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Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development to hold inaugural graduation
CHIPAWO
March 14, 2006

Saturday 18 March is the inaugural Graduation for the Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development (ZAAED) in conjunction with The Midlands State University (MSU). The ceremony will be at ZAAED 5 Morningside Road, Mount Pleasant from 1 to 4pm.

Twenty- four students will be graduating on that day, 7 with a Diploma in Media Arts, 17 in Performing Arts accredited by MSU. At the same event 10 Arts Educators who participated in a ten-day workshop in January will also be issued with SIDA Arts Educators professional certificates. The Principal of ZAAED, Mr. Stephen Chifunyise, will give the congratulatory speech.

Among the guests will be the Ambassador of the Swedish Embassy, National Arts Council Director Mr. Titus Chipangura, Ministry of Higher Education Permanent Secretary Dr. Washington Mbizvo, Prof. C. Harford, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Mr. Advice Viriri Chairperson of African Languages and Culture Department at the Midlands State University.

The issuing of Diplomas and certificates by ZAAED came about following the signing of a memorandum of Agreement for Associate status with MSU. This agreement provides for joint administration of approved courses or programmes of studies in arts education leading to a University- conferred Diploma in Performing Arts and Media Arts through the Faculty of Arts at the Midlands State University.

The founding of ZAAED was through the Poverty Alleviation Through The Arts Training and Job Creation project initiated by CHIPAWO in July 2001 and supported by the Danish Amateur Theatre Association.

The objective of the project was to train selected school leavers and youths as arts or media education for development workers, thus providing employment opportunities to selected youths, enhancing and enriching the pool of instructional skills in the performing arts in Zimbabwe.

As an outcome of this project, CHIPAWO established an academy for arts education, the first such institution in the country in 2002. In the pilot project, the Academy’s intake was of 15 students who enrolled for a Diploma in Performing Arts and 10 for a Diploma in Media Arts to graduate on Saturday.

Another exciting component of the Academy is the Centre for Music and Musical Instruments Development, which develops music, research on Zimbabwean instruments of the past and the present, and work on developing them. ZAAED also houses a Library and Documentation Research Centre in aid of researchers and students in the arts, also the first of its kind in the country.

Besides the Diplomas in Media Arts and Performing Arts, the Academy also offers Certificates in Music, Dance, Theatre, and Musical Instruments Manufacture. The Academy also offers its services to other institutions with have training needs, and has done so for the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, Unicef and Unesco.

Through the Academy, CHIPAWO is further sharpening the skills of artists and empowering the master artists who are highly skilled but have no academic qualification. The Academy therefore recognises the skills of artists as a sufficient entrance qualification.

Almost all educational institutions in the country stipulate as a pre-condition O- Level or A- Level qualification and use the English Language as the means of communicating both orally and literary. The strength of the Academy, however is that there is use of the mother language, and where they cannot write well, students are encouraged to communicate and participate orally.

The Academy’s development objective is therefore to alleviate poverty among artists in Zimbabwe, by enhancing the employability of young artists in marginalized residential areas of Harare by a projected 5 percent over three years.

The programme is set to also include performances by the graduates as well as the Cool Steel Zimbabwe’s first Steelband.

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