National Music Plan unveiled with an ensemble of cuts
A national plan of music tuition for every UK child was announced today for 2012 to the tune of vastly reduced funding
A national plan for music teaching in England with some inspiration taken from Chvez's Venezuela is to be rolled out from summer next year.
The National Music Plan, jointly set out by education secretary Michael Gove and culture minister Ed Vaizey, aims to give every child, regardless of where they live or how well off they are, the chance to learn to play a musical instrument. "Hubs" will be created to provide music education locally.
But they will do so on vastly reduced funding. At the moment, 82.5m is allocated for music tuition by the Department for Education, via local authorities. The money will drop to 75m from April 2012, 63m the following year and down to 58m in 2014-15.
Under the plan, an extra 1m will be devoted to extending In Harmony, a music-education scheme in Norwich, Liverpool and Lambeth inspired by the Venezuelan El Sistema, a radical social-inclusion project in which children from the poorest backgrounds are given intensive music education to help them escape the poverty trap.
But the most significant change is the decision to replace local-authority music services, which a recent government-commissioned report described as patchy excellent in some areas, but with quality varying hugely across the country.
Existing music services as well as other suitably qualified organisations or venues can apply to become hubs. They may cover one or more local authority, and it is expected that professional orchestras and ensembles in the area will be involved in the! ir local hub.
The restructuring means that most children learning instruments, whether inside or outside the classroom, will do so through their local music hub. They will provide support for school music teachers, be the focus for providing individual instrumental tuition and provide opportunities for children to play in ensembles and the chance to learn from locally based professional musicians.
The funding regime has been reformed such that it is now decided on a "per pupil" basis, with weighting instead for deprived areas. It is aimed to be a fairer regime, though some areas, such as Manchester, will see funding for music education drop as a result. Applications to become hubs will be assessed by Arts Council England, the arts funding body, which hitherto has not been involved in adminstering funds from the Department for Education.
Applications to provide hubs close on 17 February, with announcements of the successful contenders in April. The new organisations will be providing musical education from the autumn term of 2012.
According to Gove: "All pupils should have the opportunity to enjoy and play music. However, for far too long, music educatrion has been patchy across the country. Pupils from the poorest backgrounds have suffered most from this situation, creating a musical divide. The national plan for music will deliver a music education system that encourages everyone, whatever their background, to enjoy music and help those with real talent to flourish as brilliant musicians."
The plan has, in principle, been broadly welcomed by the music world, though serious concerns remain about the severe drop in funding. According to John Summers, managing director of the Hall in Manchester, "The aspirations are terrific, and it feels like a move in the right direc! tion. Bu t the most disappointing thing is the money. There is a 20% reduction between now and 2014 without even factoring in inflation. That's massive. It's all very well to have great aspirations, but if you haven't the money to fulfill it, what is the point? We are all having to absorb cuts, but this is a dramatic one. The funding is dreadful."
Virginia Haworth-Galt, chief executive of Federation of Music Services, which supports and represents regional music services, said: "The FMS welcomes the government's introduction of a national plan for music education with protected funding over three years. We are pleased that the ambition of the plan focuses on core music service principles of first access, progression, ensembles and singing; we believe that hubs can build on the work of music services and schools and will improve the opportunities for all children and young people However, we still remain concerned that when this reduction in central funding is added to the many local authority cuts already announced there will be a detrimental effect on overall music provision."
There are also concerns that the aspirations of the plan will be undermined unless music forms part of the national curriculum. The findings of a review into the national curriculum will be published in the new year.
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