Cinema to be taught in schools

In a bid to include cinema as an integral part of the school curriculum to develop creativity and a healthy visual culture among students, the Thiruvananthapuram-based Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (KSCA), the first academy for film and TV in India, held discussions with the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), which is going ahead with the syllabus revision process.

The Academy, which has evolved a framework on the different elements to be included in the syllabus, has proposed that SCERT should integrate it with the curriculum from middle-school to the higher-secondary level. The technical aspects of film-making (including cinematography, editing and sound recording) have been reportedly proposed for inclusion in the vocational higher secondary education.

Academy vice-chairman V.K. Joseph told a national newspaper that three camps had already been conducted for schoolteachers in association with the Sarva Siksha Abhyian. "At present, screenplays of certain internationally acknowledged films are being taught in schools but this is done in a ritualistic manner and students do not get an exposure to the creative aspects of cinema. The new system calls for a scientific approach to cinema. Students should have a serious approach to cinema and should learn it just like literature."

The Academy will also take the lead in setting up film clubs in schools and acclimatize students at all levels with world classics by organizing regular screenings, appreciation courses and workshops. The ultimate aim is to propagate the new visual culture created by the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) being held annually in the capital, he added.