Support for music fee challenge campaign

Making Music, which represents choirs, orchestras and other groups across the UK, has lent its voice to a campaign to challenge the lawfulness of fees for musicalinstrumenttuition in Scottish state schools.

The Change the Tune campaign by community musician Ralph Riddough to raise £15,000 by Sunday to launchlegal action “against the unlawful practice of schools charging fees for musical instrument tuition” has already raised £9,250.

Making Music Scotland manager Alison Reeves said: “Charging fees only for learning a musical instrument and no other part of a child’s education is fundamentally unfair. If children are to be assessed on their ability to play a musical instrument for SQA qualifications, then we believe fees for learning should never be applied.”