The EIS teaching union has written to education secretary Jenny Gilruth and asked her to protect school instrumental music tuition, in response to a council’s plans to outsource the service in its area to an arm’s-length trust.
It fears that such a move “would fundamentally undermine key Scottish government manifesto commitments” on instrumental music and “jeopardise” its status in schools.
In 2021, the government committed to abolishing fees for instrumental music tuition in schools, alongside other promises designed to enhance the status of music. This included ensuring that school-based instrumental music teachers receive registration from the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
However, the EIS is concerned by the implications of plans at East Ayrshire Council to move its instrumental music service (IMS) from education and relocate it to an arm’s-length trust.
‘Effectively privatising key aspect of education’
In the letter to Ms Gilruth, the EIS assistant secretary for education and equality, Anne Keenan, says: “It is clear that the proposed transfer of East Ayrshire IMS to an arm’s-length trust, by an SNP-led council, will jeopardise implementation of the Scottish government’s manifesto commitments, effectively privatising a key aspect of Scottish education and thwarting plans for the continued rollout of equitable access to free instrumental music provision for all children and young people.”
Ms Keenan says that any reintroduction of charging in Scotland would “further the divide and inequity in educational provision between those who can afford to pay and those who cannot”.
The EIS also highlights that performance represents 50 per cent of the assessment in national qualifications in music and that instrumental music teachers provide “essential tuition to prepare young people to complete SQA practical assessments”.
A Scottish government spokesperson said it had “transformed instrumental music tuition in Scotland’s schools by funding councils to eradicate unfair music tuition charges.”
The spokesperson added: “This year, we are providing £12 million to local authorities to support the continued delivery of free instrumental music tuition in schools.
“It is for individual councils to make decisions around their own provision.”
Meanwhile, the EIS has also issued comments on yesterday’s UK Budget.
The announcement of £3.4 billion for public services in Scotland was welcomed by EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley.
The union said that the Scottish Budget scheduled for 4 December must now “include a meaningful ring-fenced increase in education funding to councils” that will help “address urgent challenges in respect of pupil behaviours, inadequate additional support needs provision and excessive teacher workload”.
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