MUST’s musicology degree course

When I read in The Nation of Monday this week that Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) has introduced Bachelor of Arts in African Musicology (BAM), I could not help it but being flippantly unconvinced.

I thought it was just one of those things the tertiary level of our national education loves to do, without anything else perceptible to show for it.

My reaction was justifiably informed. I have argued on these pages before that there is no music personality or music establishment of note that has emerged out the Chancellor College of the University of Malawi which teaches music through the performing arts or something like that.

I asked the communication and corporate office of MUST, which will be providing the course through the faculty of Bingu School of Culture and Heritage, to explain to me what exactly the course entails before I could speak out my mind.

To say that I am unreservedly impressed will be an understatement.

This is why.  MUST didn’t just wake up one day to introduce this four year degree programme. But word from the institution is that it was in response to Malawi government’s national policy initiatives. Although the one that explicitly informed it is the National Cultural Policy which is built on, among other things, the county’s development strategies.

The third Malawi Development and Growth Strategy calls for the promotion of culture as a main contributor to tourism development while the Vision 20:20 aspires for vibrant culture by the year 2020. The university realized that these strategies could not be achieved without some abetting tools and as institution of higher learning, its involvement to accomplishing this is through this degree course.

I am also well informed that the university’s curriculum team, conducted countrywide needs assessments on music, which it describes as a facet of culture, the findings of which were considered during the process of developing this degree programme.

Looking at this intended needs is another music to my ears. The degree will produce well qualified, skilled and competent graduates who will serve in the broad range of sectors including broadcasting, theatre, multimedia, and music industry in Malawi.   

To borrow MUST’s aspirations as presented in its own words; the degree ‘programme will produce graduates who will display the following characteristics appropriate for the aforementioned sectors: knowledge and understanding; application and practice; generic cognitive skills; information and communication technology competence, innovation and entrepreneurship skills; autonomy, accountability and teamwork’.

The 20 students that the university will be taking in to pursue the degree course every academic year ‘will contribute towards achieving the Malawi national initiatives by producing musicologists that are well grounded in subject matter and very competent to deliver goods and services effectively in the country and beyond’.

For years I have can pleaded for the inclusion of a course in music in our technical colleges. I have even called on the Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education Authority (Teveta) do something about music. Unfortunately there has never been any response.

My argument is that here has never been one single trade that has generated youthful interest in Malawi at any given time than music. Mostly the young ones have started from a scratch and self-taught themselves to produce, market, promote and sell music without any formal training.

I have also argued that it’s high time we as a country had a musical identity where one would easily describe such music as Malawi’s own genre.

Now the university says the African Musicology becomes a multidisciplinary programme of study that will deal with the science and the art of music and their unique connections within the culture and heritage context. How about that?

With this programme, I now realise we are set for great things musically!