As the new school term gets underway, we need to remember to value arts in the curriculum
The weather has cooled, and a fresh academic year is underway. As everyone goes back to school at the start of a new term, one organisation is stressing the importance of the arts and creativity in the curriculum.
Creative Portal says it shares the concern expressed by many others over the decline of arts subjects in the school curriculum across the UK, which it describes as ‘short-sighted’.
Creative Portal’s director, Mike Cobb-Pernak, says: “Arts education has been squeezed and sits behind subjects like maths, literacy and science. Take-up in arts subjects is falling at a time when few industries are growing faster than the creative ones.
“Yet an arts education boosts self-confidence, encourages citizenship and improves learning skills.
“If this downward trend continues, who will visit the galleries and museums in the future?”
Mr Cobb-Pernak stressed that he wasn’t downplaying the importance of other subjects, like maths and literacy, but added that future employment opportunities will require a basic grounding in arts subjects.
He’s not alone, with the CBI also lobbying for schools to do more to enhance creative skills.
And this summer, members of the National Association for the Teaching of Drama wrote in the Guardian urging the government not to ‘lose sight of re-establishing the arts as an integral part of the curriculum.’
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Notes for Editors
For further information and an interview, or photographs, contact Mike Cobb-Pernak on 07804893011 or email mike@creativeportal.co.uk