The students would have one class session of traditional music each week, instead of only one to four class sessions each academic year. — Illustrative image/ Photo fpt.edu.vn

HCM CITY (VNS) —  HCM City People’s Committee plans to include traditional music as an extracurricular activity in 48 primary and secondary schools in the upcoming 2016-2017 academic year and all schools in the 2017-2018 year.

The proposal is part of the city’s plan for music education by 2020, according to the city’s Department of Education and Training.

The students would have one class session of traditional music each week, instead of only one to four class sessions each academic year.

By 2020, different kinds of traditional music such as nhạc ngũ cung, cải lương (reformed theatre), hát bội (classical Vietnamese opera) and others will be added to the music curricula.

Primary and secondary schools students will be taught basic knowledge about traditional music and the use of musical instruments.

Traditional music performances of artists and students will also be included each year, and more clubs for students of traditional music will also be set up.

A shortage of teachers is the main barrier to setting up the project. In the city’s five outlying districts, there are no music teachers.

The city has only 96 primary teachers and 16 secondary teachers who know how to play traditional music instruments.

At a workshop on the draft held last week, Bùi Anh Tôn, a music specialist for the department’s secondary education division, said that traditional music education in primary schools had been offered since the 2013-2014 academic year.

However, only several schools work with local cultural offices or artists to organise traditional music exchange programmes for students.

There are few folk songs in the music curricula, and as a result, students are not exposed to the significant treasure of the country’s traditional music. — VNS