A petition to the Scottish Parliament is gathering signatures, calling for free lessons to be available to all Scottish state school students who wish to learn a musical instrument.
The petition is asking for their request to be guaranteed in law by the Scottish Parliament.
Caroline Sewell, MU Regional Organiser for Scotland and Northern Ireland underlines the importance of the petition:
“We are in the midst of a crisis, and yet we consistently see more cuts and more charges. These impact the poorest students with the greatest force, and also the livelihoods of our music teachers. We urge everyone to sign the petition.”
Pop-up Orchestra
Campaigners will be raising awareness of the petition with a pop-up orchestra in Glasgow on Tuesday 12 June, and would like to invite musicians of all abilities (and playing all instruments) to join them.
Postcode Lottery for Young Learners
Caroline adds that the current situation in Scotland is leading to a ‘postcode lottery’ for children who wish to learn musical instruments:
“Music services have been struggling to survive amidst year on year cuts to local authority budgets and subsequently, cuts to education budgets.
This has had a direct impact on an ever-reducing number of Instrumental Music Teachers (1,110 to 640 over the past ten years) and a huge increase in local authority charges for music tuition.
There exists nothing short of a postcode lottery for music services between local authorities.
Charges vary wildly for lessons and instrument hire and yet in some authorities there is no charge at all. Two thirds of local authorities now charge for instrumental tuition and fees are continuing to rise, with parents struggling to meet these costs.”
Get Involved
Protect music teachers and help children in Scotland gain fair access to instrumental tuition by signing and sharing the petition online.
Follow the campaign as it develops over social media, and have your say, using the hashtag #changethetune