To fuel passion for the arts, Delhi government launches mobile music classroom
As part of the project, a bus equipped with an in-built studio and other facilities will reach out to government school students across the city, and children from economically weaker sections to encourage them to learn audio production, graphic designing and filmmaking.
New Delhi: The Delhi government on Saturday launched a mobile classroom that will be used for skilling and motivating students with a passion for the arts. As part of the Music Bus project, a bus equipped with an in-built studio and other facilities will reach out to government school students across the city, and children from economically weaker sections to encourage them to learn audio production, graphic designing and filmmaking.
Launching the mobile musical classroom, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, said children will no longer need to go out to learn music. “The music bus would reach the children at large, identify their artistic passion and lay a foundation upon which the School of Specialized Excellence would build upon and assist these children in pursuing their passion and achieve success in that field,” said Sisodia, adding that the initiative will help children with artistic talent who are often asked to prioritise academics over art.
While the idea for the bus was floated by a group of government school students, it is funded as part of a CSR tie-up. Under the project, a bus has been transformed into a mobile music class equipped with a music recording studio and a performing stage. The mobile studio is also equipped with a Smart TV, which will be used to share digital educational music videos on issues related to social-emotional health and well-being, the government said in a press release.
Talking about the new project, Sisodia said the government started the School of Specialized Excellence to encourage students to focus on their passion from a young age. He said the performing and visual arts domain of the School of Specialized Excellence will ensure that, for an artist, art is also treated as education.
School of Specialized Excellence offer specialised education to students of classes 9 to 12 in four domains — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), humanities, performing and visual arts, and ‘high-end 21st-century skills’.
“Until now, only science was considered as the subject of specialized education but School of Specialized Education will change this perception where children will be given specialized education in various fields. If we are not able to bring the talent of the children in front of the country and society, then this is not the fault of the child but the system. The School of Specialized Education will work to overcome this shortcoming,” he said.
The government aims to reach 5000 children from government schools as well as low-income communities who will be given the chance to learn music through regular workshops conducted by trained facilitators, as part of the music bus project. Weekly music workshops and monthly happy circles for the betterment of social and emotional health of children will also be conducted through the music bus.“The overall aim is to deliver happiness to children and enable them to discover their potential, through music as a creative tool of transformation,” the government said.