Britain's creative
future is under threat as teachers struggle to fit art subjects into
a crowded national curriculum, according to a nationwide survey.
More than 80 per cent of UK
headteachers say they battle to find time to schedule arts lessons,
while almost 90 per cent of teachers worry that the sidelining of
arts is affecting their students' ability to think imaginatively.
According to the survey of 695
primary, secondary and sixth-form teachers, two-thirds believe the
reduction in arts teaching will be detrimental to the fabric of the
country, resulting in a diminished creative industry and fewer
artists.
'Creative industries are worth
£67 billion a year to the economy and yet art teaching in
schools is struggling,' said William Sieghart, co-founder of Big Arts
Week, a charity which works to get more arts teaching into schools
and commissioned the research.
The survey also found that art and
design teachers lack training and confidence in using modern
technology and in selecting the best software to help their pupils.
Only half of schools have access to technical assistance and only
half of the art and design departments have direct access to the
internet.
Just 13 per cent of secondary
schools allow every pupil to take art and design if they wish to do
so, while class sizes for art and design are higher than the average
for any other subject. More than a third of primary schools depend on
being given free materials for their arts lessons, while just one in
six has a specialist arts teacher. Many secondary schools, in
addition, are forced to ask pupils to buy their own equipment
'Education has become more
prescriptive in recent years, which can mean children not learning to
think for themselves,' said Corinne Abisgold, an educational
psychologist. 'If we want independent, creative thinkers, we have to
give our children the opportunity to experiment with their
minds.'