The Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) on Wednesday matriculated a total of 267 students to undergo courses in Mass Communication for its 2020/2021 academic session.
Of the number, 68 are for the National Diploma (ND) programme, 96 for Higher National Diploma (HND), and 103 students for the Post Graduate Diploma (PGD).programme
Speaking at the ceremony, the provost, Mr Gbenga Adefaye reiterated the commitment of the school to providing the best learning environment for its students, including constant upgrade and acquisition of the state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to meet the current and future best practices.
Adefaye said the school was concerned and interested in the total development of the students which included character moulding, reminding them of the thorough and diligent process they underwent in obtaining admisiion.
“At the NIJ, we strive to provide a most conducive learning environment as we constantly upgrade our equipment and facilities to meet the current and future best practices.
“We are unrelenting in our acquisition of the state-of-the-art facilities to deliver excellent training”, he said.
According to the provost, the school recently benefitted from a digitisation support of the National Communication Commission (NCC) for seamless internet connectivity and cloud hosting, and that the upgrade on ICT centre was originally supported by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
He said the school had also launched an internet radio, The Pen Radio, saying this would assist in delivery of quality hands-on training to the students, while the school sustained its efforts at processing license for a campus radio and the floating of an online newspaper.
He told the students to look forward to field trips to media houses, participation in the Students Work Industrial Scheme (SIWES), participation in a Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) competition, as well as a students’ week event.
Others according to him are inter-college competition, and the participation of the HND students in the National Youth Service (NYSC) scheme.
“Our record so far is that of a smooth running of the academic sessions without any interruption. It is a thing of pride for us to give a guarantee of seamless training with certainty on your year of graduation.
“There are no strikes, no disruption of scheduled programmes. We have our staff and students to thank for that. We are optimistic of continuing in that great tradition with your support”, the provost said.
Highpoints of the programme included oath-taking and an academic procession.