With three title-sponsored bands and as a partner of the steelpan industry, NGC recognises the importance of education and training to the sustainability of our country’s national instrument. In 2018, NGC signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the MIC Institute of Technology (MIC-IT) for the delivery of a customised Mechanical Engineering Technology with Steelpan Manufacturing Programme. In September 2022, after surmounting the many challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, six members from NGC-sponsored bands—successfully completed the programme.
“The opportunity that NGC and MIC-IT has provided me to expand on my craft as a pannist has been invaluable. I am eager to apply my newly gained knowledge on pan manufacturing and tuning not only to benefit my band and the larger steelpan industry, but also to continue growing and honing my individual skills”—Victor Daniel, La Brea Nightingales.
The triumph of the six newly trained pan artisans deserves special recognition as the group persevered through the many physical restrictions and periods of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the unexpected constraints, the pannists remain committed to their learning and were trained in the areas of sinking and counter sinking, marking, grooving, setting/backing cutting and tuning of the steelpan.