This week, on Thursday, September 18, four schools, all tertiary colleges specialising in the creative arts disciplines in Guyana, will hold their 2014 Convocation ceremony at the National Cultural Centre. These are the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama, which is new; the National School of Music; and the two oldest and most established institutions – the National School of Dance and the Burrowes School of Art. The Schools of Music and Dance, although they have been training performers, will have a convocation for the first time, while the two-year old School of Drama has its second such ceremony after its inaugural exercise last year. What is new for them all, is that it will be the first joint convocation under the new umbrella of the Institute of Creative Arts being set up by the Ministry of Culture.
This joint Convocation signals the arrival of the Institute that will be coordinating the four schools which have been running as independent units. The newest of them is the School of Theatre Arts and Drama which graduated its first set of students in 2013 and is now about to certify its second on Thursday. Last year 12 drama students successfully completed the programme with a Diploma in Theatre Arts and Drama. There is a slightly increased number graduating this year in both the Certificate in Theatre Arts and the Diploma.
The School of Music was established by the Ministry of Culture and has been offering tuition in music and proficiency in performing instruments for a number of years to persons of
