SECTOR 4 4.9 Media professionals have access to training facilitates offering formal qualification programmes as well as opportunities to upgrade skills. With regards to academic training there has been a repeated stop-and-go (as in 1974 due to increased cost). The teaching unit at the University of Antananarivo was re-opened in 1995, with a call for admissions at the end of which only 25 persons were selected. The World Bank funded this structure, affiliated to the faculty of humanities of the University. The Interdisciplinary Department of Vocational Training (DIPFP) offered further training. There was initially some confusion around the training offered. Journalism and communication, which are not the same, were indiscriminately lumped together. As a result, other private universities were set up such as the SAMIS-ESIC (Sekoly Ambony momba ny Ita sy ny Serasera / École Supérieure d’Information et de Communication) of the Collège Saint Michel of Antananarivo and ESSVA (Ecole Supérieure Spécialisée du Vakinankaratra) of the Diocese of Ansirabe (160km from Antananarivo) both Catholic. Non-confessional universities were also set up, such as the ESMGC (Ecole Supérieure de Maintenance de Gestion et de Communication) of the ACEEM group (Action Culturelle pour l’Education et l’Enseignement à Madagascar), situated in Mahajanga. For a few years now professional organisations have been offering training to build journalists’capacity15, as well as projects that are criticised for failing to respond to journalists’ needs, but rather to the need or agenda of the organization. Community radio stations are the beneficiaries of one such training session a year. Concerning the public service, the Director General of the national broadcaster organised an internal capacity-building programme for reporters and news presenters, run over six months in 2011, and was thus able to refresh (and increase) the skills level of a vast majority of his staff. The biggest challenge for training today consists in journalists who were trained in traditional academic structures, as well as those trained within professional organisations or development projects in various fields (crisis management, covering elections…) not always sharing their skills with their media houses. They rather cash in their talents in the communication sector. Hence a panellist is drawn to say that we need to stop training journalists. 15 Search for common ground and the European Union on the resolution of the conflicts in Madagascar. 112 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MADAGASCAR