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 Supported by:

PROMOTING WRITING SKILLS AMONG NIGERIANS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH KEYSTONE BANK LTD

The English language has increasingly assumed the profile of an international language in many countries of the world as an official language. It is being used as the language of government, trade and commerce, international diplomacy, education and financial transactions. However, proficiency levels in English especially in writing have become astoundingly appalling.

Performances in public examinations by students, in the media, and in public life demonstrate incredible poverty in the mastery of the language. This is manifest in poor grammatical constructions, spelling mistakes, tense agreement, concord and collocations. The problem is compounded further by the absence of relevant instructional materials, incompetent and ill-equipped manpower and poor training and remunerations of personnel.

These challenges can nevertheless be overcome with proper attention paid to the teaching and learning of the language in the country which can greatly enhance writing skills and creativity in the language.

The above issues gave rise to the design and development of the Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills course by the School of Media and Communication (SMC), Pan-African University not only to improve writing skills but also to facilitate proficiency in research as well as critical and cognate skills.

Seeing the need to help Nigerians make progress in this critical skill area, Keystone Bank Limited is partnering with SMC to promote writing skills among Nigerians.  The support by Keystone Bank in 2013 has helped to bring the fee for the course down by 50% so as to make the programme affordable by many more Nigerians.
Nigerians are encouraged to take advantage of the good gesture by Keystone Bank to improve their writing skills.  Apart from the core writing modules, participants in the certificate programme will have a chance of specializing in one of the three available writing streams in a) Creative Writing b) Business and Economic Writing, and c) Reporting for the Media.

The Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (A.W.A.R.E.S.)  is a programme that focuses not only on improving writing skills but also on facilitating proficiency in research as well as critical and cognate skills.

The course will be of particular benefit to persons who work in the media and in public relations or who aspire to enter these fields, but it is also beneficial to those who merely wish to improve their writing skills. Important components of the course include learning to make adequate use of the web to present one's work and the improvement of productivity through greater self-management.

In addition to the core writing modules, participants will have the chance of specializing in one of the three available writing streams:

The Creative Writing stream
The Creative Writing stream is a practical course and will run principally in a workshop format. It will deal with the nature of creativity and creative writing as well as explore ways that lead to the generation of ideas, the development of story lines and storyboarding, the development of character and atmosphere as well as thematic development.

The Business and Economic Writing stream
The Business and Economic Writing stream will provide adequate education in the requisites of business and economic reporting, and participants will develop skills to understand the discourse of corporate governance, financial markets, equity, privatization, and a wide range of macro and micro economic issues, as well as business practices.  This stream will also highlight the creative trend of persuasive business communication with the use of the new informative technologies and tools to transform the stiffness in written communication.

The Reporting for the Media stream
The Reporting for the Media stream will focus on the essentials of reporting and will consider the various forms of reports. Participants will learn how to develop a creative sense for news and how to put together an effective story structure. The identification of angles, the targeting of readers and the planning of interviews are other topics that this stream will deal with.

PARTICIPATION
- Journalists, Correspondents and Reporters
- Copy writers, Creative writers in advertising
  agencies, and corporate organizations
- Scriptwriters (in Electronic and Print media)
- Film Makers, Producers, Editors and Sub-Editors
- Corporate executive and Public relations Officers  who intend to apply creativity in writing
- Those aspiring to improve their writing competence

22 days spread across three months

DATES
4 April - 6 June, 2013 (1st run)

COURSE VENUE
School of Media and Communication,
Pan-African University (Victoria Island campus),
2, Ahmed Onibudo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

COURSE FEE
N140, 000 per participant

ENQUIRIES AND REGISTRATION
Doris - 0805 812 7207 and 01-896 7462
Juliet - 0806 638 5629
E mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 

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