AIJC president conducts Timor Leste workshop

What competencies should a journalist have?

Answers surfaced as university lecturers and trainers from major journalism training institutions in Timor Leste discussed journalism curriculum planning on April 27-28 in a workshop held in Dili, Timor Leste.

The main resource person/facilitator was AIJC president  Ramon R. Tuazon.  Until recently, he was Consultant and Liaison Officer to the Philippines of UNESCO Office Jakarta.

The Workshop on Journalism Curriculum Planning for University Lecturers and Training Institutions was organized by the Timor Leste Media Development Center (TLMDC) in coordination with the National University of Timor Leste (NUTL) and with support from UNESCO Office Jakarta.

The workshop was geared for understanding  the new paradigm of outcome-based education (OBE), particularly competency-based curriculum planning. This new paradigm is expected to provide journalism teachers and trainers a new framework in reviewing and revising the existing Social Communication curriculum of the NUTL and in preparing training programs for the various training institutions in the country, mostly media NGOs. The workshop also provided an opportunity to reorient the participants on the UNESCO Model Curricula for Journalism Education, including the core competencies listed in the document and the Tartu Declaration Competency Goals.

Among the major outputs of the workshop was a listing of desired or needed basic competencies of East Timorese journalists. The list was prepared by journalist-participants and journalism teacher-participants.