Mr Theodore Asampong
The General Manager of Media Platforms at SES Video, Theodore Asampong, has said that organisers of the Joy Learning are considering extending the programme to distance learning faculties as there are foundations in place for it with its satellite capabilities.
This is to ensure that the distance learning faculty will be able to benefit from the programme in the near future.
This follows the success of the ongoing Joy Learning programme for students in the senior secondary school.
In an interview with the Daily Statesman, Mr Asampong said that the programme was part of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to help address some of the challenges which accompanied the government’s Free Senior High School policy which was introduced in 2017.
The initiative he explained was undertaken by the Multimedia Group (MGL) through its Educare Foundation, in partnership with e-learning platform Wolo TV; service provider K-Net; and SES.
“The programme is funded by all the partners who provide the various services to make this initiative possible. SES provides the satellite capacity and broadcast services; K-Net provides local backhaul and teleport services; Wolo creates and supplies the educational content; and MGL runs the channel,” he indicated.
COVID-19 and education
Mr Asampong noted that even though the programme was already live on the Multimedia Group channels before the pandemic, COVID-19 and its effect on the economy including education meant that students across the West African sub-region will benefit from the initiative and not just Ghanaian students.
He expressed satisfaction that there has been massive positive responses about the programme following a survey about the initiative.
“The channel was also awarded an EMY Salute, recognising its exceptional contribution to providing quality content and learning resources to high school students across the country and neighboring countries amid the COVID-19 crisis,” he said.
He was however unsure of the duration for which an assessment will be made on the impact of Joy Learning in education.
“Due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on normal school processes, such as assessment times, it is difficult to say. Normally a full school year would have been a reasonable amount of time to assess if the channel is assisting learners in the way it was intended to,” Mr Asampong said.
About Joy Learning/SES
The Joy Learning channel paves the way for students at home to keep up with their studies by broadcasting well-organised, world-class educational content that they can access for free on a daily basis, no matter where they are in the country.
The Joy Learning channel’s wide reach is driven by SES’s prime orbital position at 28.2 degrees East, which reaches 97% of all satellite TV homes in Ghana. From that orbital slot, SES hosts Multi TV, a Free-to-Air platform that provides viewers free access to over 100 TV channels of high quality content, including the Joy Learning channel while giving broadcasters access to the highest reach in West Africa.
SES is the world’s leader in content connectivity solutions and the only company operating over 70 satellites in two different orbits which allows for the delivery of content and connectivity to billions of people through their customers.
Under its video business, the company is supporting Ghana with its Digital Switchover programme and is Ghana’s partner of choice for digital terrestrial television.
Source: dailystatesman.com.gh/Isabella Agyakwa
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