IP Overhauls BMMMC Entrance

The entry requirements for the Bachelor's in Mass Media and Mass Communication (BMMMC) programme are poised for an overhaul. The entrance exam, which was earlier a three-tier process, has been cut down to two stages. The first exam will test the general and media awareness and the second will check their creative and analytical skills. The third stage, the interview, has been done away with from this year. Throughout the Delhi University, the course is offered only at Indraprastha College for Women.

"We don't want any subjectivity to creep in while admitting students. The interview gauges the students' presentation skills and decides whether the person is suitable for the media or not. But (a job in) the media not only calls for articulation but it also involves back-room work, for which no presentation skills are needed," says Dr Babli Moitra Saraf, principal of IP College.

The two stages of the entrance test will now last 90 minutes each, unlike last year when these tests were for three hours and one hour, respectively. Another change relates to the orientation of entrance tests. From this year, the second stage will judge creative and analytical skills. Earlier, it used to test only for creative skills.

The syllabus being taught for the last 11 years is set to be updated this year. "We have sent the proposal to the University and it is pending approval. If we get the green signal, then the new syllabus might be implemented this year," adds Saraf.

The new curriculum, says Saraf, would focus more on social and media theory, and communication will be taught as a science and an academic subject, apart from its functional use. "The new syllabus will churn out thinking mediapersons - you don't find many in the profession nowadays. We will not only train students on ‘what to think' but would lay emphasis on ‘how to think' as well," says Saraf.

The idea, it seems, was generated from the fact that very few students go for further studies after studying BMMMC. "The majority of students find jobs within two months of the completion of the programme and just 10 per cent of them go for a Master's," says Dr Manasvini M Yogi, coordinator, BMMMC programme, IP College.

Apart from addressing the aversion for higher studies, the college authorities are keen to entice students to take up media studies as a research subject. "We want our students to go in for research and come back to the college as teachers," says Saraf.

The programme is quite unique and comprises of workshops every weekend. Students are taught subjects outside the curriculum in these workshops. And industry experts from media, cinema, radio and advertising visit the college for the same. "We get experts like Vinod Dua and Ritika Jhanji (an IP College alumnus) from NDTV and professionals from radio stations, advertising and PR companies," says Yogi.

Thanks to the diverse training modules that students emerge well-equipped to handle diverse challenges. "When I went for an interview, they asked me what can you do. I asked them what do you want me to do. I can handle everything - media, production, advertising and news. I liked production, so finally I was assigned that," says Shruti Sharma, who passed out of the course last year and is currently working as an assistant director in Wizcraft on a Bollywood musical called Kingdom of Dreams.

Source: HT Horizon

Date: 7th June, 2010

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