By Bida Elly David
University of Juba in collaboration with UNESCO has laid a strategy to introduce a comprehensive media curriculum for primary and secondary schools in South Sudan.
This development transpired during a workshop on media information literacy policy in relation to curricula documents for South Sudan, developed by the University of Juba funded by UNESCO.
Initiators of the new development aim at improving media literacy and ability to educate the public with accurate information.
Chaplain Kara, a professor of journalism at the University of Juba said teaching media and journalism to lower academia enables them to acquire knowledge to dig out hidden messages and the ability to analyze and produce message for dissemination.
He said that teaching learners at lower levels the essence of the media will help prepare South Sudan for a world governing pictures, sound and words.
“Media and literacy documents are to be used in schools and high institutions of learning as well as advance courses through teachers,” he recommended.
According to Prof. Kara, Media and information literacy was recommended to be used as a tool in the concept of cyber security.
Prof. Kara noted that media curriculum covers wide ranges of areas such as gender sensitive reporting for citizen journalism where they will be able to have access to information and disseminate it accordingly.
He also noted that introduction of media classes to the public and lower academia would boost the application of information communication technology (ICT) in gathering information.
On the challenge of limited teachers in the field of journalism and media, Kara said that experts (Tutors) will be sent to schools to conduct continuous induction to enable teachers deliver to learners.
He accepted the fact that it would indeed be hard to start- up the initiative, predicting hope for the success of media classes in primary and secondary schools after validation of the curriculum.
Prof. Kara echoed the importance of applying ICT knowledge in the media, saying it enables students learn modern method of gathering and disseminating information to be easily received by the consumers.