More Sneaky Education Cuts

From Adelaide Now

Parents will have to pay thousands of dollars extra a year for private music lessons, under Education Department changes.

No individual instrumental music lessons will be offered at state high schools once the overhaul is complete, effectively privatising the system, Australian Education Union state branch president Andrew Gohl says. "My concern is parents are going to be forced under this model to pay for private provision," he said.

The Education Department announced in June that its music and aquatics programs - both subject to a review - would continue, but instrumental music would have a new focus on primary school students.

Teachers will be shifted out of high schools over the next five years.

Music teachers say successful completion of Year 11 and 12 music subjects is not possible without individual tuition.

About 9000 students are using the Education Department's instrumental music service this year, with the changes expected to eventually expand that number to 28,000, all at Year 5 level. "A number of kids won't be able to afford private tuition and won't be able to do secondary music any more," said one high school arts co-ordinator.

Mr Gohl said the new model was borrowed from the United Kingdom, where "significant additional funding" was put into music. "That's not happening in SA - it's on a budget-neutral basis," he said.

Parent Gay Lee said she would not be able to afford tuition for her four children - John, 16, Simon, 12, Bethany, 10, and Sarah, 7.

"It's usually about $25 per half-hour lesson and at 10 weeks per term, you are looking at $1000 a year per child," Mrs Lee said. An Education Department spokeswoman said students already learning an instrument at high school could continue. Specialist music schools at Woodville, Brighton, Marryatville and Fremont-Elizabeth will still accept students by audition. Up to 70 scholarships will be available for country students to continue lessons at high school.