Participants at the Ithmaar Forum. The Ithmaar media training programme won the Kuwait Creativity Award.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Sharjah Press Club (SPC) of Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB) hosted on Saturday the first Ithmaar Forum for the graduates of Ithmaar media training programme at the University of Sharjah. Ithmaar is an annual media training initiative of the SPC that is dedicated to children and young people, with the aim of initiating and building their media capabilities and talents, and consolidating media awareness among the new generation from the ages of 10 to 17 years.

The SPC, which operates under the umbrella of the SGMB, is keen to maintain permanent channels of communication with members and graduates of the Ithmaar media training programme and involve them in various media activities and initiatives that help build their skills and a media generation that is capable of pursuing its professional journey according to the highest quality standards.

The Forum featured the World of Ithmaar, which showcased the graduates’ stories and their interesting experiences and achievements in various media fields, including working as a television presenter, presenting radio programmes and doing photography etc., which would have a positive impact on their colleagues.

The Forum also featured ‘mind games’ and ‘media trends’ for students to come up with ideas that meet their aspirations. On this occasion, the Idea Hat method was used, which allows Ithmaar graduates to participate by writing ideas, voting for them, and discussing them.

The Ithmaar programme has so far trained 114 children and young people, who underwent 104 hours of training covering 33 topics presented by 41 qualified and experienced trainers who represent major local and international media institutions.

SUPPORT AND TRAINING: Speaking on the occasion, Asma Al Juwaied, Manager of the Sharjah Press Club, said this unique forum, bringing together graduates of the Ithmaar programme since its launch in 2019, aims to enhance communication with graduates and create a special media community for them that is cohesive and supportive of exchanging experiences and knowledge, strengthening the media capabilities of graduates, and enabling them to face challenges and achieve distinguished achievements in the media field and their own professional career.

INSPIRING EXPERIENCES:  School student Shouq Khalil Sahakooh said she is working towards realising her passion in the media sector thanks to the annual training programme adopted by the SPC five years ago.

Shouq says that the annual training programme (Ithmaar) helped her discover her passion for media and build her basic skills to launch her path towards the future and achieve many positive results by writing newspaper articles and participating in the Global Media Congress in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah Youth Debates, in addition to presenting the Together Friends programme.

Student Ali Hamid Al-Loughani recounted his experience with the Ithmaar programme, through which he acquired various skills in leadership, time management, and teamwork, in addition to various media skills in writing, photography, and montage, which led him to participate in the Fann platform for media discovery, through which he has been working on learning photography, writing scripts, and implementing projects with a creative vision thanks to the training offered by Ithmaar.

Tala Hikmat said her Ithmaar training was the starting point for her media passion and learning skills and experiences in writing texts, press reports, public speaking, press coverage, photography and other skills that led her to achieve tangible results in the media field, including awards and appreciations, after going through training and internship in many stations. She even presented an innovative programme on social media platforms on television, and is leading her school media team.

During the meeting, a brainstorming session was organised to understand the students’ needs in the field of media, their future expectations, and the training programmes they aspire to obtain. An open space was provided for discussion about the requirements.

It is noteworthy that the Ithmaar media training programme won the Kuwait Creativity Award.