1995 Flashback: The Boom of Educational TV Shows

Led by the award-winning ‘SineSkwela’, educational programs in the Philippines received a big boost in 1995. (Logo courtesy of ABS-CBN)

1995 was a memorable year in Philippine television. As part of a year-long special, From the Tube will look back at a year full of historical debuts, unforgettable moments, and celebrated feats in the history of television in the country.

It’s back to school for students across the Philippines.

School year 2015-16 is now underway in every public school in the country, with private institutions starting theirs the week after. For big-name tertiary schools such as UP, Ateneo, La Salle and UST, opening of classes would come a few months later, as part of their alignment with the academic calendars of other countries.

Back in school year 1995-96, a surge in educational TV programs took place. The said school year saw the establishment of two different series of educational programs: ABS-CBN’s ETV (Educational Television), and PTV-4’s CONSTEL (Continuing Education via Television).

ABS-CBN’s ETV series initially consisted of the following programs:

SineSkwela – the flagship program of the ETV series which tackles a variety of topics related to elementary science, health and technology.

Hiraya Manawari – focuses on fantasy stories with lessons on good values and morals.

Bayani – discusses historic Filipino heroes through a dramatic retelling of their struggles and triumphs.

The ETV series introduced three other programs a few years later, consisting of:

Math-Tinik – features lessons related to elementary mathematics.

Epol/Apple – examines the proper use of elementary English in everyday conversations.

Pahina – analyzes classical Filipino literature through dramatization of said stories.

The ETV series initially aired on ABS-CBN during weekday mornings for much of the mid-90s. The debut of Knowledge Channel in 1999 soon prompted the network to move the ETV programs to the said channel, leading to a change in ABS-CBN’s early-morning landscape that remains to this day.

The ETV programs also aired on Studio 23 (now ABS-CBN Sports+Action). Videotapes and DVDs of the said programs were also sold and donated to schools through ABS-CBN Foundation.

Meanwhile, PTV-4’s CONSTEL series consisted of the following programs:

Science Made Easy – a telecourse for elementary students that features lessons on basic science.

Chemistry in Action – a telecourse for high school students that features lessons on chemistry.

Physics in Everyday Life – a telecourse for college students that features lessons on physics.

CONSTEL English – introduced a few years later, the series was a telecourse for high school students that features lesson on English language and grammar.

PTV-4’s CONSTEL series was produced by the network in cooperation with what is now the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Foundation for the Upgrading of Standards in Education (FUSE). The series continues to air on a sporadic basis, even during the time PTV-4 was known as NBN under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The CONSTEL series was also picked up by Knowledge Channel and is currently airing on a recurring basis.

While ‘Fun with Math’ was also introduced around this time, it was not considered part of the CONSTEL series. Nevertheless, the program served a similar purpose in promoting education through television.

The resurgence of educational TV programs was a big moment in Philippine television in 1995. Today, these programs continue to benefit teachers in any way possible, and influence a young generation of students everywhere.

Advertisement

New Schedules for the PBA, UAAP & NCAA

Sports venues like the Mall of Asia Arena lay quiet during the rampage of the Southwest monsoon caused by Typhoon Maring, as the PBA, UAAP and NCAA cancelled the games played from August 19-22.

The past four days have not been kind to Filipino sports fans. The Southwest monsoon and Typhoon Maring brought heavy rains and floods to Metro Manila, causing school and office cancellations. Sporting events were not spared either.

The NCAA postponed two playdates in the ongoing basketball competitions. Instead the August 19 playdate will be played on August 26, while the August 22 playdate will be played on August 29. The August 26 games will feature junior and senior matches pitting Lyceum of the Philippines against San Sebastian College-Recoletos, and De La Salle-College of St. Benilde against the University of Perpetual Help-DALTA. The August 29 games will pit Emilio Aguinaldo College against Mapua Institute of Technology in both the juniors and seniors. In addition, they rescheduled the badminton, swimming and chess competitions for next week.

The UAAP also postponed its basketball competitions during the week. The seniors games for August 21 would have pitted the University of the Philipppines against the University of the East, and Ateneo de Manila University against the University of Sto. Tomas. Likewise the women’s and juniors matches were postponed. In addition, the opening of beach volleyball and badminton was moved to August 31. It is likely the postponed basketball games will be played during the week after the cheerdance competitions.

The PBA, already scrambling to make up for the long break caused by the FIBA Asia Championships, postponed its August 21 playdates pitting the Alaska Aces against the Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters, and Globalport Batang Pier against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Instead the league revised its schedule, adding two Tuesday playdates in addition to the Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday games to make up for an already compressed conference schedule. The Alaska-Talk N’ Text game was moved to September 6, while the Globalport-Ginebra match was moved to September 20. In addition, no playdates at Antipolo’s Ynares Center were booked, instead some games will be moved to the Cuneta Astrodome, while one playdate will be held at the PhilSports Arena.

During the postponements, Studio 23 and AksyonTV aired reruns of prior games. However, with the improving weather conditions, it is back to normal for the production crews of both networks. And the fans cannot wait to watch their favorite teams play again after a four-day weather delay.