Communication and Journalism Curricula in Africa: The Case of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania by Polycarp Omolo Ochilo Abstract This is an incisive scientific evaluation of the existing curricula in journalism and communication training institutions in East Africa. The study pays close attention to most of the crucial elements of a good curricula, including the aims and objectives of the courses, the teaching methods adopted, the assessment methods of the courses and the flexibility of the courses to accomodate community, national, regional, continental and international needs. The aims of the study were five-fold: To provide emphirical evidence on the orientations, objectives and scope of the existing curricula in journalism and communication training in East Africa; to suggest variousways of re-modelling the curricula; to access the quality of training offered to journalists so as to find out if they are being adequately funded and teachers well remunerated and; to generate fresh data on journalism and communication training in the region which can be used by policy makers and implementors in shaping future training needs. Field survey research design was used to collect data from 51 various media practitioners from media organisations, broadcast stations, newspapers, training institutions and governmental departments. A total of 19, 21 and 22 respondents from Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya respectively were interviewed. The study raises concern over two pertinent issues: the fact that the training institutions have less teaching staff and that the curricula used are relatively old with the newest having been drawn in 1994. The author suggests that there ought to be regular review of the curricula to make them responsive to the ever-changing media demands. Three track approach to the review of the curricula are recommended. They invite Unesco and other stakeholders to commission further studies aimed at a comprehensive improvement of the curricula so that the beneficiaries may be able to face the various complex communication challenges facing their communities and countries; the region, continent and the world. Polycarp Omolo Ochilo teaches journalism at the School of Journalism, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya. 52 Programmes de Communication en Joumalisme en Afrique: Le Cas du Kenya, de l'Ouganda et de la Tanzanie Par Polycarp Omolo Ochilo R6sum6 II s'agit d'une revue critique et scientifique des programmes de communication en joumalisme, utilises dans les institutions de communication en Afrique Orientales. Cette etude se concentre surtout sur les aspects indispensables dans la constitution d'un bon programme. A savoir: les buts et les objectifs, les methodes, les moyens devaluation, flexibilite et adaptation aux besoins de la communaute aux niveaux national, regional, continental et international. L'etude d'Ochilo cherche a atteindre cinq buts majeurs: fourniture des donnees empiriques sur l'orientation, les objectifs, et l'etendue des programmes actuels en joumalisme/communication en Afrique de l'Est; reforme des programmes actuels; evaluation de la formation offerte actuellement aux journalistes dans le but d'etablir son utilite et a savoir si les formateurs sont bien remuneres; recherche de nouvelles donnees dans le domaine de la formation en joumalisme et en communication qui puissent positivement infuer, sur la formulation des plans. Lors de cette etude, on a fait de nombreux entretiens avec des praticiens travaillant dans les organisations de media, de stations de diffusion, de joumaux, d'institutions de formation ainsi qu'avec des experts travaillant dans les departements des gouvemements. On a interviewe 66 personnes au total, dont 19 en Ouganda, 21 en Tanzanie et 22 au Kenya. Lors de cette etude, on a constate qu'il se pose beaucoup de problemes au niveau des institutions de formation a cause de carence de formateurs. Les programmes utilises sont vieux: les plus recents ayant ete etablis en 1994. Ochilo remarque qu'il faudrait revoir souvent et regulierement les programmes, afin de les adapter aux exigences des medias, qui changent sans cesse. L'auteur de cette communication preconise diverses strategies dans la revue des programmes. II propose a l'UNESCO et ses partenaires d'encourager et de soutenir des etudes pareilles. Cela aiderait les praticiens a mieux connaitre et aborder les defis de communication, aux niveaux regional, continental et mondial. 53 Introduction Curricula Development, orientations and their dynamism in any form of training programme tend to attract enormous interests and attention among scholars, media professionals, governments, United Nations Agencies such as UNESCO and the informed members of the public in general. A number of reasons may be advanced to explain some of these profound and diverse interests in curricula programmes. For example, in the case of Communication and Journalism training in Africa, the debate has over and above centred on the need to pay critical attention firstly to the four essential elements of any curriculum such as: (a) the aims and objectives of the courses; (b)the content of the courses; (c) the teaching methods adopted in the courses and (d)the assessment methods of the courses. Similarly, attention also tends to be paid to the deliberate desire that the centrality of curricula in communication and journalism fundamentally seeks to combine the generation of knowledge and skills as well. Additionally, there are other broader issues of concern that are implied as critical components of the essential elements of curricula. These may include the extent to which the curricula is seen and understood to be broad and flexible enough in taking into account international needs, continental needs, regional and sub-regional needs, national needs and community needs respectively. The other significant aspects of curricula in communication and journalism that has generated a lot of interest and concern is on the issue of questioning the continued predication of the curricular on the Western Journalism models. Many African scholars