Deputy President William Ruto said the government will work with the Kenya Music Commission and other relevant organisations in developing young talent in the arts, particularly in music and drama/DPPS
Speaking in Nakuru after being entertained by the winners of this year’s music festival, Deputy President William Ruto said the government will work with the Kenya Music Commission and other relevant organisations in developing young talent in the arts, particularly in music and drama.
Noting that music and drama can be used for social transformation, the Deputy President said there was need to harness and nurture talent from primary school to the university level to create a reservoir of artists who can excel in other disciplines other than only in the academics.
“As government we will work with county governments to provide the facilities and create the necessary institutional framework to ensure talent in music, drama and film making in given the best attention,” he said.
Ruto called for a proper line budget to the relevant ministries to build more middle level colleges that will develop talent in drama and music apart from formal education.
The Deputy President went on to say in as much as it was important for students to work hard while pursuing academic excellence, students with special talent in the arts, drama and music should be identified at an early age and be assisted to excel in those areas.
“Not everyone can be gifted in the academia but they could be very talented in the arts. These are the people who should be assisted to grow their talent,” he added.
Ruto commended the richness and the diversity in the content of the presentations noting that they represented the beauty and diversity of the country. He noted that it was in line with the theme of the festival of “Enhancing Unity in Diversity.”
Cabinet Secretary for Education Science and Technology Jacob Kaimenyi called for the integration of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the developing talent in schools noting it would be in sync with the government programme to supply laptops to schools.
The Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang observed that of the 100,000 participants in the music festival only 34,000 were boys adding there was need to encourage more boys to participate in the music festival as they stood to benefit both socially and economically.
The Chairman of the Kenya Music festival Peter Wanjohi said his committee would strive to further enrich content to help propagate social values and safeguard the youth from moral decadence.
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