The fact that out of the thousands of schools across the UK eligible to apply for the Government?s Artsmark accreditation, only 387 have bothered to do so (p1) is a particularly depressing one.
It suggests that only 387 feel that a) they provide an arts education worth shouting about and/or b) parents are sufficiently interested in the value of a vibrant arts curriculum to make it worth going to the trouble of applying for a badge of quality which recognises their achievements. If ever the arts sector wanted an indication as to just what value the formal education sector places upon it, this must surely be it. The fact that 377 have achieved the standards required for accreditation offers a crumb of comfort. But what proportion of young people, then, have access to excellence in arts education throughout their school days? Possibly none. Couple this with the fact that Professor Ken Robinson, champion of the Governmentsponsored report ?All our Futures? and guru of arts education in schools, has gone to live in the US, and maybe its time to recognise that the arts are pushing water uphill when it comes to converting the ?hoi polloi? to the arts cause.
So is there anything that the arts sector can do to counter such overwhelming apathy, or has the cause already been fought and lost? Given that parents, schools and media alike seem to be obsessed with the performance ranking of schools, wouldn?t it nice if the Government was to draw attention to its Artsmark success stories in those incredibly misleading league tables it is so fond of promoting. At least Artsmark is a measure of the quality of a school?s input into the education process ? as opposed to SATs tests and exam grades, which appear to reflect little more than the socio-economic circumstances of a school?s catchment areas. Maybe it?s time that the arts harnessed a bit of parentpower. The voices of evangelical artists who, not unnaturally, are totally convinced of the inestimable value of their contribution to the school curriculum, probably wears a bit thin with cashstrapped head teachers.The voice of parents, demanding a more rounded education for their children and voting with their feet when it?s not forthcoming, would be much harder to ignore.