BC NDP adds Bhangra to the growing list of credit-earning cultural dances

PENTICTON — British Columbia already hands out high school credits for hip hop. Now Bhangra is getting the same treatment..British Columbia high school students can already earn graduation credits for studying ballet, jazz, contemporary dance or hip hop. On Thursday it became official that Bhangra has joined the list.The Ministry of Education and Child Care has approved Punjabi Folk Dance as an external credential for Grades 10, 11 and 12. Eligible students can now claim elective credits toward their high school diploma by training in the 'high-energy Punjabi folk' form through the Royal Academy of Punjab Society in Surrey.Academy general manager Hardeep Sahota spent roughly ten years pushing for the recognition. He first became certified through the Canadian Dance Teachers Association in 2012, developed a syllabus, and saw an earlier version of the program reach the ministry in 2016 before it was shut down. He revived the application later with an expanded curriculum that ties technique to Punjabi history and culture and aligns with the ministry’s existing dance standards..In the ministry’s eyes, the same logic already applies to hip hop and the rest. External credentials for various dance forms have existed for years and so this most recent move simply adds another option to the menu. Credits may count toward the arts education requirement or as electives. The program is open to any student in the province, not only those from South Asian backgrounds.It is the latest move by the B.C. NDP government to cater to the province’s rapidly growing South Asian diaspora. Just three weeks earlier, the province and the City of Delta announced a first-of-its-kind dedicated ash-scattering site along the Fraser River at Fraser Viewpoint on Tilbury Island, explicitly framed as meeting the cultural and religious needs of South Asian families who wish to disperse cremated remains in running water according to Sikh and Hindu funeral traditions.

BC NDP adds Bhangra to the growing list of credit-earning cultural dances

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