Education & Access to Music

Everyone, regardless of physical ability, gender, age, social, cultural or geographical origin, should be able to engage in music from childhood. Music education in schools is one effective way to implement this. The intellectual, social and personal benefits are numerous and introducing children to them from a young age is highly desirable. Participation in music is also very much achieved outside of formal school settings, for example by “jamming” or in non-professional community groups. In addition to these forms of learning, professionals and non-professionals of the music sector continuously adapt and explore, seeking new skills to empower themselves and remain competitive in a constantly evolving world. All of these aspects of musical participation are vital in terms of offering a barrier-free, lifelong entry to musical enjoyment.

Priorities

• Ensure that access to and participation in music is open to all, regardless of physical or intellectual ability, gender, age, cultural origin, geographical or economic circumstance
• Guarantee sufficient and sustainable funding for music education, both in schools and in non-formal settings
• Develop and maintain the quality of music education in schools
• Foster high-quality opportunities for participation in music in non-formal settings
• Ensure ongoing funding and develop capacity building opportunities for all music sector professionals and non-professionals

Suggested Measures

• Make music a compulsory subject from primary school on
• Establish long-term structural funding and short-term project funding for formal and non-formal music-related learning (i.e. music-making skills but also training in record production, production and management of musical events, musical collaboration, etc.)
• Provide better and lifelong training for music teachers and trainers in all areas of the music sector
• Ensure quality assurance of teachers and curricula through evaluation and feedback
• In the classroom, foster both a creative and an entrepreneurial mindset in students
• Exploit the use of new technologies in music education and capacity building
• Set up programmes and schemes for mentoring and mid-career support for music professionals to keep up with ongoing changes in the sector
• Increase capacity building, training and international exchange among non-professional music groups
• Ensure that music teachers and trainers enjoy minimum social standards as well as stable employment contracts