DOHA AS MANY as 21 children from Qatar Orphan Foundation (Dhreima) aged between 8 and 14 years will benefit from a two-day media training workshop. The training programme launched by Doha Center for Media Freedom (DCMF) on Monday will conclude on Tuesday.
On completion of the training, the children will be given cameras to make short videos and put into practice what they have been taught. The main objective behind the workshop is to make Dhreima students media-literate.
According to a survey conducted by DCMF, 80 percent of Qatari schools have media literacy as one of the subjects taught. General Director of Media Literacy Programme at DCMF Rania Khaled al Hussaini said that four Qatari schools were chosen and encouraged last year by DCMF to include media literacy among the subjects taught.
She pointed out the Media Literacy Programme will be implemented this year in 42 schools in the country, bringing the number of schools having this course to 46, “This programme represents a unique initiative in the whole region,” she noted.
Notably, this programme will widen the horizon for Dhreima’s orphans. They will be the next generation of junior reporters and it will give them self-confidence Through the media literacy programme, DCMF wants to create awareness among the youth about what makes news and how to analyse media content. This project should help them develop their analytical skills and curiosity.
Al Hussaini noted that young people today spend much of their time exposed to electronic media, more than the time they spend in their classrooms.
“This fact shows the importance as well as underlines the necessity to understand the system under which the media works,” she concluded asserting that “through the implementation of media literacy, the media-literate public may reject the lies and untruth being passed off as news and could distinguish between news and views, and refuse to be misguided by propaganda and sensationalism,” she added.
The workshop will allow Dhreima students to enjoy opportunities equal to the ones available to other children and help them in skills enhancement and selfdevelopment.
Dhalia Badawi, media literacy trainer pointed out that the workshop would focus on theoretical and practical trainings through the usage of manuals, preparation of videos and shooting with DCMF cameras The Media Literacy Programme course material includes two bilingual booklets titled School News: Students Handbook and School News: Manual for Teachers & Coaches.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment