H-Metro
Rest Mutore
ALICK Macheso yesterday traded his guitar for the ‘chalkboard’ when he spent the day taking school children through music ropes.
Macheso had to set up a temporary classroom at the Aquatic Complex in Chitungwiza to spend the day with pupils from Nadia’s Primary School in Hatfield. The tutorial saw pupils from ECD-A to Grade 7 discussing with the sungura kingpin, in a session that also had a question-and-answer segment.
Macheso during the event
The session, which was dubbed Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) tour, is part of the school’s fulfilment of the new curriculum requirements.
VPA, which is now an examinable subject at Grade 7, is now mandatory in primary education after the new curriculum introduced by the Government.
Speaking to H-Metro, on the sidelines of the session, Macheso said he felt honoured to spend time with pupils.
He hailed the Government for introducing the subject saying this will help music appreciated at a young age.
“I didn’t think twice when I was told about this occasion. It’s good to realise that the Government has introduced this Visual and Performing Arts subject to our children. It was good spending time with pupils, it was a session about music and we had a question-and-answer segment which was helpful.
“I was impressed by the questions and that most were coming from even those in Grade 1. They are appreciating music and this will help the industry grow,” said Macheso.
He made the presentation in presence of his band, which later performed a few songs for the pupils. Nadia’s Primary School headmaster, Lawrence Matare, said the visit was per the demands of the new curriculum.
“There is a part of African music of which sungura is part of. We saw it fit as a school to come and visit one of the sungura kings in Zimbabwe so that he can shed more light on the sungura genre.
“And, also to help the pupils, especially Grade 7s, with their VPA, the subject was a challenge for them and we saw it fit that children can get more interest into the VPA subject,” said Matare.
