In order to commemorate the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi and to mark the start of year long Silver Jubilee celebrations of the establishment of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the School of Journalism & New Media Studies (SOJNMS) is organizing a two-day National Symposium on 'Challenges and Opportunities of Media Education in India' on the 20-21 November, 2009, in collaboration with UNESCO.
It has led to the entry of numerous stakeholders offering diverse programmes, courses, curricula etc at various levels catering to the rise in demand for skilled personnel in the field, leading to a chaotic situation. Also the debate for including media literacy education right from school in democracies has been gaining momentum globally. At this juncture, with a view to provide a platform for meaningful deliberations for chalking a roadmap for the future of media literacy education in the country, the School has taken up this initiative. The symposium is being supported by many national and international agencies such as UNESCO, the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), etc. promoting media literacy education globally. The deliberations shall be spread over four main theme-wise Plenary Sessions like-Status of Media Education in India, A Systemic Approach to Media Education, Need for Horizontal and Vertical Expansion of the Horizons of the Discipline, The Challenge and Opportunities Ahead and a few sub themes.