Dedicated undergraduate, post-graduate degrees, school syllabi for budding gamers, animators soon
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, December 26
Budding animators, gamers and visual effect artists will soon find their hobbies mainstreamed in the Indian educational and job systems with the government readying school curriculum and dedicated undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in the booming AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics).
The idea is to unleash the potential of the segment which has the capacity to create 20 lakh jobs by 2030, as against current employment based of 1.85 lakh people.
As the roadmap to help India replicate the IT boom in the AVGC sector, the governmental AVGC taskforce on Monday recommended a range of measures to prepare a landscape for education, skilling and employment of sector enthusiasts.
Top suggestion is the creation of NCERT- and CBSE-approved school curricula for the segment from Class 6 to 12 level and institution of dedicated UGC approved undergraduate and post-graduate degrees.
Among 10 degree courses, the AVGC task force has recommended for formalisation by the UGC — Bachelor/ PG in Experiential Arts (Gaming); Bachelor in Graphic Arts (Comics and Animation Design); Bachelor in Cinematic Arts (Comics/Animation/VFX); Bachelor of Creative Arts and Sciences; Bachelor in Visual Arts (separate degrees for Game Art Design; Visual Effects; Animation Art and Design Digital filmmaking) and Bachelor of Science in Game Development.
The task force headed by Information and Broadcasting secretary Aporva Chandra submitted its recommendations to the government on Monday suggesting a National AVGC Mission to implement the roadmap.
By the next academic session, the education inistry will prepare a panel of AVGC experts for higher educational institutions to choose from. “AVGC sector experts will be permitted to teach under UGC’s Professor of Practice scheme and the panel of experts to choose from will be ready by the next session,” Higher Education Secretary K Sanjay Murthy said.
By 2024, the government hopes for 400 universities to offer AVGC courses with the content being developed in close collaboration with industry experts led by Ashish Kulkarni of the Shaktimaan animation series fame.
The AVGC industry is globally a USD 370 billion economy with animation making up USD 170 billion and gaming USD 200 billion. India’s share in the global market is just one per cent.
“Standardisation of AVGC education content will help boost the sector’s potential,” Chandra said.
The taskforce was formed in April this year in line with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget announcement regarding the same.
Story Highlights
- AVGC sector is set to witness a growth of 14-16 per cent in the next decade.
- Indian animation sector has grown by 24 per cent in 2021 to reach USD 370 Million: FICCI.
- The VFX industry grew 103 per cent in 2021 to reach USD 474 million. It is estimated that the industry would be worth almost USD 1.7 billion by fiscal year 2024, indicating a significant growth potential.
- The Indian Animation and Visual Effects industry has the potential to command 20-25 per cent of the global market share by 2025: Media and Entertainment Industry report.
- VFX and Animation can be the next boom for India and play a fundamental role in India becoming a USD 100 billion M&E industry by 2030: Government.
