Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Vol. 195 No. 12

School Curriculum.

Senator Cecilia Keaveney

The last time I raised this issue was in December 2007. The issue is the sub-committee on education and the arts under the Arts Act 2003. I was Chairman of the Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs when it dealt with the Arts Bill. As a result of the Arts Act coming into force, the then Minister, Deputy John O'Donoghue, agreed to establish sub-committees to examine special areas of interest.

The first sub-committee formed examined the traditional arts. I was pleased, as was Senator Ó Murchú, with the results of that sub-committee because it established not only the priority that should be given to the traditional arts but also a funding mechanism of €3 million in that year.

The second sub-committee, on arts and education, was established in 2004. Its report was to have been finalised in May 2007. I and many others involved in the arts consider the link between arts and education very important, especially now as we battle the economic recession and recognise the need for creative and entrepreneurial citizens who can add to the variety of employers and employees in our communities. Last week at a Council of Europe meeting in Paris the OECD referred to the challenges in producing these entrepreneurs to assist us in emerging from the recession. My point then and now was and is that the education system must be reformed internationally to encourage and support creative thought from the youngest ages instead of imparting facts and effectively smothering such free thinking and exploration that is found through engagement with the arts. This is virtually ignored at a statutory level.

However, I would say that, given my background as a musician. I have researched the issue of how young people's involvement in music changes the shape of their brains and their ability to cope with life, education, co-ordination and many other core features of reality. In later years, exposure to music gives them a better ability to cope with diseases and syndromes that might affect them as they grow older. One cannot overstate the role of music in personal development.

What has emerged from the sub-committee on arts and education? What effort has been made to deliver a joint approach from the Arts Council, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment? Until this sub-committee was formed, if one asked a question of the Minister for Education and Science about the arts, he or she would reply that it was a matter for the Arts Council and if one asked the same question of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, he or she would reply that it was an education matter. It went from Billy to Jack. What I sought was a report that had the imprimatur and acceptance of both Departments. What has been received to date, half way through 2009, as a result of the Arts Act of 2003?

The Arts Council cannot impose its will on the education system. At the same time, the education system, having produced various reports on the arts, cannot provide all the expertise needed for music education. Music is supposed to be part of the curriculum in primary school and it is a subject in the leaving certificate examinations. It provides an important opportunity for personal development for people like me.

I declare again my interest in that I have a BMus, MPhil, PGCE, LTCL and as many letters as one probably would want. Music provided me with a career opportunity and although it may not do so for everyone, it gives everyone the opportunity to improve their quality of life, now and in the future.

It is vital not only for the arts but for forthcoming generations and their ability to live their lives in an imaginative and new manner that the results arrived at by the sub-committee, which was set up following a brave battle, are disclosed, published and pursued. The Arts Council presented the former Minister and Deputy, the late Séamus Brennan, with the sub-committee report in 2007. As the report had not yet been published it was deemed inappropriate to comment on its recommendations in December 2007 when I last raised this issue. The special committee's remit was to make specific recommendations for implementation over three to five years. Time is passing.

I am aware that I will again hear great endorsements by the Departments of the key role of the arts in education, but surely it is time to engage seriously in delivering now, in association with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Forfás and all the State agencies involved in job creation and the targeting of resources. Is it not time to prioritise our primary and pre-primary children so their innovation will deliver change and not more of the same in years to come?

The Minister was considering the report in late 2007. He intended to discuss it with his colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, and with the Arts Council. The personnel involved have changed in that time. The Minister's officials had bilateral discussions with the Department of Education and Science and the Arts Council. All three parties were due to meet in early 2008 to discuss its recommendations in further detail. Are those discussions ongoing? Is it still premature for the Minister to comment further? I believe it is time for action.

Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism (Deputy Martin Mansergh)

I am replying on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Martin Cullen. I am pleased to have the opportunity provided by Senator Keaveney to deal with the matter. I acknowledge her experience and expertise in the subject and that of the Acting Chairman, Senator Ó Murchú.

This report, Points of Alignment, produced by the special committee on arts and education, under the auspices of the Arts Council, brought forward a number of comprehensive and thought-provoking recommendations. The members of the special committee are to be congratulated on their considerable work in producing this document. The report recommended, inter alia, the establishment of a national unit for education and the arts. This was to be managed on an inter-agency basis to implement policy objectives and provide a range of services. It was to support local networking, and monitor, research and inform best practice and policy-making. The unit would also provide a website and promote virtual learning. It would have a role in co-ordinating, promoting and funding the work of proposed new local arts area partnerships.

The report envisaged the funding of these local partnerships to promote synergy between local authorities, vocational education committees, teachers, education centres, schools and third level colleges. The vision set out in the report saw the introduction of an "arts in education practice" model. This would involve skilled professionals working with schools, both within and outside of school. Its aim would be to enrich the curriculum, by promoting best practice and quality in arts education in schools and by widening school-community links. In addition, to complement and support these actions, the report recommended substantial increases in Arts Council funding and resources to support artists and arts organisations working in arts in education.

