Communication in the realm of development

Pervin Malhotra             

Q. I’m pursuing BA (Hons) in English and would like to do something in the development sector. What is Development Communication?  — Gouri Malhotra

A.Excellent thought! Development communication is the integration of strategic communication in development projects.

Strategic communication is a powerful tool that can improve the chances of success of development projects. It’s aimed at behaviour change, not just information dissemination, education, or raising awareness.

While the latter are necessary ingredients of communication, they are not sufficient for getting people to change long-established practices or behaviour.

All development requires some kind of behaviour change on the part of stakeholders. Research shows that changing knowledge and attitudes doesn’t necessarily translate into behaviour change. To effect behaviour change, it’s necessary to understand why people do what they do and understand the barriers to change or adopting new practices. It’s not enough to raise awareness of the "benefits", it’s critical to understand peoples' barriers or the "costs" they perceive such a change would entail.

Meaningful communication is all about informing specific audiences, listening to their feedback, and responding appropriately. Whether discussing a development project or broader economic reforms — from health, education or rural development to private sector development, financial reform or judicial reform — the idea is to build consensus through raising public understanding and generating well-informed dialogue among stakeholders.

Well-conceived, professionally implemented communication programmes that are tied directly to reform efforts or development project objectives that bring understanding of local political, social and cultural realities to bear in the design of development programmes can make the difference between a project’s success and failure.

Studying Development Communication will equip you to become a skilled planner, manager, designer or implementer to optimally and appropriately utilise communication within the realm of the development field.

Should I shift to IB school

Q. I am currently in Class IX. My parents want me to move to an IB school as we are planning to shift to USA in a couple of years. Is there any advantage of doing so like getting credits etc?  — Kavita Singh

A.The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme offers a challenging high school curriculum and thus it will be helpful to you after moving to USA.  Quite like a liberal arts curriculum, the IB system offers a wide range of academic studies and extracurricular activities. The IB Diploma  is a comprehensive two-year programme comprising six courses and a philosophy class (Theory of Knowledge). You have to score a minimum number of points in each class, complete an independent research paper, fulfill the requirements for Theory of Knowledge, and complete 100 hours of creativity, activity, and service (CAS) to complete the program and earn the IB diploma

For students interested in applying to college abroad, the IB programme is widely recognised in most countries (including the US).  Regardless of whether or not it fetches you real credits, your IB scores may well allow you to skip certain courses and perhaps even graduate early -- depending on a college’s specific credit-granting policy.

The challenging IB programme will give you an edge in college admissions in USA. Look up leading high schools in your area that offer the programme. Admission may require you to complete a special application. Once admitted, you become an IB “candidate” i.e. you’re eligible to receive the IB Diploma if you clear your IB exams.

While students can enter the IB programme in elementary school itself, most students take it after class 10.

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