Update: Mindset Pop On DStv And DBE Learning On OpenView

Earlier in the year, Covid19 hit South African shores forcing schools and businesses to shut down. During that time, service providers were trying to source out content that was educating and entertaining to viewers.

MultiChoice and Mindset teamed up to launch a spinoff pop-up channel catered to Grade 4-9 with a mix of Grade 1-3 called Mindset Pop (also known as Mindset's Pop Primary) in South Africa and the rest of Africa on channel 317.

eMedia Investments teamed up with the Department of Education to launch DBE Learning which caters Grade 10-12 with additional subjects to help out the current Mindset channel. It is currently occupies channel 122.

Both channels were available from 1st April. Through media outlets, DBE Learning as stated would be available until the end of September while Mindset Pop would be available until 10 December according to MultiChoice Africa earlier in the year.

Now DBE Learning is still running on the OpenView despite reaching its cutoff date so it's possible that there are no plans to do away with the channel. It first launched as a channel for Grade 10-12 now they added material for Grade 1-3 meaning it's no different to Mindset.

Mindset Pop has been dominating the DStv platform and is highly recommended through schools and educational forums across Africa. Several outlets still list it as a pop-up channel but no cutoff date was actually confirmed for South Africa (only ROA) and through an enquiry their customer care listed it as a permanent channel for customers and this very likely includes the rest of Africa.

Schools are now reopened under several conditions and children in most schools get time off meaning they won't able to wrapup their academics but with these channels put in place they'll help them catch-up.

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DBE TV To Be Added On The OpenView Platform

In partnership with eMedia Investments, the Department of education will be broadcasting educational support for learners and teachers on the OpenView platform. This channel is free of any subscriptions and will be broadcasted initially for a period of six months from 1st April to 30 September 2020.

The proposed daily schedule for the first week of broadcast is as follows:
- The focus of the first week is on Term 1 topics
- From 12am to 7am there will be revision for Grade 12 learners. We cover only one subject per day to facilitate a recordable block. The subjects will rotate through a seven week period. In the first week, Maths is on Monday but in 2 weeks Maths moves to Tuesday and so on.
- Between 7:00am and 8:00 am, it's time to learn a new Indigenous African language. Each lesson is half an hour.
- From 08:00am to 12 noon, the schedule is dedicated to Grade 12 learners. You can catch 60 minute lessons in Maths, Physical Science, Life Science, English (FAL), Accounting, Economics and Geography. The focus on these lessons is initially Term 1 topics. If you master the concepts in these lessons, you'll be ready for Term 2 which will broadcast in few weeks.
- From 12:00pm to 2:00pm we have 60 minute lessons for Grade 11 learners in Maths, Physical Science, Life Science, English (FAL) and Accounting.
- From 2:00pm to 4:00pm we have 30 minutes lessons for Grade 10 in Maths, Physical Science, Life Science, English (FAL) and Accounting.

If you've missed a lesson in the morning or want to rewatch a lesson from 4pm to 12 midnight. The lessons from 4:00pm to 8:00pm is for Grade 12 learners, 8:00pm to 10:00pm for Grade 11 and 10:00-12:00 for Grade 10. The topics covered are aligned with CAPS and the Annual Teaching Plan, and we will start with further topics and we will start with the topics at the beginning of the ATP.