ByCaroline Sewell is Musicians’ Union regional organiser for Scotland and Northern Ireland
THERE are over 10,000 people employed in music in Scotland and music tourism generates around £334 million for our economy.
Members of the Musicians’ Union perform in our orchestras and live music venues, work as session musicians and compose award winning scores of music.
But the vast majority also rely on music teaching as part of their income at some stage in their career.
Unfortunately, school music services have been struggling to survive amidst various threats including austerity and cuts to council budgets.
As a result, there has been an ever-reducing number of instrumental music teachers and a real concern that provision of instrumental music services is being eroded to the point of no return.
There is a gulf between the rhetoric we hear at Scottish Government level and the reality in the classroom.
In 2016, John Swinney, the Education Secretary, said he considered music tuition during the course of the school day to be a part of school education and therefore should be provided free of charge.
But there is currently nothing short of a postcode lottery between local authorities and charges can vary wildly for lessons and instrument hire.
The current situation is potentially devastating for the future of music in Scotland.
If students are not learning music in school and are unable to access instruction outside, soon we will have no musicians, no orchestras, no music industry and no music teachers to teach the next generation.
We are in the midst of a crisis and yet we consistently see more cuts and more charges impacting the poorest students with the greatest force.
Music has an intrinsic value in itself, but it could actually help bridge the poverty related attainment gap the Scottish Government is trying to close.
The positive cerebral effects on other areas of learning such as literacy, numeracy and languages are well documented and yet increasingly music education is presented as a luxury reserved for those who can afford it exacerbating the gap between the haves and have nots.
Caroline Sewell is Musicians’ Union regional organiser for Scotland and Northern Ireland
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