BOTAHTAUNG College in Botahtaung township in Yangon will offer
Myanmar’s first bachelor of arts in journalism degree starting
in early 2008, an official from the Ministry of Information said
last week.
The three-year course will be offered as a collaborative effort
between the ministries of Education and Information, said U Khin
Maung Kyaw Din, the deputy director (news) of the News and Periodicals
Enterprise (NPE) under the Ministry of Information.
“We want to produce certificate-holder journalists like
in the United States,” he said.
He said the curriculum, which was developed by university lecturers
and experienced journalists at his ministry, will cover printed
media, radio, television and news interview, as well as minor
subjects such as geography, psychology, international relations,
history, Myanmar and English.
“We have been trying to launch this program for a long
time and now it’s finally taking shape. The draft of the
program will be finalised in October and we will continue to select
lecturers from both ministries after that,” U Khin Maung
Kyaw Din said.
“We will accept about 100 matriculated students for the
program although we haven’t decided on what scores will
be necessary for admission yet,” he said, adding that graduates
from the program will be given six months of on-the-job training
at NPE.
“This degree program will motivate young people to become
foreign correspondents because students will also learn English
and it will also boost the development of journalism in Myanmar,”
he said.
NPE runs the Myanmar News Agency and publishes the country’s
three official daily newspapers – Myanma Alin and Mirror,
both in Myanmar language, and New Light of Myanmar in English.
According to the enterprise, the circulations of Myanma Alin
and Mirror are more than 100,000 each, while New Light of Myanmar
has a circulation of more than 10,000.
The government has allowed private publications in Myanmar for
the past eight years, with about 250 licences issued up to the
end of 2006, according to official figures.
In February 2005 the Ministry of Information took over press
scrutiny and registration duties from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Ministry of Education had offered a two-year journalism
course at regional colleges in Myanmar from 1978 to1981 before
stopping the program.
