Some 250 selected journalists are set to benefit from a Media Capacity Enhancement Programme (MCEP) annually paid for by the Ministry of Information.
The Ministry of Information, which announced this at the launch of the programme in Accra yesterday, said the programme is expected to provide continuous in-service training for media personnel drawn from across the country in order to improve their skills for the industry.
“The role of the Ministry is simply to provide bursaries to participants from the media landscape who will benefit from this capacity enhancement programme annually. Under the programme, a skills gap analysis has been conducted by a working committee of experts and a curriculum based on gaps has been developed. The independent committee has also selected a faculty, comprising academics and senior media practitioners from across the country, to administer the programme,” he said.
A Deputy Information Minister, Fatima Abubakar, who led a press briefing to launch the programme, said it is in line with one of the key strategic objectives of the Ministry, which is to assist in the development of the information sector for which reason a successful implementation of the programme is expected to transform Ghana’s media landscape.
Right skills
Roland Affail Monney, president of the Ghana Journalists Association, also said the programme could not come at a better time than this. He encouraged journalists to take advantage of it to gain the requisite skills in journalism and media practice.
The MCEP will provide continuous on-the-job training at regular intervals for media practitioners to improve their skills, support training targeted at content creation for media practitioners, provide a regular platform to support media-introspection on subjects related to media management, corporate governance, and media business models and encourage ethical journalism.
Journalists interested in the programme will have to apply online and be selected by the working committee, comprising representatives of partner organisations.