PESHAWAR - The inaugural ceremony of Independent Project Reporting (IPR’s) three-month certificate course on ‘Development Journalism’ was held at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC), University of Peshawar.

The Independent Project Reporting (IPR) is an integral part of the FATA Development Programme implemented by the Fata Secretariat and Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleZusammenarbeit GIZ, funded by the German government.
The University of Peshawar with its JMC is an important partner of the Programme from the very beginning in 2010. This course focuses on the applied side of journalism .
The students achieving a better understanding on the work of development cooperation and promotes responsible journalism.
The Vice Chancellor UoP Prof Dr Muhammad Rasul Jan was chief guest on the occasion. DG Projects Fata Secretariat Mazhar Ali Shah, Stefan Schmid, Head of FATA Development Program, Dean Faculty of Management and Information Sciences Prof Dr Abdul Qayyum, Chairman Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Prof Dr Shah Jehan Syed were also present.
The department has been imparting trainings for capacity building of the journalists for the last sixteen years, said chairman Department of JMC in his opening remarks.
He added the Independent Project Reporting program started in January 2010 with the support of GIZ to provide hands on experience to media practitioners of KP and FATA. About the certificate course on development journalism he said that the program is initiated with the aim of filling the gap between theory and practical.
The Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Rasul Jan said that skill is to me equally important than a degree, adding this is because the international companies and enterprises were on the outlook for skilled professionals in the globalised world. Fata is an area of concern for me as a Pashtun, head of this institution and being an inhabitant of this area he said. It’s high time we along with international donors pool our resources together and formulate a long-term strategy for the uplift of the underprivileged people of Fata, he opined.
Dr Jan assured the JMC students of extending all possible support to them, as they stand as the major stakeholders of University of Peshawar. You must put your efforts in the right direction and identify your national and global responsibilities, he said.