DU's 5-yr journalism course to have Tamil as optional language

The five-year integrated journalism course in Delhi University will now include Tamil as an optional language.
Tamil is spoken in various South East Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia. Learning the language will help the students if they visit these countries, said Maharaj K Pandit, Chairperson, Admission Committee, Delhi University.
Another Indian language, Bengali, besides foreign languages such as Arabic, Spanish, French and Mandarin, will also be made available for students who are interested.
According to the university officials, there will be no entrance examination for the course and the admissions will be on the basis of merit.
"The admission process for the programme will be deferred a bit. It will not take place simultaneously with the other programmes," said Pandit.

The faculty of social sciences will be hosting the programme and a student can quit it after three years with a BA degree.

"The course has been prepared in such a way that it produces experts in particular areas of journalism," said Pandit, adding that if a student is interested in business journalism, he will be taught accordingly.
The course fee would be Rs 30,000 per semester and 60 students will be admitted in the current academic year.
DU's Standing Committee on Academic Affairs, at a meeting last week, gave its approval to the integrated course.
The proposal, however, needs to be approved by the Academic Council and the Executive Council of the university.