Emphasis on NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy is contributing to the “systemic neglect of investment” in arts and music education, a NSW parliamentary inquiry has found.
Its review has urged “a fundamental shift” to lift the status of arts and music within schools, including the greater involvement of arts and film training schools and performance companies, and improved curriculum support and in-service training for teachers.
The NSW Department of Education has run the Boys Vocal Program for more than decade.Credit: James Brickwood
A draft HSC syllabus for drama, arts and music – criticised as being too focused on theory – also fell short of community expectations and needed an extensive rewrite, the all-party committee found.
The findings of the inquiry on arts and music education and training in NSW, a Labor election promise, were tabled on Thursday.
Every NSW child, it said, deserved a high-quality, richly complex creative arts education, but the creative arts were undervalued in education, leading to “broader and systemic neglect in investment”.
Among its 30 recommendations, the committee called for a statewide music education plan, to consider mandating minimum hours of for music instruction with an “appropriately trained” teacher.
The committee heard evidence that principals faced significant “pressure points”, such as NAPLAN, when allocating resources, which often resulted in music and arts being “chopped off” the curriculum.
The focus on STEM subjects by government, as demonstrated in the federal Job-Ready Package, encouraged students to pursue careers in engineering and technology rather than in creative industries.
Students were dissuaded from selecting elective arts subjects in high school because of the perception that the marks are capped, or they were “bludge” subjects. Parents preferred their children to pursue careers that were potentially higher-paying.