When the arts and education committee was established, its terms of reference specifically required it to take account of the fact "that the budgetary resources likely to be available over the next four years to the Minister for Education and Science for development of services in the education sector must be allocated to fund existing policy commitments". Although the committee was established in 2006, the terms of reference were framed to take account of the competing needs for future investment in education. These included the significant increases in enrolment due to demographic change, provision of new schools in developing areas, as well as integration and language supports for newcomer children. The areas of combating educational disadvantage, investment in curriculum reform, professional development of teachers, investment in strategic research and innovation in higher education were also issues to be addressed.

When the Points of Alignment report was finalised, the Department held a number of meetings with the Arts Council and the Department of Education and Science to examine how best the recommendations in the report could be progressed, taking account of the public expenditure constraints at that time. While a range of proposals was considered for the embryonic establishment of an arts in education unit with modest staffing, it was not possible to reach agreement on the scale of the vision enshrined in the report. Since then the budgetary difficulties have become acute and it is evident that new cost-increasing measures must be deferred for the foreseeable future.

I am aware from our colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, that the State invests significantly in arts education at present. Arts education — visual arts, music and drama — forms a significant part of the primary curriculum which has been rolled out in the period from 1999 to 2007. The implementation of the arts curriculum was supported by comprehensive investment in professional development for teachers.

Courses for craft and design and in music and art are integrated variously into the junior, leaving and leaving applied certificate cycles at post-primary level. Transition year programmes also offer a variety of modules which stimulate pupils' interest in the arts in general and which, in many cases, give them the opportunity, in their own classrooms and in other contexts, to interact with practising artists.

In addition to supporting music in the curriculum a substantial additional allocation of teaching posts has been given to a range of vocational education committees to support music education. This takes the form of individual tuition in instrumental and vocal music education and supports for choirs, orchestras and ensembles. Through this, 68,000 hours of music tuition are provided annually. This investment is supplemented through a series of summer programmes in the arts in disadvantaged schools, a music initiative under which schools in disadvantaged areas are given once-off funds to purchase or replace musical instruments, and two music network projects.

It should be noted that within the constraints of the existing system, the education and arts sectors co-operate fully to ensure the optimal delivery of services. The artists in schools guidelines issued to schools, which were developed by the Department of Education and Science and the Arts Council working in partnership, are an important resource in informing schools of how best to plan, implement and evaluate partnerships with local artists and organisations which will provide stimulating and interesting learning experiences for children. They encapsulate the vision of arts in education practice which is set out in the points of alignment report. The music network projects are also important examples of collaboration between VECs, schools, artists, local authorities and county and city development boards to add scale and synergy to provide increased access to arts education on a strategic area basis.

We agree that giving the arts a higher and more consistent profile at primary and post-primary level can benefit the students concerned significantly and, ultimately, society. It is important to stress that this applies to all students and not just those recognised as being gifted artistically. Given that, as is the case in sport, the future of the arts resides with our children, it is vital the arts are embedded at all levels in our education system.

This debate is taking place owing to the significant investment made in recent years by the Government to the capital and everyday costs of the broad range of arts entities. The Department has allocated €90 million in the past five years towards the cost of providing vital arts and cultural infrastructure and venues for communities to present the arts in all their forms. Complementary to this activity, the Arts Council's resources have increased exponentially from €47.67 million in 2002 to more than €73.35 million in 2009, which is approximately €8 million less than last year. The Arts Council has at pursued all times a policy of engaging with young people, whether through its specific programmes or by its support of organisations specialising in arts in education interventions, such as The Ark and Team in Dublin, and of theatrical groups. These are signs of maturity in our arts role and the integration of the arts into every aspect of our society. We intend, when resources permit, to revisit the proposed actions in this report.

I am glad to have had the opportunity to give the Senator some detail on the state of play so that she knows how and where to proceed next in pursuing what are worthwhile recommendations. I understand she will find the present state of play somewhat disappointing.

Senator Cecilia Keaveney

I know I have a friend in the Minister of State. He mentioned primary and post-primary education. There is the new initiative of a free preschool year of early childhood care and education. Our focus must be on the arts in pre-primary school and not just in primary and post-primary education. I fully agree with arts for all; it is exactly my point. However, how are we to get people to think about the arts for employment and not just the arts for arts' sake?

I could argue the issue of money all day. If people were involved and gainfully employed in the arts or even with music therapy, we might not have to spend €15 billion on health or more than €20 million on social welfare. We are talking about millions. I know the Minister of State is on my side in this matter. It is a question of how we can convince the establishment that the arts are central to life, life learning and development. There are probably not enough hours left in the night to get an answer on it. We need to keep plugging the battle against the norms. I do not want the normal education. I want a completely different education, but how do we start that?

Deputy Martin Mansergh

I make the point in almost every arts related speech I make that I am very conscious that an estimated 50,000 people are involved or employed in different arts organisations. There is not a community in the country I have encountered in any town of any size that does not have many different arts activities. More than half our tourism industry is what one might call culturally related, including heritage. There are countries in Europe that may understand better than we do the economic importance of the arts from an employment and tourism industry point of view. It also has an effect on people's morale and sense of identity, which is very important. There is a better understanding of that than was the case 20 or 30 years ago, but considerable further progress remains to be made. One still hears voices, political and otherwise, talking about the arts as if they were an optional extra. They are very much not an optional extra. They are needed as an integral part of national life.

The Seanad adjourned at 6.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 27 May 2009.