YOUNG PEOPLE DESERVE BETTER

Richard Morrison is right that for classical music to survive, we need to shout about its benefits (September). As an amateur musician, I know that my life is enriched by music. As a science teacher, I know the damage that downgrading music and arts in schools in England as a direct result of the English Baccalaureate (Ebacc) will do to the young people I teach. There is clear evidence that high-quality musical tuition has benefits to numeracy, literacy, self-confidence, resilience, motor skills, empathy, information processing and attention span.

These are benefits I want for the pupils in my science class, because I know they will help them become better scientists; these are benefits I want for every child regardless of their ambitions or home circumstances, because I know they will have happier, more fulfilled lives. The Ebacc is an ill-conceived and unwelcome reform that will do a great deal of harm to music and to much, much more.

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