argue that this kind of curricula orientation is not based on an African philosophy and therefore, fails to take into account the continent's cultural diversity, the environment, political and social developments. These scholars, therefore, see 54 these type of curricula as wanting to the extent that they succeed in perpetuating Western values, ethics and ethos at the expense of the African ethics, ethos and values. Interests in curricula development and orientation are also critically linked to the global concern of the production of skilled experts and professionals in various fields of study. Our levels of competence and professionalism tend invariably to be linked to our levels of education. This is normally greatly influenced by the curriculum that one may happen to have covered. This in turn raises one's standard of practice as well as determining entry levels of personnel into occupation. Besides, the centrality of communication in the various spheres of human development processes such as the promotion of democracy and human rights, transparency, good governance, social, cultural, economic, political and environmental challenges in Africa. All of these add up to make the public's interest in communication curricula and the role of journalists more critical in any given society. Justification of the Study This study of the existing curricula in Journalism and Communication Training Institutions in East Africa is justified on a number of grounds. First, there is near dearth of literature relating to curricula issues in East Africa. There is therefore, a justification for carrying out a study of this nature in East Africa. Data generated from this study will thus provide us with empirical evidence on the existing curricula in both broad terms and in some specific aspects of the curriculum such as aims, objectives, orientations and scope. Secondly, the study is justified by the fact that there still exists disagreements among many Africa scholars, governments, some specialized United Nations Agencies such as UNESCO, media professionals and the public at large on the acceptable type of curricula that communication and journalism training institutes should follow. Of significance in this xxxx are linkage between media professionals and the kind of curricula and the 55 entire training orientations that they might have undertaken. One of the implied prepositions is that media professionals' positions and status are both directly and indirectly linked to their past training backgrounds. Thirdly, this study is also justified by the fact that the world today for better or worse is mass media mediated. For example, the near total dependence on the media by many people has created a profound public demand that journalists need to be properly trained to empower them to deal with the various global challenges that face them. This applies to East Africa and elsewhere in the world. Furthermore, this study is justified by the need to find solutions to a number of challenges facing communication/ journalism training programmes such as: the emerging competition among different communication training institutions and the complexities of new communication technologies such as the information superhighway. Other challenges include: lack of adequate funds for formal journalism training, lack of trained trainers, poor salaries for those who are in place, lack of adequate communication/journalism training institutions, lack of subsidised research teaching grants and the effect of colonial policies. Besides, this study is justified to the extent that one understands that the data obtained from the study can be used by all the interested groups such as governments policy implementers, UNESCO and others in shaping the various future training intervention models in terms of curricula aims, objectives, orientations, scope and utilisation. Methodology The basic methodology used in this study on the existing curricula in East Africa was the use of field surveys. The administered questionnaire consisted of two sets of seventeen questions, making a total of thirty-four questions. The questionnaire had both structured and unstructured questions. 56 Different sets of questions were deliberately designed to solicit specific issues of concern to our study. For instance, there were sets of questions that dealt with: name of respondents, name of the institution of the respondent, designation, areas of teaching, when curricula was first drawn, whether it has been revised, date and year, reasons that occasioned the revision, list of subjects offered, orientations and curricula scope, objectives of the institutions teaching, unit's objectives, level and duration of training, context of training programme, kinds of awards, curriculum similarities and desirable changes that could be introduced in the journalism curricula. We also sought various kinds of information among our respondents from media organizations, broadcast stations, newspapers and some relevant government departments with media responsibilities. The kind of information sought included respondent's designation, period of work before reaching present positions, nature of duties, levels of professional training, relevance of past training to current job, areas covered by past training, existence of in-house training programmes, course content, extent to which training met training needs, and suggestions of unmet training needs among others. Having identified our respondents, who included all the teaching staff of communication/journalism training institutions in schools of journalism, institutes of journalism and universities offering training in journalism; together with senior reporters, news editors, managing editors, programme producers, senior producers, controller of programmes and programme managers, we opted to purposively administer the questionnaire. A purposively administered questionnaire method is based on a clear understanding that the chosen sample group are relevant to the study, both directly and indirectly, therefore their responses should yield the empirical data so desired. As the Principle Researcher, I spent one week in Uganda, one week in Tanzania and more than one week in Kenya administering the questionnaire personally. 