Kashmir News Bureau Desk
Srinagar 06 Feb (KNB): The Department of School Education in Jammu and Kashmir has introduced numerous subjects and courses at the higher secondary level to broaden students’ career choices. However, Mass Communication/Media Studies has consistently faced neglect, without clear reasons.
Despite the significant potential of Mass Communication as a vocational course, aligning with the recommendations and objectives of NEP 2020, it has been overlooked. In today’s media-driven market, the demand for this subject is substantial, given the proliferation of media technology and social media. Unfortunately, it has received insufficient attention from the administration, even as younger and newer subjects are taught at the higher secondary level.
President of Mass Communication Professional Teachers Guild, Dr. Gulshan Ahmad Magray, expressed disappointment, stating that efforts to include the subject since 2010 have been consistently thwarted. Despite explaining the rationale for its inclusion at the +2 level, the subject is repeatedly excluded. Magray emphasized the significance of media in society and the boom of social media, highlighting the glaring absence of the subject in the school curriculum.
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Media professional Javid Ali Parrey argued that the lack of media education has compromised the integrity of journalism, allowing individuals with inadequate knowledge to claim the title of journalists. This, in turn, has contributed to chaos and disorder in society.
It’s worth noting that Mass Communication is already taught in various colleges in the valley and is part of the CBSE curriculum with subject code 835. However, the School Education Department appears to ignore the subject for mysterious reasons.
Despite committees being constituted by the department to recommend guidelines for new subjects, Mass Communication/Media Studies, although highly recommended, has yet to be included in the school curriculum. Even the Board of School Education (BOSE), in a memo to the then MoS Ms. Priya Sethi, recommended its inclusion at the +2 level, but no tangible steps have been taken in this direction by the department.(KNB)