Education

Yamaha: Japanese-style Music Education Using Recorders Begins at Public Primary Schools in India

May 15, 2023

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spj_india — Classes at public primary school in India

Sharing the Joy of Music and Musical Instruments with Children Worldwide

Hamamatsu, Japan: In cooperation with the Delhi Board of School Education, Yamaha Corporation (below, “Yamaha”) introduced Japanese-style instrumental music education using recorders for grade V students at ten public primary schools in India in April. Programs using recorders and keyboards have been offered as extra-curriculum activities at private primary schools in India since 2017, but this is the first time a program will be offered as part of public primary school classes. The program offered by Yamaha not only includes technical recorder instruction, but also incorporates groupwork and discussion within classes to cultivate mutual understanding. Preceding the start of the classes, music teacher training is being conducted with an emphasis on using a holistic learning approach. Yamaha aims to expand the program to more schools in Delhi in the future. “Introduction of Japanese-style music education in primary education in India” was adopted by MEXT as a 2022 EDU-Port Japan^*1 Supported Project

About School Project

As a comprehensive musical instruments manufacturer, Yamaha has been promoting the advantages of music and instrumental music education to music education sites around the world. In particular, Yamaha’s School Project, which it has been developing principally in emerging countries since 2015, is an initiative with the aim of popularizing activities using music and musical instruments in public education to convey the joy of music and musical instruments. To date, Yamaha has provided a total of 2,020,000 children (as of March 2023) in seven countries—Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt—with opportunities to learn instrumental music, helping to create an environment where children can enjoy music and playing musical instruments.

Through this activity, Yamaha aims to contribute to Goal 4: “Quality Education,” Goal 10: “Reduced Inequalities,” Goal 16: “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions,” and Goal 17: “Partnerships for the Goals” of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as to develop children’s non-cognitive skills through music and instrumental music education and to formulate a business model for musical education activities tailored to the educational situation in schools around the world.

Comments from Yasuhiro Yonehara, First Secretary, Embassy of Japan in India

Walking through the streets of India, one can hear music along with the bustling of the city. In Bollywood films, actors can be seen dancing joyfully to upbeat songs. Indian people are very familiar with music, and I feel that music is an integral part of their lives. How exciting it is when Indian children pick up a recorder, an unfamiliar instrument, learn to play it and create music. I sincerely wish that this initiative, which is making this possible, will be a huge success.

–Press release through Business Wire India