The introduction of television in conventional higher education has been experimented with worldwide since the early 1950s. Several ways of putting television to effective use in higher education have been developed. One of the successful educational projects in the developing countries is the Countrywide Classroom Project in India. The traditional educational system at all levels remains compartmentalized which makes it necessary to use new and innovative means of education. With the intention of overcoming some of the numerous obstacles to knowledge and learning in the Indian context, the University Grants Commission initiated a unique educational experiment‐‐the Countrywide Classroom‐‐in 1984. Beginning with 1 hour of telecast of Countrywide Classroom programmes on all working days in Doordarshan, India's National Public Service Television network, it has now evolved to 20 hours of telecast per week. Over a period of time, a decentralized production system, using countrywide creative talent, came into being. The Countrywide Classroom has created a niche audience of youth and adults in cities, small towns and remote areas devoid of adequate educational facilities. This paper presents a discussion of the Countrywide Classroom Project, its infrastructure, production, transmission, limitations and future directions.
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Govindaraju et al. (1999) studied this question.