News

Report by: Sr. Neticia Pereira RGS, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Chennai, November, 2020: Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd - the Province of Central East India Nepal (CEIN) in collaboration with the National Institute for Social Communication, Research and Training (NISCORT) organized the nine days online course on ‘News Writing and Reporting’ in order to boost the reading, writing and communication skills and also to enhance the proficiency of the participants.

The online course which began on 22nd to 30th November 2020 was attended by 21 energetic participants (principals, teachers, writers, social workers, and nurses) from the three different organizations namely; Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (Province of CEIN), Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco and St. Norbert PU College, Mysuru.

The primary objective of the online course was to cultivate the habits of writing and to create the platform to practice the learned skills regularly.

The online course gave the essential foundation to the participants in journalism. The course was carried out under the able guidance of experienced resource person Mr. Sumit Dhanraj, Communication and Media trainer at NISCORT. He taught the participants on the various aspects of journalism. Through his constant assistance, the participants were able to learn creative heading composition, paragraph writing, article and feature writing, news reporting, and critical thinking.

The course also highlighted the skills for interviewing, analysing the news, fact checking, writing letters to the editor and developing the habit of reading. The training module built awareness about the right use of writing style, modern trends in journalism, and citizen journalism.

Ms. Sridevi A., the Principal of St. Norbert PU College, Mysuru said, “It was a pleasant experience for being a part of such a tremendous course. It was a great platform for me to find out my potential. This course has changed my way of reading and analysing the newspaper.” I thank Mr. Sumit, a versatile writer and speaker for motivating and guiding all of us to write reports and articles in a systematic and organized manner and also for digging out the knowledge within us,” she added.

“I feel privileged to be a part of this learning experience. I found the course was very useful. I had very little idea on how to write but now I feel confident because I have learnt it. The sessions were short and to the accurate point. The notes and study material given to the participants before every session was really of great help to prepare oneself and be a part of discussion during the sessions. The resource person was the source of inspiration to be disciplined, punctual and communicate well,” mentioned Sr. Aquila Marki, FMA, Agartala.

Sr. Kamala Lakra RGS from Pokhara, Nepal opined, “As many of us work in different fields, reporting plays an important role in the activities that are carried out at our workplaces. The course was very informative and indeed very helpful in drafting good reports. It gave the opportunity to enhance the reading and writing abilities.”

During the concluding session, Sr. Pushpa Louis RGS, the Province leader of CEIN said, “She is happy that her province sisters are trained in news writing and reporting. This will enable the skills of sisters in report writing and make them efficient writers in reporting and documentation.”

Fr. Robinson Rodrigues, the new interim director of the NISCORT expressed his gratitude to the Province leader of CEIN, Sr. Pushpa Louis for working collaboratively in enhancing the skills of the sisters of her Province and also of the other participants. He also thanked the resource person Mr. Sumit Dhanraj for his availability and dedication for carrying out the online course and the participant for their timely and active participation. He concluded the training programme by saying, “Reading and writing habits are very essential in our lives, let us continue to keep the good work by making the difference through writing.”