The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : Varsity offers courses in musical instruments

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Varsity offers courses in musical instruments

Staff Reporter

Through its tie-up with Tiruchi-based Trinity School of Music

— Photo: R. Ashok

Grand start: M. Ponnavaikko, Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, inaugurates the Trinity School of Music, in Tiruchi on Sunday with K. Parthasarathy, Director, Institute of Entrepreneurship and Career Development, Bharathidasan University, second from left and R. Gunasekaran, Regional Assistant Director of Arts and Culture, second from right, looking on.

TIRUCHI: It is now possible for school students to obtain university certification in courses of musical instruments like guitar, keyboard, and drums.

Through its tie-up with the Tiruchi-based Trinity School of Music (TSM), Bharathidasan University has set a precedent by offering certificate and diploma courses in flexible timings. The music school functioning from six centres in and around the city already has over 300 students on its rolls.

Completion of eight years is the only eligibility norm for enrolment in a certificate course. The courses are jointly offered by the university’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Career Development (IECD) and the TSM. The objective, according to the university, is to provide opportunities for school students to identify their aptitudes and nurture their talents accordingly.

Music being all-pervasive was vital for man, the Vice-Chancellor M. Ponnavaikko said, launching the courses on Sunday in the presence of the IECD Director K. Parthasarathy and the TSM Chairman Lydia Agilan. The initiative, the VC said, was a part of the university’s overall efforts to bring about a change in the lives of people in its jurisdiction encompassing eight central districts.

The certification that the university was providing to skilled artisans consisting of school dropouts from rural areas had created opportunities for them to seek jobs abroad. Through the IECD, the university was able to integrate skill-orientation components into the degree programmes, Prof. Ponnavaikko said.

Prof. Parthasarathy said admission to school dropouts was a unique aspect of the IECD’s programmes. In a departure from the British system, the university, with its approach of reaching out to the underprivileged, has set an example worthy of emulation, he said.

Offering felicitations, R. Gunasekaran, Regional Assistant Director, Department of Art and Culture observed that accomplishments in arts also help students to perform well in academics as well. M. Joseph Irudayaraj, Professor, Department of Human Resource, St. Joseph’s College, underscored the need for parents to persevere and facilitate their wards to practice on a daily basis to achieve proficiency in the music courses.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu