Anger mounts at UK government proposal to halve arts education subsidy wsws.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wsws.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
ARTISTS, musicians and entertainers have urged the Tory government to scrap a planned 50 per cent cut in arts education funding which could hit universities this year.
Actor and Morning Star ambassador Maxine Peake, musician Jarvis Cocker and Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo are among those backing a call by the Public Campaign for the Arts for the plan to be dropped.
Unions and educators have condemned the “catastrophic” cut proposed in a now-closed consultation by the Office for Students and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.
If the plan goes ahead, the axe will fall on subjects including music, dance, drama, performing arts and archaeology, which are described in the consultation document as “high-cost” and not “strategic priorities.”
Petition launched against UK government plans to cut arts higher education funding by half
The Public Campaign for the Arts is urging ministers to reconsider plans that propose “catastrophic” budget reductions to art and design subjects from the next academic year, in favour of “high-value” STEM subjects.
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Advocacy organisation Public Campaign for the Arts has launched a petition calling for the UK government to reconsider plans to cut funding for arts higher education by 50 per cent. Under proposals put forward by the education secretary Gavin Williamson, the budget given to art and design subjects as well as music, drama, dance, performing arts, media studies and archaeology would be cut in half.
The budget cuts follow a six-week consultation by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and the Office for Students, the independent regulator for higher education in England, that found arts education subjects were not “strategic priorities”.
The deadline for consultation on the budget cuts, which may come into effect during the 2021-22 academic year, is today. Other proposals include increased funding for courses “identified as supporting the NHS”, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
The reduction in funding, which would affect performing and creative arts, media studies and archaeology courses, has been described by the Public Campaign for the Arts as “catastrophic” and “an attack on the future of UK arts”.