Practical exposure should supplement classroom teaching: CUK VC

GANDERBAL: Central University of Kashmir (CUK) Vice Chancellor, Prof. Farooq Ahmad Shah Friday underscored the need to give practical exposure and orientation to the students pursuing different professional programmes in the varsities.
“The New Education Policy (NEP) has laid maximum focus on supplementing the classroom theoretical teaching with skill-based training in order to produce quality professionals who in place of seeking government employment would become job providers by establishing their start-ups and entrepreneurial units,” Prof. Farooq Ahmad Shah said during the valediction of the five-day workshop on “Science Filmmaking” organised by the Department of Convergent Journalism (DCJ), Central University of Kashmir (CUK) in association with the University of Kashmir (KU), under Science & Technology Communication, Popularization & its Extension (SCOPE). He said the CUK was continuously upgrading and honing the skills of the students in order to prepare them for the tough competitions in their respective fields. Prof. Farooq Shah said the media is an important component of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the social media has given a huge platform to the aspirants, having huge potential, to showcase their hidden talent and carve a niche for themselves.
Speaking on the occasion, Registrar, Prof. M Afzal Zargar said, the workshop would have been an eye opener for the students intending to pursue careers in film making. “Kashmir has been bestowed with beautiful lush forests and mountainous ranges, possessing a diverse range of plants and shrubs having huge medicinal values across the globe. There is a huge scope of film making on biodiversity and students can make documentaries about them (medicinal plants and animal species), for the science television channels after getting proper information from the concerned researchers,” he said. Prof. Zargar said the university would organize more such workshops to acquaint the students with the techniques of filmmaking.
Addressing the participants, Dean School of Media Studies and SCoPE Project Coordinator, Prof. Shahid Rasool, said, the objective of the Science communication is to develop and inculcate scientific temper among the youth, especially the student’s community. “The Science communication has attained greater significance as the scientific knowledge, inventions and innovations, have highly benefited the society at large,” he said, adding that there is tremendous job opportunity for the aspirants in the field of science communication, provided they know how to package the content.
Four small films prepared by the students during the workshop were also screened on the occasion. Senior producer, EMRC, KU, Mr. Shafqat Habib and independent filmmaker, Mr. Jalal-ud-Din Baba, also spoke on the occasion, and advised the students to make films, which would transform the society and make things much easier for the masses. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Farooq Ahmad Shah and Registrar, Prof. M Afzal Zargar later distributed the certificates among the participants. Head DCJ, and Organising Secretary, Dr. Arif Nazir, proposed the vote of thanks.