Christopher Timbe, a retired veteran music educator, has urged teachers to cotnstantly upgrade their competences in the teaching of visual and performing arts (vpa) until they become industrial leaders in their own right.
He made the remarks as guest of honour at the graduation of 22 teachers at the the Music Consultancy Society of Zimbabwe Music Academy (MCSZ).
Timbe, who has wide industrial and consultancy competencies in music and the arts in general, found it easy to move around the stage in speech, dancing and singing while playing the guitar and mbira, resultantly, making himself elaborately clear on the graduating theme: Championing innovation industrialisation community service and research in the teaching of VPA.
The entertainment interludes from seasoned poets and musicians like Mambo Guramatunhu (Ngonidzashe Paradza) who also directed the proceedings, Nyanduri Nyama (Augustine Khondiwa), Sekuru Soro (Ashiber Matyora), Munyaradzi Munodawafa, Joseph Garakara, Tryson Chimbetu and Sample Chigumbu portrayed the cultural diversity in the performance arts.
munyaradzi Munodawafa’s keyboard and piano antics almost sent the gathering into a chaotic trance. Competitively, most of the joy was provided by the enigmatic dances of Hwamanda dance troupe which performed nyambera, dinhe, muchongoyo and mbende dances in a classical and exhilarating manner.
Munodawafa and the Chipadza Sons were soothing and sentimental as they sampled their rendition of Mechanic Manyeruke’s hit Makorokoto.
Music Consultancy Society of Zimbabwe Music Academy offers certificates and diplomas in visual and performance arts and is run on block release and on-line basis. The courses are founded on education 5.0 which focuses on five pillars namely: research, teaching, community service, innovation and industrialisation and that's according to the Zimbabwean Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology ministry. On the occasion of the MCSZ 6th graduation, 122 graduates were capped including Sekuru Chipadza a retired headmaster and father of Assiel Tavonga Chipadza, MCSZ director who was awarded an honorary diploma in VPA. Freemental Nhembo, a music teacher at a local school, was the best diploma student in VPA with distinctions in piano, dance and marimba whereas Lorraine Magwizi was the best in voice, Raveena-visual arts, Rebecca Musora (mbira), Kudakwashe Mavengedze (saxophone), Polite Moyo (recorder), Kwenda Mukorera and Janet Gogo (the most dedicated students).
Timbe said teachers and students should capture all the best practices in schools and society as means and ways of showcasing the best usage of knowledge acquired through VPA.
“VPA in line with education 5.0 focuses on the use of new technologies to provide more humanised teaching, with a focus on the students' social and emotional development and solutions that improve life. Let us admit that we had humble beginnings and through research and our nurtured mindsets we have been leading innovators and have set the pace in the manufacturing of African music instruments such as nyunga nyunga mbira, marimba, zvigufe, zvipamhanzi and mikwati yenyere which we sold to schools teaching VPA and music,” Timbe said.
Assiel Tavonga Chipadza MCSZ director believes that innovation in education is commonly perceived as a process of solving a real problem in a new, simple way to promote equitable learning. Innovation in education comes from identifying problems, watching and learning from others and developing new methods to address these problems.
“Thus far MCSZ Music Consultancy Academy has gone again, this year 2024 alone, we have conducted over forty VPA workshops for primary schoolteachers and students with the intent to enlighten the students on syllabus aspects on best practice of teaching music, dance, theatre, film, drawing, painting and performance techniques. We have also clarified several issues from past examination papers and we are hoping for improved and uniform good pass rates across all schools, Chipadza said.
Erick Mutanga programme officer National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) congratulated the graduands and challenged them to make it a priority to effectively utilise the knowledge they have acquired. He challenged the graduands to fully embrace digital technologies in order to penetrate regional and international markets.
“As NACZ we would like to encourage you fellow graduates to take music as a business as many artistes are earning a living and becoming popularly known as mbingas, Shona colloquial for rich persons,” Mutanga said.
Farai Jingura MCSZ board chairperson highlighted that their institution has, with very limited resources, risen to be a powerhouse in the teaching and training of VPA teachers. He said he had confidence in all his teaching and management staff, adding that the institution was striving to be a regional and international learning centre.
Richard Barura, sales and marketing manager Bovie Medical Aid, said every teacher should lead by example in promoting health gains through investing in a medical aid schemes.
