Pan in schools in danger

THE EDITOR: Over two months now, all but a couple of employees (most of whom are pannists) from the Multicultural Music Programme Unit (MMPU), a facet of the Ministry of Education, formally known as Pan In The Classroom Project Unit, have had their contracts ended with no word on renewal. It is estimated to have a financial negative impact on 60 families on the lead-up to Christmas.

In addition, principals, stakeholders and service providers have been complaining, for almost two years now, that they have not received money owed for Junior Panorama 2020. Why is it that all seems to be lost in the last three years for the ones who choose to live by or be involved with the national instrument of TT?

Could it just be that the custodians of the instrument are not seeking the interests of the pan people they were elected to protect? Where is Pan Trinbago’s education officer Marcus Ash and the president of Pan Trinbago Beverly Ramsey-Moore? Why are they silent on these matters? Do they care that pan in schools is in danger?

The information out there is that there are a number of issues surrounding the employees of MMPU. At present they are at home and frustrated as there are little or no employment opportunities for musicians at this time. The parang sessions are slow. Carnival and Panorama are nonexistent. Events are few and far between.

This is not the time one can afford to be out of a job as a music educator. A job some have been employed in for over 15 years in the unit. To add insult to injury, many of these instructors are owed for different things by the ministry. Arrears, backpay, gratuity as far back as 2012, all of which the ministry has not paid.

The unit went through a huge transformation in the last two years. Retraining and retooling the instructors to operate and teach virtually. Principals, teachers and students were all pleased with the delivery as they all know the importance of music education, especially for primary schoolchildren.

People from the unit believe the minister, Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, is not aware of what is going on and would like her to step in and save the music.

Junior Panorama 2020 is leaving a bitter taste in service providers’ mouths as money owed has not been paid. Judges, maxi and truck drivers, caterers, tuners, arrangers etc have been lobbying for their money and the ministry has not honoured its end of the contracts to date. Service providers are now pledging to not offer their services again, which is making fewer and fewer businesses want to be involved with events surrounding the instrument.

The Multicultural Music Programme Unit, Pan Trinbago and the Pan in Schools Co-ordinating Council are in charge of co-ordinating the yearly event. However, the Ministry of Education is responsible for financing it. Junior calypso, junior chutney and mas have no issues but the disrespect of the national instrument continues.

As all 60 instructors and hundreds of people affected by Junior Panorama 2020 struggle to get representation to bring relief to these matters, the question everyone keeps asking is: where is Pan Trinbago and why are its officials silent?

Keith Diaz, the president of Pan Trinbago in 2012, made sure that then education minister Tim Gopeesingh kept pan in schools. Under Gopeesingh, they changed from Pan In The Classroom Project Unit to Multicultural Music Programme Unit, but the pannists were rehired. It is unfortunate that Ramsey-Moore insists on staying in office without an election but continues to do nothing for pannists.

Trinidad is now witnessing pan being incorporated in schools all over the world while it is dying in schools in the country its birth – TT.

GERARD MENDEZ

via e-mail