Accra, Aug. 31, GNA - The National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) is organising short courses and workshops for media practitioners in the print and electronic media and other related areas.

They are aimed at equipping media practitioners with the requisite skills and training in fields such as video photography, screenplay, film directing, editing and continuity and acting for the screen. The short courses and workshops, which begun on August 22, 2011 and expected to end on September 2, 2011, has 25 students enrolled; the majority of whom are being sponsored by their various media houses.

The students are being taken through a rigorous 10-day programme in areas of their choice. A statement issued in Accra on Friday by Professor Linus Abraham, Rector of NAFTI, said film schools were mushrooming all over the country offering training to students and individuals, which might compound the problem of lack of appropriate training for media personnel.

"Film training should be in the hands of schools such as NAFTI looking at its long standing history of training industry professionals in Ghana. The institute has the tools and skills for proper professional development of media practitioners in the country. There are too many problems with our industry to leave training in the hands of half-baked institutions, which call themselves media training schools," he said.

Ms Sarah Kontoh, Head of Editing at NAFTI, noted that the short courses and workshops organised by NAFTI were important for media practitioners as they enable them to fill gaps and to keep up with trends in the industry. "These workshops also serve as an avenue for NAFTI to conduct needs assessment from people currently working in the industry so as to tailor courses to suit them.

"Interestingly, the short courses have been quite positive. The participants have shown interest and they have participated fully," said Ms Kontoh.

This year, another critical area, script continuity, has been included in the editing course. Most of the students were interested as it is a novelty for most of them, and are requesting for top up courses at the end of this year's programme. According to the Head of Editing at NAFTI, script continuity is another career path on its own and can thus equip editors with a second career. A participant in the programme, Mr Michael Agosu, a media practitioner with Altar Media, International Central Gospel Church, Christ Temple, opined that NAFTI was recognised and acknowledged in Ghana as a media training institution than any other media school hence his decision to take part in the on-going short courses and workshops.

"The courses are going well, especially since they point out things we overlook while at work. The programme has given us new insights and approaches to doing the work we do in order to achieve optimum results at the end of the day," said Mr Agosu. Come next year, there will be more thematic programmes such as shooting and editing music videos as well as shooting and editing advertisements. NAFTI currently runs a Bachelor's Degree Programme in directing, sound, photography, art direction, editing and TV production. The institute will also introduce a Professional Masters Programme in Media Arts next year.