New Delhi: In order to commemorate the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi and to mark the start of year long Silver Jubilee celebrations of the establishment of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the School of Journalism & New Media Studies (SOJNMS) is organizing a two-day National Symposium on "Challenges and Opportunities of Media Education in India" on the 20-21 November, 2009, in collaboration with UNESCO.

"There has been a long felt need for a debate on various issues arising out of the phenomenal growth and increased access to media and information and communication technologies, on the one hand and the liberal global economic policies adopted in India, on the other; especially in the past few decades which have led to a rich and diverse media scenario in India," said an official press release from the varsity.

It has led to the entry of numerous stakeholders offering diverse programmes, courses, curricula etc at various levels catering to the rise in demand for skilled personnel in the field, leading to a chaotic situation.

Also the debate for including media literacy education right from school in democracies has been gaining momentum globally.

At this juncture, with a view to provide a platform for meaningful deliberations for chalking a roadmap for the future of media literacy education in the country, the School has taken up this initiative.

The symposium is being supported by many national and international agencies such as UNESCO, the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), etc. promoting media literacy education globally.

The deliberations shall be spread over four main theme-wise Plenary Sessions like-Status of Media Education in India today, A Systemic Approach to Media Education, Need for Horizontal and Vertical Expansion of the Horizons of the Discipline, The Challenge and Opportunities Ahead and a few sub themes.