57 Study Limitations There are however, some limitations of this study. Firstly, the overall time frame for the entire research of six weeks was very inadequate for this kind of study covering three East African countries. Secondly, the one week duration of field survey in both Uganda and Tanzania was in our view insufficient when viewed in the context of the overall demands of the study and the required logistical arrangements and appointments with the respondents. Given the above scenarios therefore, we rushed over issues. For example, we did not have enough time to probe our respondents during the brief face to face meetings. In Uganda, we administered the questionnaire to the teaching faculty members of Makerere University Mass Communication Programme, their School of Journalism, the staff of New Vision and The Crusader, and the staff of Uganda Radio and Television. All the above institutions are located in Kampala. In Tanzania, we administered the questionnaire to the faculty members of Tanzania School of Journalism, the staff of ITV Radio and Newspapers groups, and the staff of the government owned Radio Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam. The data collection in Uganda and Tanzania went on very well. The respondents reached from the low ranks to the top managers were extremely cooperative, honored their appointments and were reached with ease without prior appointments. In Kenya, we also purposively administered the questionnaire to faculty members of the School of Journalism at the University of Nairobi, Daystar University, Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, to senior programme producers of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and to the staff of Daily Nation newspapers. Apart from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication and Daystar University; whose faculty members completed our questionnaire promptly, the data collection from the other institutions in Kenya, unlike in Uganda and Tanzania, was extremely difficult and caused significant delays in the completion of this study. 58 However, the above limitations notwithstanding, the collected data was computerized, coded, tallied and frequency distributions of various variables and percentages were obtained using the statistical package for social scientists (S.P.S.S.). We also used qualitative and descriptive analysis. Findings of the Study As detailed in the methodology, we administered two sets of questionnaires to respondents in media organizations and the teaching staff in communication/journalism institutions from the three East African countries. This was done for purposes of data weighting and comparison of specific results from either media organizations or teaching institutions. We therefore, run different frequencies for each country for media organizations, teaching institutions and a combined one for the three countries for media organizations. We also run a combined one for the three teaching institutions in East Africa. For media organizations in Uganda, there were 19 respondents ofwhom 42% were from Uganda Radio, 31.6% from the New Vision, 21.1% from Uganda Television and the remaining 5.3% from the newspaper, The Crusader. Similarly, there were a total of 22 respondents in Kenya from media organizations ofwhom 68.2% were from KBC and the remaining 31.8% from the Nation Group of newspapers. On the other hand, there were from Tanzania 21 respondents from media organizations. Of these 33.3% were from Radio Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam, 33.3% from Independent T.V. Ltd. (ITV), 23.8% from The Guardian and the remaining 9.6% came for the Sunday Observer and Radio One Limited. Notwithstanding the above separations, our study's analysis and interpretations is based more on the combined data from the communication/journalism teaching institutions given our position that their responses are more relevant to issues dealing with curricula questions. In this context therefore, we had 28 respondents from the six institutions that we administered the 59 questionnaire to. Of the 28 respondents, 32.2% were from Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, 21.4% were from Tanzania School of Journalism in Dar-es-Salaam, 14.3% came from Day star University and the remaining 32.1% came from Uganda School of Journalism, Makerere University and the School of Journalism at the University of Nairobi respectively. The number is statistically significant given that these institutions tend to have few full time staff, supported by part- timers. For example, the School of Journalism at the University of Nairobi had eight full-time staff members, Daystar University has the same number directly in the Department of Communication, Kenya Institute of Mass Communication has more than eight. Similarly, Tanzania School of Journalism has seven, the Uganda School of Journalism has five and Makerere University has eight full-time lecturers. One of the critical areas of concern where we sought information from respondents was when their various communication/ journalism curricula was first drawn. Our field data indicated that between 1990 and 1994, 27.8% drew their first curricula and 30.4% had their first curricula drawn between 1970 and 1979. 38% had their first curricula drawn between 1980 and 1988, while the remaining 3.8% had theirs drawn in 1969. This data may also be further interpreted that whereas there was an increase in new curricula by two from 1993 to 1994, there was none from 1995 up to the time of this study in July-September, 1996. (Table 2.1) 60 Table 2.1: Year when present curricula was first drawn Year 1969 1970 1972 1976 1979 1980 1983 1984 1985 1988 1990 1991 1993 1994 Total Number Percentage 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 5 1 2 2 4 28 3.6% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 3.6% 3.6% 7.1% 3.6% 18% 3.6% 7.1% 7.1% 14.3% 100% Source: Field Survey 1996 Furthermore, out of a total sample of 28 respondents, 77.8% said that their curricula have been revised. The remaining 22.2% replied NO. Those who said YES, indicated that this was done between 1990 and 1996. For example, 50% of the respondents recorded that their curricula was revised between 1994 and 1996. The remaining 50% recorded that their curricula was revised in 1990, 1991 and 1993. When probed further to list reasons that occasioned their revision, 26.4% said the revisions were occasioned by the need to meet the demands arising from changes in the educational system. We think that most of these respondents came from Kenyan Training Institutions where there were new changes relating to the 8.4.4 educational system. The other 63% listed 61 factors such as: training for the new market demands, improvement of the course content, add new units, incorporate relevant modern technologies, update old aspects and meeting policy and professional demands. The remaining 10.6% said that their revisions were occasioned by a desire to meet the regulations of the Commission for Higher Education and the need to lengthen the courses (Table 2.2). Table 2.2 Reasons that occasioned curricula revision Reasons Number Percentage Changes in education system Incorporate relevant units Add new units Training for market demands Improve course content Update some provisions Incorporate modern technology Need to lengthen courses Meet demand of Commission for Higher Education Total 14 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 28 50% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 3.6% 3.6% 100% Source: Field Survey 1996 It is also instructive that we sought information on all the subject areas offered in the various communication/journalism training institutions in East Africa. This information is important given the fact that it allows us to compare the similarities of courses offered as well as the extent of diversity if any. In this regard therefore, our field data indicates that out of a total sample, 10.7% listed Mass Communications as areas of subjects offered. Over 40% listed areas of subjects offered as including: print media, electronic media, political science, research, features, radio/journalism, editing, press law, broadcast and 62 communication system. The remaining 46.3% listed subjects such as: public relations, marketing and advertising, photojournalism, development journalism and graphic arts (Table 2.3) Table 2.3 Subjects offered in training programmes Subject Mass Communication Graphic Arts Public Relations Marketing / Advertising Photoj ournalism Development Journalism Newswriting Broadcast Print Media Electronic Media Political Science Features (Communication) Features Radio / TV Journalism Psychology Editing Press Law Newspaper Production Communication Systems Total Source: Field Survey 1996 Number Percentage 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 28 10.7% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 100% The above data may also be interpreted further as showing that 88.6% of the subjects offered in training programmes in communication/journalism training institutions in East Africa are in the strict field a "core" discipline of Communication. Only 11.4% of all the courses listed are in Political Science, Psychology and Press Law. Yet, the current debate in Africa centers on the need to produce competent journalists capable of handling the 63 various specialised areas of reporting such as Economics, Business Science, International Affairs, Finance, StockExchange and language skills. One of the possible implications of the above scenario is that the curriculum is wanting and therefore, calls for changes that encompass some of the areas we have referred to above. Related to the subjects offered in the communication and journalism training institutions in East Africa is the critical question of the kind of orientations and the scope of their training programmes. 31.6% of our respondents described the orientations and the scope of their training programmes as including a desire to improve knowledge and skills as well as a need for effective work in the media. The other 26.2% described the orientations and scope of their training programmes as covering theory, attachment and research. 21.1% indicated that the orientations and scope of each of the training programmes are both theoretical and practical, while 15.8% of the respondents have described the orientations and the scope of each of their training programmes as mostly theoretical. 5.3% of the respondents see their course orientations and scope as dealing with anticipated management posts in the media industry. The issue of the objectives of the various teaching/training institutions in East Africa communication/journalism schools is also critical to the extent that one sees the objectives as central to any curriculum's final goals. Besides, the objectives of the institutions teaching and training curriculum is of immense profound significance in enabling these institutions to devise all the desirable strategies to adopt as a basis of achieving their final measurable and qualitative objectives and goals through the various teaching and research options open to these institutions, such as their ability to offer practical hands-on experience. Taking into account the above contexts therefore, when we asked our respondents to describe the objectives of their institutions curriculum, 42.8% described their objectives as offering formal and organized courses. On the other hand, 57.2% described their curriculum as including among others to 64 train and prepare competent, professionally trained personnel, to improve the quality of journalism and to offer theoretical and practical skills. Our study also sought information relating to the level and duration of the various communication/journalism training programmes offered in East Africa. The levels of the programme is critical in enabling us to understand the nature of the certificates or degrees offered to the course participants. Similarly, it equally allows us to weigh the type and calibre of the trainees in these institutions. On the other hand, duration of training is critical in the sense that the amount of work undertaken in any given training programme is directly related to the length of time spent in undertaking the programme. In this regard, our field results indicate that the communication/journalism training institutions currently offer a wide range or programmes ranging from pre-servlce and in- service courses, certificates in journalism, diplomas, B.A. in Mass Communication, Post-Graduate diplomas, and M.A. in Mass Communication. Our results indicate that the duration of these programmes range between three months and forty-eight months, for example, of our total respondents, 42.9% indicated that their programme's duration is thirty-six months. Over 20% said that the duration of their programme took three months. 