Created on: 07 Mar 2025
Sustained and successful campaigning by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), parents and young people, as well as local musicians, composers and music groups has led to further success in the campaign to protect instrumental music tuition in schools across Scotland.
News has emerged that budget-driven cuts in school instrumental music have now been halted in Perth and Kinross, and in Stirling. This follows on from the recent news of a reversal of planned cuts in Midlothian.
The EIS is running a national campaign entitled Stand Up for Quality Music Education to highlight the value of instrumental music tuition to young people, school communities, and wider society. The EIS believes that all young people who wish it, should have the right to access instrumental music tuition, free of charge, in Scotland’s schools – one of the key promises made by the Scottish Government in its manifesto in 2021.
Commenting on the stop to planned cuts in Perth and Kinross, EIS Local Association Secretary Carolyn Weston said, “The halting of the future planned cuts to Instrumental Music provision in Perth and Kinross is a positive development for our schools and, importantly, for our young people. The EIS will continue to engage with the Council over related issues, such as the replacement of recently retired IMS staff and the local authority’s policy over charges for pupils accessing some elements of instrumental music provision.”
In Stirling, local campaigning by the EIS Local Association, working with parents and local musicians and composers, has led to the halting of a planned programme of IMT cuts across the authority’s schools. EIS Local Association Secretary Ann Skillen said, “The EIS in Stirling has been campaigning hard to stop the Council’s planned cuts which would have seen the provision of Instrumental Music Tuition in our schools decimated. The decision to halt these cuts is a victory for common sense, and for the pupils, parents and wider community across the Stirling area. All of our young people should have equal access to quality Instrumental Music tuition, delivered by professionally recognised Instrumental Music Teachers.”
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley added, “It is of great credit to the EIS Local Associations, parent groups, pupils and musicians who have stood together to oppose and stop these damaging planned cuts to school Instrumental Music Tuition. The EIS remains determined to fight such cuts, wherever and whenever they might be proposed. We welcomed the Scottish Government’s manifesto commitments in 2021 to mainstream Instrumental Music Tuition as part of the curriculum but have yet to see any progress in delivering this in practice. Whilst the removal of charging is welcome, we need to see definitive action to stop the annual threats to provision and to give IMTs as well as young people the certainty that the provision of quality Instrumental Music Tuition, free of charge, will continue year on year. There should be no threat whatsoever of a reversal of policy that would see young people from the least affluent families missing out on Instrumental Music Tuition because they cannot afford to pay.”