A Scottish council’s decision to move its instrumental music services to an arm’s-length body marks a “dangerous precedent”, MSPs heard today.
Last week, despite widespread criticism, East Ayrshire Council voted to transfer its instrumental music services to the East Ayrshire Leisure Trust.
Today, Conservative MSP Brian Whittle raised concerns that this “cost-saving measure” drew “a distinction between music tuition for Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) qualifications and tuition for younger pupils or extracurricular activity”.
He argued that a two-tier approach to education had been created, where SQA music courses in the senior phase of secondary school were more important than other forms of tuition.
Mr Whittle said: “I am concerned that the degradation of music education sets a dangerous precedent, which puts access to music education for younger pupils at risk.”
In 2021, the Scottish government committed to abolishing fees for instrumental music tuition in schools, alongside other measures designed to enhance the status of music. Since then, there has been a big rise in numbers taking music lessons, but there are fears that such progress will be reversed by decisions like that in East Ayrshire.
In response to Mr Whittle, higher and further education minister Graeme Dey told the Scottish Parliament that it was “for individual councils to make decisions about their own provision, albeit in a context in which music education is a core part of the curriculum and there is equity of access to instrumental music tuition”.
Move ‘designed to protect music’
He explained that East Ayrshire Council had given the Scottish government officials “assurances that it is not its intention to reintroduce charging and that the move is, in fact, designed to protect the service from potential cuts to education”.
Mr Dey added: “I understand that the council has indicated that pupils will continue to have music under the school curriculum, and it has insisted that there are no plans to introduce a two-tier tuition model that separates SQA tuition from non-SQA tuition.”
After East Ayrshire Council took its decision last week, EIS teaching union assistant secretary Anne Keenan said: “This is a terrible decision by East Ayrshire Council, which will significantly downgrade the status of instrumental music teaching in East Ayrshire’s schools, undermining key Scottish government manifesto commitments and diluting the educational focus of this key service.”
Ms Keenan added: “It is not too late for East Ayrshire Council to stop this reckless course of action and recommit to delivering the best possible instrumental music education for young people.”
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