MUSIC FOR LITERACY DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The Music for Literacy Development project was a 20-week intervention for the development of literacy and language skills for 6-8 year old pupils in 7 primary schools in Nyanza in the counties of Kisumu (rural) and Siaya. The project activities were advised by a baseline survey carried out in May/June 2013 in 5 counties in the country, namely Nairobi, Vihiga, Kakamega, Kisumu, and Siaya, which had established that there was music in the primary schools although taught and used informally since it is not in the school examination syllabus. It also established that there were limited resources for music and most schools gave priority to sports in their Free Primary School budget rather than in music as a co-curriculum activity. In schools where there was music, resources such as instruments would normally be improvised by especially learners and teachers.