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East Side ( as a part of Multi-Media Educational Interventions )

South Africa

East Side is a multi-media intervention designed to focus on human rights issues among students at secondary schools in South Africa, based on the TV series. This violence prevention programme was designed and directed by the Youth department of the Centre for Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), a multidisciplinary South African non-governmental organisation, and the South African Broad Casting SABC. The project aims at combating violence, crime and abuse in schools in order to make them places of safety.

A story was constructed that would encompass the many dimensions of racism and discriminatory practices at school. The Center for Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), in co-production with SABC Education, produced the scripts for six 15-minute television episodes to be screened as part of the youth programme on Take 5 to an audience of up to 500 000 viewers. CSVR and SABC Education organised three half-hour television talk shows that ran concurrently with the screening of East Side after the screening of each episode of the drama. These talk-shows raised the central themes of discrimination, institutional racism and ideas for youth action in schools.
In addition, an East Side magazine was created as a learning resource for youth aimed at deepening the impact of the drama series. The magazine was distributed to over 11,000 high schools through the SABC's Education Pack for Schools. The magazine also appears on the SABC Education web site.
A structured discussion guided the students to discuss their perceptions of each episode and the relevance of the issues raised to their own lives. This activity helped to know how to conscientise students and how to change schools for making them safer.

Research revealed that students had a scant understanding of the meaning of human rights on a personal and interpersonal level. The majority expressed their own prejudices and discriminatory attitudes. As it was apparent that there was a high degree of racism amongst students, the team decided to focus on this aspect of a human rights culture in its intervention.
The project aims to build a culture of human rights and democracy in South Africa.

Yvette Geyer
Senior Educationalist
CSVR
4th floor, Braamfontein Centre,
23 Jorissen street, Braamfontein,
Johannesburg, South Africa
PO Box 30778, braamfontein, JHB, 2017
Tel : +27(11) 403-5650
e-mail : info@csvr.org.za
Website :http://www.csvr.org.za

Institutional Partners
SABC Education (South African Television) / Department of Education Culture / Learning and Teaching Services
Financial Partners
CSVR

The Education and Media Unit of CVSR launched the East Side Project in 1998

Following the end of the series, SABC Education (Television ) commissioned an evaluation to determine their value and impacts. CSVR formed a consortium of four organisations that joined forces to undertake this task; the other organisations were Coordinated Management Consulting (Pty) Ltd, Helene Perold & Associates cc and the South African Institute for Distance Education. The evaluation generated fascinating issues in terms of perceptions of such things as drugs, gangsterism and the factors that propel young people into a life of crime ( see on the Website ).