The opening ceremony of the Young Journalist School took place at S. Toraighyrov Pavlodar State University.

The Regional Chief Editors Club, Regional Branch of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan, S. Toraighyrov PSU administration and the Department of Journalism agreed on the joint implementation of the educational project called “Young Journalist School”.

According to Mukhit Omarov, Chairman of the Regional Chief Editors Club, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, the main objective of the School is providing assistance to future journalists, students of the Department of Journalism, and young professionals in mastering the skills required in the profession. “The School will be responsible for developing special courses and inviting leading journalists as lecturers.”

Members of the Department of Journalism and invited journalists will jointly organize and hold master classes, workshops, meetings and other forms of practical training, both inside PSU and at local media companies.

Acting Rector of S. Toraighyrov Pavlodar State University, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor Arman Akishev noted that the participation of journalist community members in the life of the University is always highly appreciated. “This School will definitely become an effective tool for professional development of young journalists. Departments shouldn't be solely responsible for training students – there should also be other platforms for learning and self-expression. Journalists must always react quickly to any changes and problems in society. The support that we get from the media is extremely important to us. You help us do our work effectively by covering our activities,” said Arman Akishev.

Yuriy Pominov, Head of the Regional Branch of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan, expressed his sincere gratitude to PSU administration and Department of Journalism for unfailing support. “Realization of this project requires a lot of team work, so let's put our hearts and souls in it to make something that next generations of journalists would thank us for,” he said. Yuriy Pominov also presented some copies of his new book to the Library and Department of Journalism of S. Toraighyrov PSU.

Head of the Department of Journalism, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Krykbay Aldabergenov emphasized that the Department will provide full support to the School and that all of its students will receive certificates upon completion of the course.

Askar Dzhaldinov, Head of Regional Akim's Press Service, said that he had always wanted to visit S. Toraighyrov PSU and look at the younger generation of journalists. “It is a great blessing to have such a strong school of journalism and a department educating journalists. I must say that not every region is so active in terms of information work. We have over 50 active media companies and more than a hundred journalists who work every day to cover all events in the life of the republic and our region.”

He warned all students, “Given today's challenges, you are the ones who are on the front line, you are soldiers of modern wars. You need to understand how to work in the age of information wars. There are many questions in our profession. If you have chosen journalism as your career, you will have to find answers to them, discuss them and keep learning on a permanent basis.”

There was also a round-table conference on socially important issues held by well-known journalists and PSU academic staff members. There were many questions and comments from students, which is a clear evidence of the fact that both current and future journalists are interested in everything that is going on in our country. The range of topics discussed during the conference was wide and included many topical problems in various fields from politics to linguistics.

Students regard this School as a great opportunity to meet interesting people, get useful experience and new knowledge. “This is a unique platform for self-expression and learning from such veterans of journalism,” says Ramil Smailov.

Photo by Rufina Torpischeva