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Рy18 December 2018
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The Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) has had an impressive activity in the area of media education in 2018. At the end of the year, we’d like to look back at the most important activities that contributed to promoting media literacy in schools and in the society.
- Curriculum for the ‘Media Education’ optional subject for lower secondary education. The document developed by IJC and approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research gave the go-ahead for teaching Media Education at lower secondary education level, which followed the implementation of the subject in primary schools in 2017-2018.
- Curriculum for the ‘Media Education’ optional subject for upper secondary education, which is a continuation of IJC’s efforts to promote media literacy in schools. This curriculum is being examined now and is awaiting approval by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research.
- The fourth training program for teachers took place in April. As many as 18 teachers from different parts of Moldova, including the Transnistrian region, who decided to teach the optional subject at primary education level, attended the training.
- Two training programs were held for lower secondary education teachers. The first training took place during the 10-12 August period and the second – on 17-19 August. They were attended by 32 teachers in total. Twenty of them are teaching ‘Media Education’ in the seventh and eighth grades during the 2018-2019 academic year.
- The ‘Media Education’ textbook, for primary education level, in Russian – the textbook was translated into Russian and printed in 1000 copies. Thus, this subject started to be taught in schools teaching in Russian.
- One training for 15 teachers teaching in Russian. The participants received 280 ‘Media Education’ textbooks in Russian language for free as teaching aid for primary education level.
- The ‘Media Education’ textbook for lower secondary education, was printed in 1000 copies in October. Of these, 536 were given to teachers who attended the August trainings.
- The Media Literacy Week. The media literacy week took place from 22 to 28 October 2018 for the first time in Moldova. Under the guidance of Media Education teachers, the pupils wrote articles for newspapers, simulated TV shows, organised radio contests and quizzes, conducted flash-mobs and went to museums and editorial offices, with the scope of getting a better understanding of the media and sharpening their critical thinking skills.
- “What do I learn in Media Education class?” video contest. Launched in October on the occasion of the Media Literacy Week, this contest motivated students to create short films about media literacy. In total, 20 short films were registered in the contest and the authors of the best videos were awarded during a special event organised by IJC.
- Memorandum of Understanding between the IJC and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research on advancing media education in the educational system in Republic of Moldova. The memorandum was developed and it is at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research awaiting to be signed off.
Media literacy is one of IJC’s priorities. The IJC launched the ‘Media Education’ course for primary education level in the 2017-2018 academic year. In that phase, 26 teachers from 25 schools were involved in teaching the subject. In the 2018-2019 academic year more than 1500 pupils in primary and lower secondary education levels from more than 30 schools in the Republic of Moldova are studying media education as an optional subject or during orientation classes.
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The activities undertook by IJC in media education were supported in 2018 by the ‘Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova’ Project (MEDIA-M), funded by the USAID Moldova and implemented by Internews in Moldova, and by the ‘Strengthening Freedom of Opinion in the Republic of Moldova’ Project, implemented by IJC with the support of DW Akademie and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
