History of ETV

     The E-Media Program produces educational television (ETV ) programs for classroom learning. To date it has 10 shows on various academic subjects. Selected episodes are available in DVD format and are widely used as reference materials in thousands of public elementary schools. For better utilization, trainings for teachers are conducted regularly.

History at a glance

     In the early 90’s the Department of Education then known as DECS ( Department of Education Culture and Sports) faced the problem of a massive shortage of textbooks. It was around the same time that the Philippines was consistently ranking as among the lowest in science and math in international tests for elementary grades. The poor performance of students was linked to the lack of basic infrastructures for education.

     The concept of educational television ( ETV ) was seen as an alternative tool that can address the insufficiency in educational materials . The idea was to use the television as a medium to make academic-based and supplementary audio visual references available to public schools. Programs such as Sinekwela and Math Tinik were broadcasted during class hours to provide teachers the needed visual aids to help her better explain the lessons in class. The schedule of the episodes’ airing were based on the calendar and curriculum of the Department of Education. ETV leveled the field by making the same program accessible to any school, even to the remotest and poorest school in the archipelago.

Episodes on Video

     The first compilation of ETV programs on video was released in 1996. It came in VHS format. A total of 22 volumes ( 66) episodes of Sineskwela, Mathinik , Bayani and Hirayamanawari comprised the first Educational Television Video Library. The package was launched in response to numerous requests of teachers and school heads for the ETV programs to be available on a per need basis. It gave them the opportunity to use the materials for review or advance classes. It also addressed the problem of schools with two sessions per day, the afternoon sessions being unable to watch the ETV programs as these aired in the morning. The second series of ETV Video was launched in mid 1997 with a total of 56 volumes. The new series included volumes on the English Literacy show EPOL/APPLE. In 2000, the third series offered the BASIC PACKAGE and a COMPREHENSIVE PACKAGE. The first had 70 volumes while the later had 120 volumes.

The age of DVD

     In keeping up with the advancement in technology, ETV launched its first DVD compilation in 2004 . The collection comprised of 108 volumes with 432 episodes. Aside from the five ETV shows features in the previous compilation, it included episodes of Pahina , a show on Philippine literature for High School students. A new series will be launched on the last quarter of 2007. A total of 460 episodes comprised the collection.