Expert Roundtable Meet to Launch an Academic Programme For Community Radio Technicians
New Delhi-9/11/2012: An expert roundtable was organised on 4-5 October 2012 that brought representatives of different stakeholders involved in the Community Radio sector like Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL), UNESCO, Ford Foundation, CRS Representatives, NGOs, manufacturers of broadcast equipment and station management software, with the purpose of setting the expectations for an academic programme for community radio technicians and defining its scope. Prof. Santosh Panda, an internationally reputed instructional design and distance learning expert guided the process of evolving the programme curriculum conforming to the Distance Education Council (DEC) standards and procedures for offering self-learning academic programmes. Across the board, the initiative was hailed as timely and much needed and over two days, stakeholders stated their vision and expectations based on which the scope of the programme was arrived at. Some of the highlights of the discussions are:
- Learning content will be developed as OER and be accessible to any learner.
- For certification, the entry level will be Class 10. Credit system for recognising prior knowledge will be developed to be more inclusive, especially in the community context.
- At a later stage, a group of ODL institutions will be associated as partners and will offer certification for the programme. CEMCA/BECIL may consider accrediting the programme with these institutions.
- Learning materials will be licenced under Creative Commons and institutions will be able to localise the materials freely.
- While print will be the mainstay of the programme, a judicious mix of media and face-to-face sessions will be an integral part of the course.
A concept map, detailing all the components of the courses into four Modules and approximately 30 units, along with a suggested media-mix was worked out. The material development will follow a collaborative process and is expected to be completed by April 2013.
