Battling for arts education

Workers in the arts continue their fight to reverse decades of cuts in government funding. The Arts and Minds Campaign wants the arts and literature to be restored to the schools core curriculum. And not just as a token measure, but fully funded.

Members of Actors Equity, the Musicians’ Union, the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematography and Television Union, the Public and Commercial Services Union and other supporting unions joined forces on 13 February during “Heart Unions” week.

Grand Tour

They conducted their second walking Grand Tour protest around key London national cultural sites. Starting out from TUC HQ at Congress House in Bloomsbury where the Creative and Leisure Industries Committee coordinates members in the sector, they took in the British Museum, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the British Library, also visiting the National Education Union offices at Hamilton House.

Arts and Minds includes more than 20 organisations. In February they were joined by leading arts performers and culture secretary Lisa Nandy at Tate Modern for the campaign launch. The campaign’s primary aim is that all children should be able to study arts subjects, and that arts funding in schools should be fully restored.

Costly

The campaign is calling for costly audition fees to colleges of music and drama to be waived. Otherwise only well-heeled applicants can establish themselves in artistic careers now and working class talent is excluded.

Sarah Kilpatrick, NEU president, said that the arts make a significant contribution to the British economy, and they also bring open minds and creativity.

“Musicians’ Union members care passionately about access to music education for all children.”

Musicians Union national organiser Chris Walters said, “MU members care passionately about access to music education for all children, regardless of their ability to pay. I am delighted that this campaign seeks to unite all art forms, showing that the same struggles are common across all of us. Together, we will hold the Labour government to its manifesto pledges to support arts subjects in education.”

The Labour government is promising the earth for schools in the forthcoming curriculum review. But there’s no sign yet of it reversing the previous government’s university level cuts to arts subjects.

Denied opportunity

Participation in arts subjects at GCSE has fallen by over 40 per cent since 2010. And many parents cannot afford extra-curricular arts activities. The result is denied opportunity.

School leaders point to a lack of funding. At GCSE level, one in four school leaders say they do not have enough funding for teachers and resources, or they do not have the necessary facilities. And more than one-third cannot find specialist teachers for these subjects.