The state of infrastructure at the year-old Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) has been a cause of concern for the students studying there.
In response, Mohammad Ali, State Media Coordinator of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and a student of DSJ has come out with a press release describing the worsening condition of the facilities in the institute. The press release describes the low library capacity of 10-15 students, the lack of access to sports grounds by the sports quota students, as well as the administration’s bid to take away the laptops given to students. The press release mentions that these, among others, seem to be grounds enough for not starting an M.Phil and Ph.D. the programme at the institute.
The Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) which was started last year, came up with a recent announcement to start MPhil and Ph.D. level courses by 2020. Currently, the college offers a five-year integrated journalism course that is entrance-based. It also offers an exit option for students who wish to pursue professional work after three years whereupon they would be given a Bachelor’s Degree. According to a recent report at The Asian Age, the college also plans to introduce short-term courses in photography, video editing, documentary filmmaking, sports, and science journalism by October this year. But, the press release by the NSUI is bound to put a question to such grand-laid plans.
When DU Beat asked Mohammad Ali if the students have ever conveyed their grievances to the administration he said, “We have had a lot of talks with the administration. We even submitted our complaints to the Director in writing, but it has been three to four months and we have seen no change. All we hear are false promises of the fulfillment of our demands.”
According to an anonymous source at the DSJ, the students who were given laptops at the beginning of the first semester for their journalistic assignments were asked to return the laptops at the end of their second semester. “They refused to even issue admit cards to us if we didn’t return the laptops. Not every student can afford to own a laptop and even less so when there are no computer facilities at the institute. In such a scenario, I don’t know how they will manage to open M. Phil and Ph.D. courses,” the source said.
Prashant Yadav, another student of DSJ said, “The press release points correctly to our problems. In the name of self-financing, we have been asked to give fees for everything from desks to chairs. The media lab that is going to be essential for our future curriculum has still not been set up. We do not have any permanent faculty and even those who teach us are not qualified enough to do so. While the campus gets closed at 4:30 pm for us, the students at Cluster Innovation Centre can access it till 7 p.m. As far as the laptops are concerned, I think the DU might reissue the laptops for us in the third semester. However, it is true that we were given no prior intimation before they gave us our laptops.”
Manaswini Yogi, the Officer on Special Duty at DSJ remained unavailable for any comments. However, the last time DU Beat spoke to Prof. Yogi she assured the DU Beat correspondent that the Media Lab will be established by the time curriculum reaches the point where the use of Media Lab becomes necessary.
Feature Image Credits: DU Beat
Sara Sohail
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