DidikTV to fill education gaps

PETALING JAYA: The all-day educational television channel DidikTV Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) will help ensure more students who cannot resume face-to-face learning can keep up with their studies, says the Prime Minister.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said this is especially necessary for students who do not have access to the Internet or possess electronic gadgets to use for learning.

He added that the government understands that online home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) could not reach every one of Malaysia’s 5,000,000 school students in the short time since it was introduced on March 18,2020.

“The Education Ministry always emphasises that whatever teaching and learning method used must be suitable for teachers and students, ” he said when launching DidikTV KPM yesterday.

Muhyiddin said this is the first time a channel is being dedicated to educational content in Malaysia and is among the ministry’s efforts to increase access to quality educational content for all students.

“I believe that DidikTV KPM will help students with their PdPR, especially those who do not have access to online PdPR, ” he added.

He said that the content is based on the Education Ministry’s curriculum and co-curriculum.

“This channel will also broadcast news about the education world from preschool until Form Six, and edutainment, ” he said, adding that there would also be lifelong learning programmes that emphasise character development and moral values.

Separately, Education Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said DidikTV differs from the previous TV Pendidikan, totalling 11 hours of content on different channels, in that it is now 17 hours in one dedicated channel, aired on ntv7 from 7am to midnight.

Previously TV Pendidikan was broadcast on TV Okey RTM, Tutor TV Astro and DidikTV@ntv7.

Top teachers will be delivering the content to the students, said Radzi, adding that right now, with the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2020 looming next week, they are focusing more on programmes to prepare the candidates for the examinations.

He also said the ministry decided to create a dedicated television channel with educational content based on the positive feedback on its Road To SPM 2020 programme, which catered for SPM 2020 candidates.

Based on available data, about 95% of Malaysian households have a television set, making this a suitable medium to deliver PdPR to everyone, he said in an interview with TV3 yesterday.

“The content is not limited to the national curriculum or co-curriculum, ” he said, adding that there will be programmes to build character, improve general knowledge, and showcase students’ talents.

Radzi also said that the ministry will be monitoring feedback on the programmes to identify areas that need to be improved.