Twelve secondary schools have qualified for the finals of the Association for the Teaching of English in Malawi (Atem) drama competition.
They are Marymount Girls and Nkhata Bay Boys from the North, Our Lady of Namulenga, Mulanje Secondary, Blantyre Baptist Academy and Stella Maris Girls from the South, Kamuzu Barracks, St Maria Goretti, Loyola Jesuit and Nkhotakota from the Centre and Zomba Catholic and Malosa from the Eastern Region.
Atem president Davie Mpaso described this year’s competition as a remarkable success, noting significant improvement in the quality of drama as well as an increase in the number of participating schools.
“This year, we are seeing not only growth in numbers, but also remarkable improvement in the quality of the plays. The storytelling, stage coordination and thematic depth have significantly improved,” he said.
Mpaso said the increase in participation, particularly of community day secondary schools is encouraging to the association as it affirms the broadening of access and inclusivity in the arts.
This year’s competition is being sponsored by Standard Bank’s support for Arts, Music and Culture through their Joy of the Arts initiative to the tune of K35 million.
Standard Bank Plc head of marketing Tamanda N’gombe said the bank is supporting the national platform as part of its commitment to supporting young people and promoting Malawi’s vision 2063 through Joy of the Arts.
She said the increase in sponsorship from K25 million to K35 million has revived interest in performing arts across secondary schools and promoted the art of storytelling among young people.
“Joy of the Arts is an initiative that empowers young people to tap into their talent for national growth and development. This year’s Atem theme is a celebration of growth and progress with the theme: ‘Women at the wheel: Driving inclusive growth towards Malawi vision 2063’,” said Ng’ombe.
She said Standard Bank’s executive leadership is 50 percent female, which is also a testament to the Bank living out this year’s theme.
N’gombe said the tightly-contested divisional finals proved that English proficiency, presentation, creativity and public speaking is improving in the schools, in line with the given goal of Atem to contribute towards development of English as both an academic and business language in Malawi.
During the divisional level competition, individual and special awards were also presented, including best actor and actress, best English speaker, best supporting actor and best supporting actress.
