Raising a voice: Lawmakers want journalism taught in South Punjab

In many districts, officials force journalism faculties to teach other subjects

MULTAN: Parliamentarians and MPAs from different districts of Punjab have demanded that the provincial government include journalism and mass communication as subjects in educational institutions of south Punjab.

While speaking at a seminar in Multan on Sunday, the speakers said the higher education department did not make any effort to include journalism. Keeping in view the role of the media in the current scenario, it was essential for the provincial government and education department to teach journalism in educational institutes.

The parliamentarians lamented that the education department was only endorsing the requests of upper Punjab, while South Punjab had been ignored. PML-N MNA Ghaffar Dogar, MPA Rana Mehmoodul Hassan, MNA Sikandar Bosan, PTI MNA Amir Dogar and others appealed to the chief minister to address the matter in a bid to facilitate the journalist community of South Punjab.

They added that journalism was the third biggest growing profession in the country and has provided employment to more than 15,000 families in the past two decades. They said electronic and print media progressed in Pakistan but in the colleges of South Punjab, which was the basic level of learning journalism, such subjects were not taught for decades.

While talking to The Express Tribune, MNA Amir said the lawmakers had forwarded 10 applications in the last five years, requesting the bureaucracy to allocate seats for mass communication in South Punjab. “At least three colleges in Multan are seeking permission to teach journalism but the authorities concerned have turned a deaf ear,” he added.

MPA Zaheer said: “If we will not teach journalism at intermediate and graduation level, how can we expect journalists to report true facts and highlight the problems of the people?”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2016.