Children study radio broadcasting during holiday

Slamet Susanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Yogyakarta   |  Mon, 07/14/2008 10:08 AM  |  The Archipelago

A handful of elementary school students in Yogyakarta spent part of their recent holiday learning about radio broadcasting.

Radio Anak Jogja (RAJ) and Radio Petra FM provided free broadcasting courses for children during the school holiday that ended Sunday.

RAJ, located in the Taman Pintar science park complex, went on the air every day from noon to 3 p.m. with child announcers.

Two different children were selected daily to read poems, stories, sing or present programs, according to RAJ marketing officer Agus M Yasin.

"We have been giving regular broadcasting courses to children for quite sometime," Agus said.

He said that during the holiday, around 20 children came to the studio every day to learn about radio broadcasting and announcing.

At Petra FM radio as many as 20 elementary school children joined the station's first-ever broadcasting course organized for children. The course ran from June 27 to July 12.

"We actually had more students enroll for the training but we could only take 20 of them due to limited seats," the woman responsible for organizing the course, Magdalena Krisinda, said.

She said the station would offer the course again during the next school holiday.

During Petra FM's course, held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., children learned about different aspects of radio broadcasting and how to become announcers.

Apart from the simplified theory they studied in the classroom, they were also introduced to activities in the studio.

Through various games and fun activities the children learned about broadcasting equipment, script-reading techniques and dubbing for commercial pieces.

The training materials, according to Magdalena, were specially prepared to meet the children's needs and interests.

"I learned it's not easy to become a radio announcer. You have to speak clearly and not too quickly," said Rio, who is in the third grade.

Rio said he enjoyed the course because he was able to learn new skills and make friends.

"It's better spending the holiday here instead of just staying at home," he said.

Another participant, Josephin Aureli, said she usually spent her school holidays at her grandmother's house in Semarang, Central Java, but taking part in the radio broadcasting course was more fun.

"I can learn here and play at the same time, and become braver than before," she said.

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