Trinidad &
Tobago, WI -
The Pan in
Schools
Coordinating
Council
helps to
introduce
new music
technology
to the
classroom
and develop
young pan
tuners.
In 1999 a
group of
school
teachers
with a deep
interest in
the
development
of the
steelpan,
came
together to
form the Pan
in Schools
Coordinating
Council (PSCC).
The past ten
years of the
organisation’s
history has
had a
significant
impact on
the formal
introduction
of steelpan
into the
classroom.
This has
helped to
create a
positive
outlook of
Trinidad and
Tobago’s
place on the
steel pan
world stage.
The main
sponsors of
the PSCC
have
included the
Ministry of
Education,
BP Trinidad
and Tobago
LLC and BG
Trinidad and
Tobago
Limited.
In 2000 the
PSCC, along
with the
Ministry of
Education,
hosted
teachers
from 99
primary
schools, 33
secondary
schools and
members of
the pan
fraternity
in a
‘Consultation
to Introduce
Pan in
Schools’. As
a result the
PSCC
developed a
document
proposing
the creation
of a Pan in
the
Classroom
Unit (PICU)
in the
Ministry of
Education.
This
proposal was
fully
endorsed and
now the PICU
has the
mandate to
administer
the
establishment
of steel
bands in all
schools.
PSCC
continues to
work closely
with PICU
and the
Ministry of
Education in
this regard.
BG Trinidad
and Tobago
has been the
main sponsor
of the
PSCC’s
“Introductory
Pan tuning
Programme in
the Science
& Technology
of Pan
Tuning”
which has
been done in
collaboration
with the
Steelpan
Development
Centre of
the Faculty
of
Engineering
, University
of the West
Indies. For
more than
five years
this project
has
developed
pan tuning
skills among
the nation’s
secondary
schools
students
producing a
new cadre of
young
persons that
apply
technical
skills and
scientific
knowledge to
the
production
of steel
pans. This
year, PSCC
delivered a
16 piece
steel pan
orchestra to
BG Trinidad
and Tobago
for the
Golden Grove
Maximum
Security
Prison’s
Music
Programme.
These
instruments
were
constructed
by the
graduates of
the Pan
Tuning
Workshop
under the
direction of
Master
Tuner, Jimmi
Phillip.
PSCC is in
the process
of
completing
the fifth
series of
this
programme,
which over
eighty
persons have
completed to
date.
The Pan In
Schools
Coordinating
Council
received a
Spirit of
Community
Award from
BP Trinidad
and Tobago (bpTT).
The proceeds
of this
award funded
the training
for music
teachers in
the areas of
Teaching
Music
Literacy
using
computer
programs.
This
activity
helped equip
music
teachers
with the
skills
needed to
develop
modern
approaches
to teaching
music theory
and the
documentation
of the
musical
ideas of our
budding
arrangers
and
composers.
Over the
years, bpTT
has also
supported
PSCC
workshops in
Drumming,
Pan
Arranging
with
computer
software and
more
recently
Minor
Percussion
and Music
Composition
for CSEC
students.
An
Inter-American
Development
Bank’s
Cultural
Fund
subsidized a
five month
Sound
Engineering
Programme
for teachers
and students
which
commenced in
September
2008. The
PSCC was
pleased to
have been
one of the
applicants
in 26
countries to
have
received
grants, out
of a total
of 783
applicants
around the
world. The
program
included the
placement of
microphones
for
recording
steel pan
and parang
ensembles.
A signature
product of
the PSCC has
been the
“Hands-on”
series of
workshops
held at the
NIHERST
National
Science
Centre
annually
since 2003.
Every year
over two
hundred
children
from primary
and
secondary
schools have
attended
these one
day
workshops
and engaged
in a range
of
experiences
from pan
making to
storytelling.
Teachers
have also
been given
ideas of how
to integrate
the steelpan
into the
curriculum.
The PSCC
hosted the
very
successful
National
Junior
Steelband
Music
Festival
from 1999 to
2005. In
2006, the
Ministry of
Education
headed the
event
administration,
organizing a
tri-party
structure
with PICU,
Pan Trinbago
and PSCC.
This
structure
has also
been
extended to
encompass
the National
Junior
Panorama
competitions.
Over the
decade PCSS
has used a
consistently
collaborative
approach and
has enjoyed
the support
of other
progressive
and
community
focused
organizations
such as the
National Gas
Company of
Trinidad and
Tobago
Limited,
NIHERST
National
Science
Centre, the
Steelpan
Development
Centre and
the
Department
of Creative
and Festival
Arts of the
University
of the West
Indies, The
Metal
Industries
Company, the
Trinidad and
Tobago
Instruments
Limited, Pan
Trinbago,
The Trinidad
and Tobago
Unifies
Teachers
Association
and most
recently,
the National
Energy
Skills
Centre,
Laventille.
From
the News
Desk of Pan in Schools Coordinating Council (PSCC)
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