10.7% of the respondents indicated that their programme took nine months. The remaining 7.1% of the respondents said that the duration of their programme took twelve months (Table 2.4) 65 Table 2.4 Duration of training programmes in months Months Number Percentage 36 3 48 9 12 Total 12 6 5 3 2 28 42.9% 21.4% 17.9% 10.7% 7.1% 100% Source: Field Survey 1996 It is therefore evident from the above information that none of the East African communication/journalism training programmes offer Ph.D. programmes. However, it appears that the current programmes seem to have served the regimes very well. For example, among the senior level professional employees of the media organizations, most have acquired similar qualifications primarily from these institutions with few having been trained outside East Africa. Out of the sample of 62 professionals from media organizations in East Africa, 41.9% are Diploma in Communication or Journalism holders. The other 29% have degrees and post- graduate qualifications. Whereas 9.7% hold Certificates in Communication, the other 16.2% have a B.A. or M.A. in communication/journalism. The remaining 3.2% said that they have completed short induction courses in communication/ journalism. It is equally significant that the respondents when probed further on the relevance of their training to their current jobs, 93.4% said YES while 6.6% said that it is not relevant. Our suspicion is that the latter belong to the management category who may have been promoted to top administrative positions where they hardly apply directly their professional journalistic skills (Table 2.5). 66 Table 2.5 Level of professional training Qualifications Number Percentage Diploma in Communication/ Journalism Degree and Post Graduate Certificate in Communication Degree in Communication MA in Communication/ Journalism Attended Induction Courses Total Source: Field Survey 1996 26 18 6 5 5 2 62 41.9% 29% 9.7% 8.1% 8.1% 3.2% 100% On the basis of the above data relating to the programme's duration, one may see the correlation between the course's duration and the content of training programmes in East African communication/journalism training institutions. Our field results indicate that 85.6% of our total sample recorded their content of training as formal training, while 14.4% recorded their content of training as combining formal, in-service and workshops, formal workshops, seminars, and in-service training (Table 2.6). 67 Table 2.6 Content of the training programme Type of training Number Percentage Formal Training Formal, in-service and workshops Formal and seminars Formal and workshops In-service training Total Source: Field Survey 1996 24 1 1 1 1 28 85.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 100% One possible interpretation of the above data is that the bulk of communication/journalism in East Africa is done through formal training given that over 80% have responded as such. Of significance however is the fact that only 14.4% did record their content of training as combining formal, in-service, workshops and seminars. Yet evidence on the ground shows that very many, including those surveyed could still benefit immensely from short courses, workshops, seminars and well organized in- service programmes given the ever changing journalism challenges and professional demands. The above position is supported by the fact that most of the professionals working in media organizations listed a number of unmet training needs. Some of the areas they still feel deficient in include: computer packages, media management and administration, film and television production, gender reporting, communication research methods, development journalism, page design and layout, editing, marketing and advertising, language skills, script writing, photography and magazine reporting techniques. Given that not all of the above units are covered under the formal training contents, one may therefore argue that options 68 open for action may be the institutionalisation of non-formal training programmes to support the current formal programmes. So far, only Makerere University and the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication have programmes in place that cater for in- service and external students. Makerere is running an external part-time degree programme for those who were in the media before and have no degrees. They are paying for the programme. Kenya Institute of Mass Communication also has in-service programmes. Other institutions tend to have ad hoc seminar/ workshop activities. Similarly, most of the teaching staff in East African communication/ j ournalism training institutions equally support the need to inject additional programmes in their current curriculum to include among others: media research, computer use, strengthening public relations and marketing, journalism communication, language skills, development journalism and media management. A collective approach would be desirable given the evidence that most of the East African institutions have almost identical curricula given that 41.7% of our respondents indicated as such. The other 3.3% said that their curricula are different and the remaining 25% said they are unsure of their comparative similarities. Recommendations Given the scope and the results of this study on existing curricular in Journalism and Communication Training Institutions, and the centrality of curriculum in any discipline, it is