Prof. K.S.Chandrasekar
India is growing fast outpacing Japan to be the fourth largest in the World. The demand for higher education is constantly rising, likely to be 160 million by 2025, the state support in terms of funding per student as unit, is declining. India and China will be the two biggest countries seeking higher education. Demand is growing at the rate of 20 per cent per annum in India. India has over 56,000 institutions that cater to 40 million students, supported by 16 lakh teachers. India aims to add 26 million enrolments by 2035, which requires increased investments in staff, technology and infrastructure in order to reach the GER of 50%.It is important to note that Science and Technology is being given lot of significance as compared to Arts, Humanities and Social sciences. Worldwide India is known for its arts, culture, culinary and humanities. Jammu and Kashmir has shown greater emphasis for the higher education and has been able to retain their aspiring higher education students to the state as they were earlier resorting to travel to Punjab, Himachal and Delhi. Those who were moving were primarily in the Science and Engineering programs. With the advent of more colleges and addressing more student community, the number of students opting for multiple fields have increased tremendously. It is worthwhile to note here that those seeking arts and humanities subjects are not interested in pursuing their studies in other states and want to study in the local environment. Here comes the importance of programs in this direction.
Harvard University, one of the oldest universities in the World offers both an extraordinary curricular program in music and musicology through the Department of Music, and a varied extracurricular music scene, with countless student groups performing throughout the year.Harvard provides opportunity to study and practice the performing arts through the Theatre, Dance, & Media concentration; to benefit from the work of the American Repertory Theatre – a world-class professional company in residence; and to create theatre outside of the curriculum through more than a dozen student theatre organizations as well as projects initiated by individual students. There is huge scope for performing arts in USA that many top scorers opt for this and become celebrities on their own.
University of Oxfordprovides several Master’s programs related to performing arts, including Music, Film Studies, and Fine Art. The University has a range of Master’s programs in Music, such as M.St. in Music (Performance) and MPhil in Music (Performance), offering specialized training in performance studies. Additionally, the University of Oxford offers an MFA in Fine Art, which encompasses performance and other expanded forms in both classical and western contemporary art. Performers College in Essex and Manchester offers MPA programmes and have ideal openings for the performer, choreographer, director and entrepreneur. Adelphi University in New York has created departments of Theatre, Music and Dance, as well as ample rehearsal spaces and concert halls.
University of the Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA) in Srilanka offers various degrees in performing arts, including dance, drama, and music. However, no Masters programs are to be seen. Kathmandu University in Nepal offers Master degree in Ethnomusicology. No other universities in Nepal is offering Masters Programmes. ESRA (École Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle) in France offers international postgraduate MFA Filmmaking programs and other film-related courses. 3iS International Institute of Image & Sound offers Masters Programs in filmmaking and music production. Free University of Berlin in Germany the Master of Arts in Theatre Studies (In German) is offered, students have to pay no tuition fees. Other additional expenses that the students have to incur during their stay include books and supplies charges, rent, food, utilities, etc. However prior knowledge of German is a must. MA in Drama is offered in Canada and it focuses on Theatre Studies, Drama Therapy, and Applied Theatre, with options like Theatre Practice and Theatre Directing, offered by universities like the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto. In the USA, several universities offer postgraduate (PG) courses in performing arts, including Masters Degrees in areas like music, dance, theatre, film, etc… Some programs are specifically designed for experienced performers seeking further education, while others focus on teaching, research, and theatre roles. Usually the programs are for two years duration.The Performing Arts can be considered as the arts that are performed for an audience such as music, dance, and drama. Usually they were offered as MA (Performing Arts) in Indian Universities and after UGC approved the Master of Performing Arts as MPA PG degree, all the universities have renamed the same as MPA. In India, the MPA programmes are on offer at Banaras Hindu University, Rabindra Bharathi University, University of Kerala, Pondicherry University, and Amity University etc. But these are far flung as for the J&K students are concerned. What is very important in choosing the program is to see the combination of theory and practicals. There must be 50% practicals in the MPA program in order to reach the learning outcomes.
To propagate the need for Theatre and Music, those interested in this area will be subjected to a screening test to see whether they have the aptitude for the same. That is why, it has been decided that any Bachelor’s degree student with 50% marks are eligible to study the same. Those who are studying Bachelors in Music, In Jammu and Kashmir, there was a demand for program like MPA. Jammu University and Kashmir University offers programmes in music and fine arts. Cluster University of Jammu becomes the first University in Jammu and Kashmir to offer the much sought after MPA program in Indian theatre and music from 2025 admission onwards with ample facilities in MAM College and also at the University premises through their expert professionals and academics. The University will utilise its auditoria for effective practical learning of the Indian theatre and also the music. By doing so, the long standing demand of the students of Jammu and Kashmir for the MPA program is now fulfilled. They need not travel to other states for this program. There is lot of demand in the area of Folk arts, Folk theatre and Folk music including that of Dogri language. Considering the growth in the economy and the disposable income in the hands of the people, this interest towards the Indian theatre and music will only grow. With growing interest among the citizens towards theatre as compared to films in this area, it is pertinent for institutions to focus on providing higher education in this direction.
(The author is Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu)
