Vaam wants visual arts subjects in schools

Visual Arts Association of Malawi (Vaam) has called on government to consider introducing visual arts subjects in both primary and secondary schools and make it compulsory.

Vaam executive committee member Charles Kamwana said the group hardly receives young people interested in visual arts because they are not introduced to the career while young.

“We are not growing because there are few artists and the artists take long to learn the job because they are introduced to the basics while already in serious business. I believe we would have a good team if most people were exposed to the career while in school,” said Kamwana.

He added that it does not make sense to introduce students to visual arts in college.

“How can you expect a student to do well in a subject introduced to him or her while already in college? It does not make sense to have visual arts at Chancellor College when we do not have it at primary and secondary. It is our plea that these should be incorporated in both basic and secondary curriculums,” he said.

Kamwana also said his office has met authorities at Domasi College of Education to help them in lobbying for inclusion of visual arts subjects, but have failed.

He, however, said they are lobbying authorities to consider their request to include the subjects in the curriculum.