Sineskwela, a DOST-assisted science television program for children, was awarded the Youth Prize (Prix de Jeunesse) at the recent 20th Television Science Programme Festival held in France. The Youth Prize is the grand award among the four awards given in the competition which had 20 entries from different countries around the world.

The award-winning episodes, directed by John Red, focus on how the once pristine Pasig River has deteriorated through time and show children observing how human activities contribute to the river's dismal condition. These episodes also demonstrate how young children can be involved in addressing environmental problems by letting them participate in determining how polluted the waters of the river can be. Towards the end, they get to realize the benefits of having a biologically active river and come up with some practical ideas to help Pasig River regain its former pristine condition.

The description of the Pasig River episodes appears in a 400-page catalogue of the 20th International Scientific Audio Visual Conference.

Sineskwela is produced by the ABS-CBN Foundation as part of its educational media programs, with technical support coming from the Science Education Institute (SEI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and the Department of Education (DepEd). The program is curriculum-based and caters to Grades 2-6 public elementary school children. It is shown in the science class in each grade level at least once a week as prescribed by DepEd. One study conducted in 1996 revealed that the program contributes to increasing the science achievement level of target students by providing fun and exciting ways to learn science beyond the confines of the classroom.

With the implementation of the Basic Education Curriculum, additional support is needed to fund the production of new episodes and continue enhancing science learning in the classrooms. Private companies and non-governmental organizations donated television sets to thousands of schools in Metro Manila and the provinces to enable students to view the program.

In the past years, Sineskwela has received numerous awards and recognition as a private sector-initiated project that answered the call for media involvement in education. The DOST provides the necessary technical inputs in the science content of the episodes, covering the various stages of pre-production, production and post-production. Projects of this nature are seen to strengthen science learning by providing the medium by which natural and physical processes can be presented in captured images and animations woven in a story format. The production and airing of local science educational television programs is one of the projects listed in the S&T Education Plan (STEP) to help improve the quality of science education in the country. (Ruby R. Cristobal - S&T Media Service)