Serelisoni Moceica and a Wansolwara correspondent
SUVA (Fiji Times /Wansolwara/ Pacific Media Watch): Outstanding student journalists of the University of the South Pacific have been rewarded for their hard work at their annual media awards.
"This is an event that is a priority for the school and we’re sure to have a crop of really good journalists graduating through our programme," said Professor Sudesh Mishra, head of the School of Language, Arts and Media (SLAM).
The dean of the Faculty of Arts and Law, Dr Akanisi Kedrayate, said the event was dedicated to journalism students and the programme for their efforts throughout the year.
She said the faculty had plans to develop the programme.
"We're proud to announce that we're finishing touch-ups before reopening the Radio Pasifika station with $90,000 spent by the faculty," Dr Kedrayate said.
She also revealed plans to push for the programme to receive international accreditation.
Journalism discipline coordinator Dr Marc Edge is also considering plans for broader media awards.
A total of 13 students received awards ranging from editor's certificates for the award-winning programme newspaper Wansolwara to the $1000 Vodafone Prize for the Journalism Student of the Year which was awarded to Jasvin Lala.
Followed her dream
“This award and cash incentive acts as a motivator that hard work does pay off and stimulates the mindset of the upcoming graduating students that their effort will not be wasted but appreciated,” she was quoted on the Vodafone website as saying.
Born and raised in Suva, Jasvin Lala is a young mother and lives with her husband in Tamavua.
Her interest in journalism began in high school and she was inspired by her teachers to pursue a media career.
Being the eldest in the family, Lala took on a leading role to help her parents look after her five younger siblings.
After leaving high school, her circumstances changed. She got married and a few years later gave birth to her son, yet she never gave up her dream to further her studies at USP and become a journalist.
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