President of the Youlou Pan Movement (YPM) Rodney Small is calling for there to be an improved working relationship with the Ministry of Education and National Reconciliation.
Mr. Small said a closer relationship with the education minister would aid in attaining the goal of having the steel pan, calypso and other carnival components included on the timetables of schools throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“A case that is on the table for consideration and we are still writing it, is for us to see Pan on the timetable or Calypso on the timetable and in most cases we see a lot of different stakeholders come to press conference and events but we are not seeing that close relationship or marriage with the Ministry of Education and my comment here now Mr Minister is if we can have a better working relationship with the Ministry of Education to see how we can see some of these carnival components on the timetable on our school curriculum going forward. I’m not sure if you have any comments there but this is something I would I would personally like to see as the President of Pan where we can have a lot of these cultural elements on our timetable and not just a part of our extra curriculum activities or as a workshop or as a training.” Mr. Small said.
Mr. Small’s comments were endorsed by the President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Calypsonians Association Earl “Cabba” Bennett, who emphasized the importance of youth involvement in these artforms with cultural significance to ensure their existence in the future.
