Music and drama 'at risk of only being available to families who can afford it'
GCSE subjects such as drama, music and media are at risk of disappearing from state schools and being available only to children whose families who can afford to have them educated privately, a headteachers’ union warned today.
The decline in provisional entries for some creative arts subjects has been described as “worrying” by the Association of School and College Leaders.
Entries in drama fell 5.4 per cent this year compared with last, music was down 3.6 per cent, and media, film and TV studies dropped 3.3 per cent, according to provisional figures from Ofqual.
Design and technology was down five per cent.
There is a rich tradition of music tuition in schools in the West Midlands, with scores of state school children learning in lessons and through organisations such as Wolverhampton Music Service’s renowned Youth Orchestra.
But Geoff Barton, general secretary of ASCL, said such excellence is at risk and urged the Government to “make state education a priority and fund it properly”, highlighting the “huge extra cost pressures” faced by schools due to rising energy costs. He said: “It is worrying to see that the number of GCSE entries to several creative arts subjects, as well as design and technology, have fallen this year – part of a long-term decline in these subjects.”
“This is driven by Government performance measures which favour traditional academic subjects at the expense of other subjects, and funding pressures which make small classes difficult to sustain.
“Schools now face huge extra cost pressures because of rising energy costs and pay awards for which there is no additional government funding.
“This will make it even more difficult to sustain small-entry subjects and there is a danger that some of these subjects will largely disappear from the state education system and become the preserve only of families who are wealthy enough to afford private schools and clubs. The Government must make state education a priority and fund it properly.”
The Department for Education said it provides a range of tools to help them get best value from resources. It said it advises those in serious financial difficulty to contact their LEA or the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
