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Zee to launch education channel for rural children

In a move that is seen as part philanthropy and part expansion of its market potential, the Zee group is launching a television programme to impart primary education to children in 10,000 villages in northern India. The programme, to be launched in April next year by Zee’s Essel group in association with Taleem Research Foundation, Ahmedabad, would provide a daily one-hour, syllabus-based classroom television viewing for children in villages without media access.

It would be launched initially in Uttar Pradesh and later expanded to cover other states in association with non-governmental organisations, government and industry. Designed by a team of teachers, child psychiatrists and television experts, the programmes will be of high quality, child-centered and activity-based.

"If we succeed, the cost of teaching a single child, after providing a free television set with a free battery, will be less than Rs. 100 per year per student," Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra told a global investors’ meet, organised by the Karnataka government in Bangalore.
Speaking at the session on Perspectives, Chandra told the gathering of Indian and foreign businessmen that "we still forget the 600 million people who are neither consumers nor are covered by the services sector. For our commercial benefit we will have to make them consumers and provide services. You can call this part philanthropy and part commercial consideration," he said. "This kind of a programme will give us returns in 10 to 15 years time. It is necessary if India has to become a developed nation from a developing nation," he added.
The outlay for the programme is estimated to be around Rs. 3 billion which will provide the requisite software, hardware as well as running costs to the selected schools.

Chandra said as investors, whether domestic or foreign, it was necessary to be sensitive to the needs of the people. When he launched Zee Television, he had expected the television industry to gross Rs. 25 billion by 2000. But last year alone, the increase was of the order of Rs 25. billion. By 2010, media entertainment and new media would gross Rs. 100 billion a year, he said. Later, replying to questions from members of the audience on direct-to-home (DTH) television, he said Zee would be providing 15 channels directly to the viewers in the ‘C’ band and this could be expanded to 40 to 50 channels.

Imran Qureshi