1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
EducationIndia

Delhi: Learning with music

03:54

This browser does not support the video element.

Katharina Schantz
April 30, 2024

Courage, self-confidence, and fun – that's what music lessons give them, say the pupils of an elementary school in Delhi. Musicians from an Indian NGO package educational content in catchy songs and show how music makes learning easier.

Music lessons with a very interactive element are a rare opportunity for children in the Indian capital. Most of them come from low-income households and attend government schools, where education is free from ages 6-14. What’s missing from the curriculum, however, are subjects like sports, arts and music.   

In the world’s most populous country, parents value maths or science, wanting their children to become doctors or engineers. That often means pressure. To challenge this perception, in 2017 Anurag Hoon and his peers founded an NGO where they use music to educate.  

They teach in government schools and at their own facilities in South Delhi.  

Reshma Arya’s classes have a special focus: female education.   

In many Indian households it’s taboo to talk explicitly about anything related to sex and sexuality.  

But the music helps, as student Sanya confirms: “Sometimes words are too heavy to express something and so it’s difficult to comprehend. But music has its own language.” 

Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW