Thursday 28 July 2011

ISM welcomes report which highlights Government’s ‘odd’ decision to exclude music and the arts.

Following its recent inquiry, Parliament’s Education Select Committee has recommended a review of the English Baccalaureate, stating that they were ‘not clear on the rationale behind the exclusion’ of some subjects and questioning the seemingly ‘odd’ decision to exclude music from its remit.

Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) welcomed the report, saying:

‘Our own research – to be published in the near future – shows that 60% of those working in schools have already noticed a negative impact on music education since the introduction of the English Baccalaureate. 77% of these noticed a decline in the number of pupils picking music as an option. The committee therefore has rightly drawn attention to the decision to exclude music and the arts, given the Government’s stated belief that ‘involvement with the arts has a dramatic and lasting effect on young people’.’

The report specifically notes Darren Henley’s Government-commissioned Review of Music Education in England which recommends that ‘music should be included as one of the subjects that go to make up the new English Baccalaureate’ and calls for Government to review the subjects currently included in the English Baccalaureate.

Deborah Annetts, who is also Chair of the Music Education Council welcomed this recommendation saying:

‘Darren Henley was unequivocal in his recommendation that music be included in both the English Baccalaureate and the National Curriculum. We look forward to the Government giving further thought to its current policy in light of this inquiry.’

‘Music education in the UK sets the standard for the rest of the world and, as well as developing children’s musical understanding, has been shown to improve attainment in key areas such as literacy, numeracy and social skills. At the same time, the Government must also not forget that the music education in our schools feeds right through into our creative and cultural economy.’

The Committee’s report includes the following key recommendations and comments:

• “The Department for Education’s decision not to include music and art in the English Baccalaureate could be seen as odd in light of the Government’s view that “Involvement with the arts has a dramatic and lasting effect on young people” but perhaps even more so considering Michael Gove’s own words when announcing the English Baccalaureate last year: I’m proposing that the Government look at how many young people in each secondary school secure five good GCSEs including... a humanity like history or geography, art or music.”
• “[The committee] therefore recommends a review of the complement of subjects in the English Baccalaureate, following the completion of the National Curriculum Review, which should seek input not only from teachers, parents and pupils, but also from higher and further education institutions, employers, and learned societies.”
• “[The committee does] not believe the English Baccalaureate — the hybrid of a certificate and a performance measure, named after a qualification—is appropriately labelled: it is not a baccalaureate, and as it stands the name can therefore be misleading to parents, professionals and pupils.”

The Committee also criticised the lack of consultation prior to the English Baccalaureate’s introduction and warned that ‘In future, the Government should aim to give appropriate notice of, and undertake consultation with key stakeholders and the wider public on, any new performance or curriculum measures.’

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