate these materials.??

The consensus emerged from a Media Symposium held at the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development’s Media Resource Department, last month.

According to Acting Chief Media Resource Officer, Walter Harper, "the rationale underlying this initiative is to make media output more relevant to the Barbadian experience in all aspects, including culture."?? He pointed out that the goal of increasing the local component of programmes for educational information as well as entertainment would be achieved via the use of the internet, radio and television.

Stating that the Media Resource Department had conceptualised the Public Broadcast Service for Education to enhance the delivery of education, the Acting Chief Media Resource Officer noted that this system would make education available to children on a continuous basis, beyond the classroom.?? "It would also create a more level playing field in access to education, helping to make [it] more accessible to those children who are disadvantaged," he outlined.

Mr. Harper also stressed the benefits to be derived from a collaborative approach to the production and distribution of information and educational material.?? "High among the benefits would be monetary savings, material and time. There is also a need for more indigenous material to be produced and disseminated by both public and private media," he stated.

The senior official added that the agencies represented would be issuing a document shortly which would "speak to strategies to be employed in establishing a working relationship".

aalleyne@barbados.gov.bb

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