At a debate on the “role of media in education”, the participants highlighted the roles played by their respective media in meeting the educational requirements of the societies that they served. While initiating the discussion, Dr D D Guttenplan, who is a writer for the educational section of The International Herald Tribune, said print, television and broadcast media across the world have intensified their roles of late as a co-performer in meeting the educational needs of the student population at different levels. Suneet Johar, associate vice-president of the Times of India Group, said the wider reach enjoyed by his 153-year-old newspaper in such a big country as India has enabled it to tie up with a host of NGOs and their volunteers to meet the growing educational necessities of several sections scattered over 100 cities. “Even though newspapers as commercial ventures have profit as their main motto, but they can not escape or evade their responsibility to the society they serve,” said Johar. He said the group has tied up with more than 2,000 schools across India and was distributing more than 600,000 copies of the paper on five or six days of the week. Johar said as part of $2mn Teach India project, the newspaper is helping adults at plus-2 level to learn communicative English in a useful tie-up with the British Council in Delhi and Mumbai. “As a newspaper committed to the betterment of the society, we are optimistic that with improved communication skills one could improve his chances in the job market,” he added. Philippe Cayla, chairman of the executive board of EuroNews SA (France), said the wider reach and coverage of his television channel has helped it launch a series of educational programmes, using its multi-lingual delivery platforms effectively. “The channel has services in 11 European languages and hence it has been able to cover educational issues more efficiently and effectively across Europe and a major section of Asian continent. Unlike most other channel, EuroNews is also helping people acquire better foreign language skills through user-friendly programmes,” he said. The official said that the channel ran an educational programme “Learning world” in tie-up with Qatar Foundation. Luc Bronner, editor in chief (society and politics) of Le Monde, felt that education-related contents in his newspaper have tremendous appeal among different sections of the society, including teachers, students, and their parents. The paper, he said, has repeatedly focused on educational issues in France and has dedicated educational sections at regular intervals, handled by its well-trained staffers. He said Le Monde has also mobilised public opinion on a number of educational issues and has forced government change its stand more than once. The three media groups were among the sponsors of the summit, which attracted more than 1,200 delegates from all over the world. Gulf Times

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