inevitable that a number of recommendations and suggestions emerge. We shall therefore address these issues under two distinct sections. The first section will attempt to address suggestions and recommendations relating to the drawing up of new curricula for teaching and training in journalism and communication in Africa. The second section will attempt suggestions and recommendations with regards to the content and scope of 69 curricula for different levels of training in East Africa. Given the diversity of communication/journalism challenges in Africa, and the relevance of a broad based, but manageable curricula as one of the ways of empowering journalists to deal with these everchanging and dynamic information technologies, we propose a number of possible options as a "Three Track" approach. This approach is designed to deal with the complex but interrelated questions of drawing new curricula for teaching and training of journalism and communication in Africa as well as the development of the content and scope of curricula. "Track One": That UNESCO Regional Communication Advisers acting as facilitators together with the participation of the Principle Researchers, take full advantage of the ACCE 10th Biennial Conference in South Africa in a number of ways. For example, encourage profound and in-depth analysis, critique and interpretations of the various sub-regional studies on curricula by the communication scholars attending the conference. • The researcher shall therefore be expected to incorporate the accepted new ideas as much as possible given that these ideas will come from some of the leading African scholars in Communication. "Track Two": That UNESCO commissions Information on Labour Market Research and Communication schools' needs assessment. This is critical as a way of making future curricula scope orientations and focus responsive to market needs. Secondly, UNESCO Regional Communication Advisers acting as facilitators undertake to create a core sub-regional group for purposes of organizing sub-regional workshops to discuss as incorporated by the principle researchers the South Africa Report and the Information on Labour Market Research. • Participants should be drawn from academic institutions mainly, together with representatives of college boards, deans and senate representatives. This is critical given that 70 many of them and others in the world ten to misunderstand the role of journalism. • Representatives of media houses, public relations and advertising firms, publishers and professional journalism associations should also be invited. • Institutions be asked to prepare their course contents. • A comprehensive report on this should be produced and shared widely among the concerned parties. "Track Three": At this stage a fairly standardized and very improved document will have emerged. Thus given the diverse levels of participation and curricula needs, the participating regional institutions be asked to adapt strategies for implementation. These may include: (a) The Immediate Option: This entails the desire to integrate some of the agreed courses as part of the existing units under the ongoing programmes. (b)Loncjf Term Option: Institutions with cumbersome procedures undertake to channel what has been developed so far for approval as part of these institution's curricula. Content and Scope of Curriculum for Different Levels of Training Based on the results of our study, it is clear that the current various curricula in communication/journalism in East Africa is wanting in a number of ways. To mention only a few, most of our respondents listed a number of critical courses that they need but are not offered such as: media management, new information technologies, specialized magazine writing, environmental writing, parliamentary and political writing, economic writing, human rights reporting, elections reporting and legal reporting among others. The starting point therefore, should in our view be to carry out comprehensive studies on the information labour market in East Africa as a step towards the generation of empirical data. 71 The data obtained from these studies shall therefore be fed to the ongoing parallel local situational and curricula content analysis. Once this has been done, then they should follow the models of Track One, Track Two and Track Three, albeit with specific modifications in approach. Attempts must be made to make the project take off at national as well as regional levels for credibility reasons. Conclusions It is evident that this study was limited in both its scope and duration. This therefore may have limited its ability to capture the many central yet unanswered questions and challenges on curricula in communication/journalism in East Africa. However, these limitations notwithstanding, one may conclude that the results obtained from this study are significant to the extent that they provide us with some important empirical indications and answers to some of the critical questions and concerns relating to the existing curricula in journalism and communication training institutions as well as media organizations with training programmes in East Africa. References African Curriculum Organization (ACO). Basic Training Course in Systematic Curriculum Development. Course six. Organized by the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE), the University of Nairobi and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) Nairobi, Kenya. 1979. African Workshop on Curriculum Development for Training in Rural Journalism, Buenea, Cameroon. November 1983. De Beers, A.S. 1995. From a to A—Bold Steps Needed in Journalism as a Science—Approach. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the African Council for Communication Education. Nairobi, Kenya: 28 November 1995. 72 G. Millerson, 1964. The Qualifying Associations: A Study in Prqfessionalization. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. World Press Freedom. United Nations and Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Final Report on Workshop on the Economic Survival of the Independent Press in East Africa. Nairobi, Kenya: 2-3 May, 1996. 73