Students from Primary 3 to Form 3 are provided with a 15-minute educational television program each week for each subject. There are many ways of presentation, such as family role playing, demonstrations of experiments and dialogues in the programs.

ETV was first introduced in September 1971. It is now 25 years old. The programs are jointly produced by the Education Department and Radio Television Hong Kong.

According to the Education Department, the objective of educational television is to complement and supplement daily classroom teaching. It also aims at providing valuable in-service training for under-qualified teachers. ETV is a combination of instruction and entertainment, and is a service to both teachers and students.

Some teachers think ETV can demonstrate what cannot be shown in classrooms.

“Textbooks can hardly depict country parks, but the ETV programs can bring them into the classroom,” said Miss Lam Ying Sheung, a science teacher at Steward’s Pooi Yin Primary School.

Mrs. Ho Yuk Chun, a health education teacher at Sha Tin Methodist Primary School, sees value in role playing. She says as the ETV characters’ behaviours resemble students’ behaviours, so topics like manners can be taught with the assistance of these programs.

Apart from these advantages, Mr. Chan Poon Shek of Buddhist Lau Tin Sang Primary School added that the programs, together with schooling, can increase students’ understanding of some topics.

On the other hand, some teachers say they have not used ETV because of their packed syllabuses. Among them is Miss Au Sui Mei, a Chinese language teacher at a secondary school.

“We can cover what the programs say. There is no need to watch them unless we don’t want to give lessons,” said she.

Moreover, the content of educational television programs has received much criticism from students and teachers.

Mr. Cheng Sze Man, a member of the mathematics panel at Law Ting Pong Secondary School, said that some of the contents are outdated.

Po Yan King, a pupil at Y.P.I.C.A. Memorial Primary School, said the programs underestimate their knowledge levels.

He suggests the contents of the programs should be upgraded. “More current affairs should be included,” he said.

The Education Department claims that the program content comes mainly from syllabuses which are designed by the Education Television Programmes Committee. This committee is comprised of teachers, lecturers at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, inspectors of schools, curriculum officers and producers.

According to Mr. Lo Heung Man, principal curriculum officer, all programs for a form will be renewed each year.

“On average, a set of programs will endure a cycle of 7 years,” he said.

Besides, each year a sum of money will be spent on revising factual information in other programs.

Once the program ideas are conceived, refined and made into outline scripts, the theme and style of the programs are translated into a finished television program.

In order to break the monotony of classroom teaching, the producers employ music, drama, jokes, cartoons, poems and documentaries.

Mrs. Wong Kwok Pui Hing, a mathematics teacher at Camel School, said the programs should be produced in a way to match students’ lives so as to increase their familiarity with the programs.

But Miss Au said that the actors are not dramatic enough and the dialogue is boring.

However, Mr. Kan Yan Man, acting senior producer for mathematics, said the production is aimed at education. It cannot be over-directed by students’ interests.

“We cannot offer programs that are similar to those of the commercial stations,” he said.

Mr. Kan said it is difficult to satisfy all members of the audience. He remembered once a mathematics producer wanted to make the program more interesting. He used some jokes about a wise guy and a foolish guy. The slow-witted one was depicted as having difficulty in talking.

Afterwards, the producer received a complaint from a teacher who claimed the portrayal of the foolish guy might hurt students with similar problems. Moreover, Mr. Kan said, not all material can be made interesting.

Dr. Chow Hon Kwong, a lecturer in the Department of Education at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said more effort should be put into design and ideas.

“There will be a greater effect if the producers can improve the ways of presentation. But I know that the producers lack resources to do this job,” he said.

His argument is supported by Mr. Kan. He said the budget of a program is approximately $10,000. “This $10,000 includes fees for decoration, actors and instruments,” he said.

Mr. Kan estimated that employment of five actors for a program will cost $7,500. “There is not much left for other expenses,” he said.

Moreover, he says the workload is quite heavy for the producers. Programs for each subject are produced by three producers only.

The cost of production is increasing as well. “It is more difficult to rent places for production,” said Mr. Kan.

“Previously, the location for production was often provided on a voluntary basis, but free areas cannot be easily obtained now,” he said.

February 1996