
By Neha Gohil | The Guardian |
A music examination in Sikh sacred music, thought to be the first of its kind, will launch in the UK this week in a move described as an “important step” in diversifying music education.
The examination, introduced by the Music Teachers’ Board (MTB) on Friday, will see the music known as Kirtan become part of the universal eight grade examination system.
Dr Harjinder Lallie, the co-director of the Gurmat Sangeet academy based in Birmingham, spearheaded the idea and said it will enable more pupils studying Sikh sacred music to be recognised and appreciated for their talents.
“I’ve felt that the music, the Kirtan, needs rigour, relevance and value,” he said. “Rigour in the sense that the syllabus needs to be rigorous, coordinated, coherent … relevant to the world. We’ve got violin exams, piano exams, and Kirtan deserves to be the same.
“It needs to have a chair at the table. The complexity of what we do is actually comparable and it’s significant.”
Lallie, who has studied Kirtan for more than 40 years and teaches about 130 pupils, added: “We’ve got kids learning Kirtan all over the UK, all over the world. We want those kids to earn something out of it … to feel that what they’ve done has been valued.”
The examination will see south Asian string instruments including the dilruba, taus, esraj, sarangi and saranda added to the MTB’s syllabus. According to organisers, this marks the first time a globally recognised grading system has been introduced to measure student ability in Kirtan and such instruments.
Like other music examinations, pupils who achieve grades six to eight will gain Ucas tariff points that can contribute towards their entry requirements for universities in the UK.
See full story here.
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