The Higher Education Review

With an increase in the number of television sets, news channels, radio stations and advertising on an everyday basis, the Media and Entertainment industry seems to be transcending into a growth engine, resulting in opening up newer windows for a dynamic career. Indira School of Communication (ISC), a brainchild of Dr Tarita Shankar, Chairperson of the Indira Group of Institutes,is a forward-looking academy established in 2004 working on polishing and grooming of media aspirants. Recently, ISC also has its own acting academy designed to train both debutant actors as well as those with experience, ISC's ActingAcademy provides actors with modern on-camera acting techniques rooted in time-honoured theatrical traditions.

On the traditional media education front, ISC presently offers undergraduate programme in Mass Communication (UGP-MC), Post Graduate Programme in Mass Communication & Professional Acting Course. "Characterized with a strong academic-industry interface, ISC is all about creating a platform of excellence that will help uplift the standards in the professions of news, radio/television software, advertising, public relations, and media management. "We have a strong industry connect and are in tie-ups with major media publication houses and PR companies for internships, training and placements," states Prof. Renu Garg, Director, ISC.

Working with the Industry
Regular industrial visits where students get to engage with experts are the norms at ISC. Even the industry experts visit the campus regularly to deliver guest lectures and seminars on the latest advancements in the fields of media and communication. These tie-ups also give way to a lot of practical exposure through field and onsite visits for the students. Further, to add on to the confidence, the institute encourages the students

to participate in seminars, conferences and workshops in and outside the campus.

"ISC creates plenty of opportunities for trainees to engage in such networking"

Along with the industry tie-ups, the strong alumni network also plays the role of significance in the training of students. "We have huge alumni network with approximately 1500 members, this helps us in providing internship opportunities for existing students andconducting guest lecturers on relevant topics as many of our alumni members are either working with the reputed firms or have eared industry stardom,thesealumni interactionsenhance the knowledge and career opportunities," claims Prof. Garg. The popular Bollywood actress Sonali Kulkarni, Rahul Sharma (Chief copy editor at The Times of India), Sanidhya Jain (Star Sports, Mumbai) and Jeevan Thomas (Head of content and operations, Times of India Bangalore) are few among the strong alumni network maintained by the institute.

Giving the Right Break
Indira School of Communication believes in placing all students in reputed companies by understanding the calibre of each candidate. "Our recent graduates, Jeevan Thomas (2011-2013) working with Times of India, Bangalore draws a handsome salary of 18lakhs per annum," proudly claims Prof. Garg. With good amount of internships and hands on participation in real projects, the institute hone the skills of the student to meet the industrial requirements. A large number of trainees receive formal and informal offers during internships. ISC creates plenty of opportunities for trainees to engage in such networking. "Top media channels, production houses, Ad and PR agencies, research organizations and companies visit our campus for recruitments. Some of our top recruiters areBBC, The Indian Express, The Times of India, Media Corp. Ltd, The Hindustan Times and so on," adds Prof. Garg.

Mock interviews, group discussions, personality development sessions, arranging seminars and technical talks are some of the pre-placement activities done at ISC. In addition to these, students are also trained in professional resume writing, event management programmes and many more. "When most of the colleges engage only in PG placements, here at ISC, efforts are given to place both our PG and UG students as well. Generally 60 percent of the UG and 80 percent of PG students get placed through campus placements in the industry and remaining usually opt for higher studies or chose to freelance," says Prof. Garg.

As an institute known for its infrastructure and industry interface, ISC is equipped with the state-of-the-art audio-video editing set-up with latest software, professional acting studio, auditoriums, still and video cameras. The provision of latest workstations and interactive smart classrooms with audiovisual units and the one-to-one, one-to-many video conferencing facilities show that the ISC is poised to achieve greater heights in the coming years. "Our six-month acting course is already a highly sort after course now. As we are moving closer to conduct our 12th convocation in 2018, we have plans to start short-term courses in specializations like Photography, Editing, Film and Production," concludes Prof. Garg.

Prof. Renu Garg, Director
Served as faculty for AnupamKher's Actor Prepares, The school for actors and as a visiting faculty at The National Institute of Design Ahmadabad and The School for liberal studies Ahmadabad, she has gained more than ten years of experience in Acting, actor training and teaching. She has also worked with International directors like Rob Clair and Martin Houghton. As a teacher, she encourages her students to think beyond the classroom and enjoys working with young artists who have a creative flair.