Cost of instructional radio and television for developing countries

ANNUALIZED COSTS FOR FIVE INSTRUCTIONAL TELEVISION AND THREE INSTRUCTIONAL RADIO PROJECTS WERE OBTAINED, AND GENERAL COST EQUATIONS WERE DEVELOPED FOR PLANNING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS. THESE EQUATIONS WERE THEN APPLIED TO EVALUATE THE COSTS OF SAMPLE TELEVISION AND RADIO PROJECTS. CONCLUSIONS ARE: IT IS REALISTIC TO EXPECT THE COSTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL TV TO RANGE FROM 1.5 CENT TO 15 CENTS PER STUDENT HOUR, DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN THE SYSTEM. THE LOW END OF THIS RANGE CAN ONLY BE REACHED IF CLOSE TO A MILLION STUDENTS ARE USING THE SYSTEM IN A REASONABLY SMALL GEOGRAPHIC AREA. IT IS REALISTIC TO EXPECT THE COSTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL RADIO TO RANGE FROM 1/3 CENT TO 3 CENTS OR 4 CENTS PER STUDENT PER HOUR, ABOUT 1/5 AS MUCH AS INSTRUCTIONAL TELEVISION. THE HIGH END OF THIS RANGE CAN BE REACHED WITH VERY SMALL NUMBERS OF STUDENTS (SEVERAL THOUSAND); THE LOW END MIGHT REQUIRE SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND. THE HIGH COSTS OF TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS RESULT IN A REQUIREMENT THAT PROJECTS SHOULD LAST FROM 10 TO 20 YEARS TO ALLOW UNIT COSTS TO FALL TO A REASONABLE LEVEL; IF THERE IS A GREAT PROBABILITY THAT A PROJECT WILL NOT LAST 15 YEARS, ITS INITIATION SHOULD BE RECONSIDERED. ONLY THE COST SIDE OF A COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF INSTRUCTIONAL TV AND RADIO IN LDCS IS EXAMINED HERE.