Televisión Educativa is a centralized institution, part of the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP-Ministry of Public Education). It reports directly to the Vice Ministry of Plannification and Evaluation for Educational Policies. It was designed to support and strengthen education in Mexico and to offer new audiovisual alternatives for teaching, focusing on solutions for marginalized areas of the country that lack educational infrastructure.

Some of the main activities of DGTVE are:

• Produce programs and broadcast educational material using Televisión Educativa’s satellite broadcasting facilities and new uses of ICTs (Information and Communications Technology), to systematize and preserve our audiovisual heritage.
• Train professionals on electronic media production for educational purposes and,
• Research and development of new options for educational technologies.

After almost fifty years of activities, DGTVE has experienced a strong transformation to support education in Mexico. It has an important technical infrastructure and professional staff that has placed DGTVE as a pioneer in the area of Long Distance Education and a paradigm in Latin America.

 

Mission

To create conditions that allow each individual the full extent of his Educational Rights though access to ICTs, offering teaching services for remote regions that have deficient and backward-looking educational systems, and for society in general.  These conditions are based on the principles of educational justice and equity. They are confined to the consolidation, expansion and modernization of a technological infrastructure and ICT designs based on educational paradigms, in conjunction with production, distribution and systematization of educational material (audiovisual and web production) as a support for education.

Vision

Its long term vision to 2025 considers a maximum use of ICTs to bring quality and equal education to those remotes zones in the country. For that purpose, it plans to modernize the existing equipment and infrastructure, the expansion and diversification of the broadcast signal. In addition to that DGTVE will develop new pedagogic models appropriate to the ICTs’ use in education.  DGTVE will strongly train specialists for the use of audiovisual material in order to offer social  opportunities for development based on respect for legality and the respect of Human Rights.

Objectives

DGTVE’s main objective is to help to reduce backward-looking educational systems in the country. To achieve this DGTVE is using satellite TV as a main tool, particularly by using  RED EDUSAT. Its broadcast services have been expanded educational services in terms of quality and quantity. These purposes are based on the guidelines of the Plan Nacional de Educacion (National Education Plan) and the Programa Sectorial de Educacion (Sectorial Education Program).

EDUSAT’s compressed digital broadcast system is the most important of its type in Latin America. It broadcasts on 16 television channels daily, nine of them managed directly by DGTVE. Seven of these channels (11, 12, 14, 17, 21, 22 and 24) include their own programming and two other channels (26 and 27) include special video transmissions. The Latin American Institute for Educational Communication (ILCE) is in charge of channels 13, 15, 16 and 18. The National Council for Culture and Arts (CONACULTA) uses channel 23. Channels 25 and 28 are the Congress Channel and TV UNAM respectively.  EDUSAT also broadcasts on three radio channels: Radio Educación (channel 12), IMER (channel 15) y Radio UNAM (channel 28).

The main tasks by which DGTVE accomplishes its objectives are:

• EDUSAT’s operation, which embraces programming and broadcasting of educational material for TV. It includes operation and maintenance of the satellite.
• Audiovisual production and the creation of educational programs and series, by the coordination of different public teaching needs.
• Conservation and systematization of our cultural heritage.
• Training for professionals related to media.
• Audiovisual investigation and development.
• Interchange of experiences, information and materials with organisms and institutions that participate in the educational process through audiovisual media, as well as television chains in several regions in the country.