The Journalism education in India is in a state of mess over the years. Now education has become a business in the country with many education institutions  not able to provide quality education as they convey in the advertisements. The main objective of such institution is to attract students and thus increase the enrolment and make profit.

Poor quality in journalism education

There is a widespread concern over the poor quality of education being provided by many of the media schools in the country. One important reason for the bad state of journalism education in India is the poor quality of teaching in the institutions. Academicians in the field of journalism say that except for few journalism institutions, all others do not make the students ready for work. There are many instances where the brightest journalists in the country have not graduated from any of the journalism institutions. They do not hold any degree in any of the specialized journalism courses. Experts in the field of journalism suggest that it is not necessary for those who want to be a journalist to do a course in journalism. It is possible for post graduates from any of the disciplines to work in this field.

Sources from the industry say that the Bachelor in Mass Media is not a step in the right direction for a student who wishes to build a career in journalism. They say that it is a shortcut that leads you nowhere. Industry sources say that they would prefer to recruit any graduate rather than a graduate in Bachelor in Mass Media who performs exceedingly well.

Industry fails to observe the changes

Another major concern raised by the industry is that journalism schools are not concerned about the changes happening around them. They stick to the process of creating journalism graduates who wants become a journalist butwho are not equipped with the skills that the industry wants them to have. Rather the skills obtained during the journalism course are obsolete and are not relevant in the present conditions. It is said that most of the practicing journalist do not care for the changes happening around them and this is going to impact their future in a big way.

Increasing popularity of internet

With the increasing adoption of internet, the popularity of newspapers is on the decline and the newspaper industry will be at a major turning point when the young journalists start their career. It is observed that newspapers are hiring less number of journalists over the past few years and it is just enough to keep the business running.

Issues with post graduate programmes

There are concerns about the post graduate programmes in journalism. Industry experts say that such courses are just means to make money for the institutions. To make a student prepared for the industry and face the future, it needs just 8 to 10 months of intensive training.

One major problem with the post graduate courses is that institutes do not train the students on the tools that are required by the industry. A post graduate from any of the journalism school is generally not equipped with the ability to type 40 words per minute. Applications such as Quark Xpress and Photoshop are essential for a journalist and he or she should have a typing speed of 60 words per minute. These skills are required even in the case of journalist in the field of television and online publications. Sources from the industry say that the journalist in the present day should have basic understanding of still and video photography and photo editing. The journalists should have different skills which are essential for any of the journalist such as reporting, editing and packaging. He or she should essentially have writing skills which is of high importance.

Requirements for a journalist

The institutions should make sure that the students go through as many as 10 to 15 new articles every day. They should have fundamental understanding of basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and also should have the ability to calculate percentages. These basic operations have tremendous applications in a journalist’s life. The institutions do not pay attention to such abilities. They should also make sure that students get to see good films and read books which will help in enhancing the quality of the students. This will also help in improving the creative skills of the students.

Lack of full time faculty

A major problem that many of the institutions face is the lack of full time faculty. The budget constraints do not allow the institutions to employ good quality faculty on a full time basis. So they go for part time faculty who will focus on completing the syllabus and not enhancing the skills of the students. So employing more number of part time faculty members is of no use except for giving text book knowledge. The institution should have a good mix of part time and full time faculty which will help the students to improve their skills and have a thorough knowledge about the subjects.

There are many other factors that affects the quality of journalism education and the above said are the most important that needs urgent attention. Infrastructure is another one which every one of us knows is important for any education. Some of the educational institutions have paid attention to the above said factors and many others are on the path of realizing them.

It is high time that the institutions and the senior members in the journalism industry pay attention to the changes that is occurring in the world of journalism and adopt measures to make the students prepared to meet the challenges that will crop up in the near future. The online media has brought tremendous changes in the industry and it should be looked upon with importance for molding the future journalists.