Over the past few years, many people have spoken in favour of introducing music education to the national school curriculum. This is not a new phenomenon. Experiments of this nature were carried out in the 19th century as well. Of course, classical musicians continue to argue that it is their system of music that is best suited to teaching at the school level.
But how would children respond to a style of music that they do not listen to regularly, that they rarely encounter, in fact? Has anything been done to prepare coursework, creating resource materials, and above all, providing a vision to music education in schools? Unfortunately, none of these questions have been addressed in great detail. Some schools have offered music in their curriculum, as per the recommendation of the National Curriculum Framework in 2005 to introduce arts education in schools. But this has remained largely in the domain of classical music. Syllabi followed by specialised music institutions have been rehashed and put to use in regular schools.
To discuss these and related issues, a conclave was organised by the Delhi Public School, Varanasi, in 2012. The panelists included educationists, musicians, scholars, and teachers, from across the country.
The first session was an overview of music education in schools in the past and the present.
Session two looked at creating resources and teaching aids necessary for a music curriculum.
The third session focused on the current position with regard to the music curriculum for schools and for teachers’ training colleges.
The concluding session was a detailed exercise in trying to come to a broad framework and a universally acceptable music curriculum for schools.
Participants included Dr Vidyadhar Vyas (Former Head, Department of Music, University of Mumbai, and Former Vice-Chancellor, Bhatkhande Music Institute University, Lucknow), Shruti Sadolikar Katkar (Vice-Chancellor, Bhatkhande Music Institute University, Lucknow), Dr. Sharada Velankar (Dean, Faculty of Performing Arts, BHU), Annie Koshi (Principal, St. Mary's School, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi), Sunil Batra (Director Education, Shikshantar School, Gurgaon, and Director, Shiksharth), Anupama Prakash (Consultant, IFA), Sumana Chandrashekar (IFA), Sameer Dublay (Associate Professor, FLAME, Pune), Harshesh Mehta (Teacher, Primary School, Dandi, Gujarat), Anil Srinivasan (Pianist and music educator).
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But how would children respond to a style of music that they do not listen to regularly, that they rarely encounter, in fact? Has anything been done to prepare coursework, creating resource materials, and above all, providing a vision to music education in schools? Unfortunately, none of these questions have been addressed in great detail. Some schools have offered music in their curriculum, as per the recommendation of the National Curriculum Framework in 2005 to introduce arts education in schools. But this has remained largely in the domain of classical music. Syllabi followed by specialised music institutions have been rehashed and put to use in regular schools.
To discuss these and related issues, a conclave was organised by the Delhi Public School, Varanasi, in 2012. The panelists included educationists, musicians, scholars, and teachers, from across the country.
The first session was an overview of music education in schools in the past and the present.
Session two looked at creating resources and teaching aids necessary for a music curriculum.
The third session focused on the current position with regard to the music curriculum for schools and for teachers’ training colleges.
The concluding session was a detailed exercise in trying to come to a broad framework and a universally acceptable music curriculum for schools.
Participants included Dr Vidyadhar Vyas (Former Head, Department of Music, University of Mumbai, and Former Vice-Chancellor, Bhatkhande Music Institute University, Lucknow), Shruti Sadolikar Katkar (Vice-Chancellor, Bhatkhande Music Institute University, Lucknow), Dr. Sharada Velankar (Dean, Faculty of Performing Arts, BHU), Annie Koshi (Principal, St. Mary's School, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi), Sunil Batra (Director Education, Shikshantar School, Gurgaon, and Director, Shiksharth), Anupama Prakash (Consultant, IFA), Sumana Chandrashekar (IFA), Sameer Dublay (Associate Professor, FLAME, Pune), Harshesh Mehta (Teacher, Primary School, Dandi, Gujarat), Anil Srinivasan (Pianist and music educator).
