The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country’s
largest union for teachers and lecturers, has published a new
briefing highlighting the stark challenges facing instrumental
music provision in Scotland’s schools during the COVID-19
pandemic. The EIS recently surveyed its Instrumental Music
Teachers (IMTs) across Scotland, and their responses have been
incorporated into the new briefing paper (copy attached).
The key issues identified include:
- Inconsistent approaches in the delivery of Instrumental Music
Tuition across Scotland, with IMTs in some areas unable to return
safely to school and having to adapt and develop new approaches
for practical online teaching – often with insufficient resources
and support.
- The damaging impact of the pandemic on young people’s access
to music tuition, particularly those currently studying for SQA
qualifications and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Legitimate fears that any reduction in provision could lead
to fewer students learning music, with serious implications for
the future of instrumental music service and for IMT jobs.
There are also serious concerns that the growing practice of
charging for Instrumental Music tuition is having a direct impact
on pupil participation and on equity of provision.
27 local authorities have now introduced some form of charging
regime, through the introduction of tuition fees, instrument hire
charges or a combination of both, leaving only 5 Councils across
Scotland, where there are no costs associated with access to
Instrumental Music Tuition.
Even more worrying is the dramatic increase in the level of
charging which we have seen in recent years. In some areas of
Scotland, annual charges are now in excess of £300 per pupil,
with charges reaching £524 per annum in one authority.
The result is that while non-charging local authorities have seen
an increase in pupil numbers of 31.4% since 2012/13, charging
authorities have had an overall decline of 12.7% in pupil numbers
over the same period.
Commenting, EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said, “Scotland
is rapidly moving towards a scenario where only children from
well-off families can learn to play an instrument. This is unjust
and unacceptable. We must reverse the trend of charging to allow
free access to music education for all, particularly those for
whom the poverty-related attainment gap has widened as a result
of COVID-19.”
