Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:272. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills the budget spent by his Department on the provision of music tuition for children in each of the past ten years. [23733/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 29 May 2018
Ceisteanna (272)
Freagraí scríofa
My Department is engaged in a range of activities around the provision of music tuition for children and young people.
Exact expenditure figures regarding the teaching of Music in primary and post-primary schools are not available, as funding is not allocated by my Department on a subject-by-subject basis. However, there is curricular provision for music at both primary and post-primary levels.
In primary schools, the music curriculum provides for pupils to develop an awareness of musical concepts. Music education forms part of the Arts Education curriculum area, comprising music, visual arts and drama, in respect of which a minimum of 3 hours tuition time per week is recommended, with 2 hours and 30 minutes for infant classes. Additionally, the primary curriculum allocates discretionary tuition time which may be spent on music.
In post-primary schools, the decision to offer music for junior and senior cycle lies with individual schools. Music at both junior and senior cycle consists of a series of interrelated musical activities aimed at developing performing, composing and listening skills.
Outside of the mainstream school curriculum for music, many initiatives and bodies are provided with funding by my Department who, at their discretion, may allocate funding to music education, or may allocate a portion of funding to music education for children.
For example, the Creative Engagement programme is managed by the NAPD (National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals). Each year projects are produced in schools under this programme, ranging from theatre and film through to sculpture and music. My Department is one of the sponsors of the programme with an annual contribution of €55,000.
My Department also provides funding to the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland. An annual payment of €60,000 has been made since 2014. The Orchestra was established in 1995 as a peace initiative and is composed of over 100 young musicians from all over Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Additionally, my Department funds Music Generation which was established in 2009, following philanthropic donations from U2 and the Ireland Funds. Following this, Music Generation established 11 Music Education Partnerships (MEPs) in 12 counties.
In 2014, my Department began funding Music Generation’s 11 MEPs. Funding increased in the following years as follows:
|
Year |
Amount |
|
2014 |
€300k |
|
2015 |
€1.39m |
|
2016 |
€2.4m |
|
2017 |
€2.485m |
|
2018 |
€2.485m |
In 2017, my Department committed to the expansion of Music Generation, with a further 9 MEPs being announced. These are initially to be funded with philanthropic funding, with my Department commencing funding when philanthropic funding ceases.
As part of Creative Youth, the plan for Pillar 1 of the Government’s Creative Ireland programme, Government has also committed to the national expansion of Music Generation by 2022.
My Department also established a Non-Mainstream Music Education Bursary in 2016. The total amount available for award was €50,000 that year, which was increased to €100,000 in 2017. This increased amount has been retained for 2018.
Co-operation hours are teaching hours provided for a range of activities to a number of Education and Training Boards (ETBs). Though not all hours are used for the provision of music education for children, a significant portion of the hours allocated to each ETB are used for this purpose. The estimate of expenditure for each of the past 10 years is as follows:
|
Year |
Amount |
|
2008/09 |
€6.2m |
|
2009/10 |
€6.2m |
|
2010/11 |
€5.9m |
|
2011/12 |
€6.0m |
|
2012/13 |
€6.0m |
|
2013/14 |
€6.2m |
|
2014/15 |
€6.1m |
|
2015/16 |
€5.9m |
|
2016/17 |
€5.9m |
|
2017/18 |
€5.9m |