After an uneasy calm following the culmination of the 139-day strike in October last year, trouble seems to be brewing yet again at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) with students opposing the new syllabus, leading to speculation of a fresh confrontation with the management.
Stormy meetingAfter a contentious meeting of the Academic Council (AC) convened by Vice-Chairman Brijendra Pal Singh on Wednesday, significant changes were approved by the AC, which include transforming the institute into a ‘non-residential university’, and a new syllabus on the choice-based credit system format and a semester pattern to replace the annual assessment system.
A ‘vision document’, circulated in the form of a power point presentation, suggested that the FTII be converted into a digital media university. It further urges the revision “of objectives of the FTII without diluting the prevailing objectives”. According to the plan, the institute will be restructured to have different schools such as School of Media Management and Communication, School of Performing Arts and School of Advertising Design.
Nine schools proposedThere will be nine schools offering 22 courses, including long-term courses like MBA in disciplines ranging from broadcast journalism to costume design. Each course will have 15-20 seats of which 30 per cent will be reserved for students from Southeast Asia and Africa.
Students allege these measures are contrary to the FTII’s “creative spirit” and the proposals would turn the film education centre into a “market-driven factory.” They claim Mr. Singh and others had “bulldozed their concerns on matters pertaining to functioning and future plans of the institute”.
The administration said the objections had been noted and would be “duly registered in the minutes of the meetings”.
