MU Column: Bridging the chasm

It is early 2022. You are a visiting instrumental/vocal teacher (VMT) working for a music service or music education hub in England. Maybe you are fully employed and paid fairly for your work; more likely you are self-employed (possibly dubiously) or ‘just about’ employed on a zero-hour contract that leaves you unpaid for travel, breaks, or anything that isn't direct contact time. It's probably been quite a while since you've had a pay rise, despite the rising cost of living.

Or perhaps you are a directly engaged peripatetic teacher in a state school, meaning that the school doesn't work with a music service or hub and instead engages VMTs itself. You are self-employed because the school told you that you had to be, despite not being allowed to set your own rate or use deputies. Now the school is coming under pressure to show that you really are self-employed, so you are being asked to pay rent on your teaching room of £5 per hour or more, apparently to prove that you are an independent contractor. You face a choice of passing this cost on to parents or taking a hit to your earnings.

Training is in short supply for you unless you take unpaid time off to attend external courses and events at your own expense. As your skills and experience grow, it's hard to see how you can increase your pay and become more senior in your workplace unless you move into management.

You look over at friends and colleagues working in the independent sector. You have always taken pride in teaching in state schools, but the higher rates in private schools and access to better teaching rooms and resources seem appealing now. You notice an advert for one of these roles and put in an application; or perhaps you decide to focus more on private teaching, away from schools. You are not alone: many teachers are doing the same, with hubs reporting big challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers. This in turn affects the quality and consistency of provision, with children the ones who ultimately lose out.

These are familiar themes in terms of the MU's work in music education – but the underlying issues could all be solved.

Despite rising costs, central government funding for music education has remained more or less fixed at around £75-80m per year over the last decade, and the latest spending review suggests that this is unlikely to increase. This is simply not enough money to ensure universal access to music education and fair terms for teachers, meaning that funding has to be supplemented by schools and parental contributions. There is zero financial leeway in the system, and one of the easiest things to cut has been teachers’ pay and contractual terms. This is not a new phenomenon, but that doesn't make it any more justifiable.

Many voices in music education make sympathetic noises when confronted with these issues, but we are yet to see any real systemic improvement. The MU has consistently advocated for an overhaul of how VMTs are engaged and paid, which would rely partly on increased funding and partly on a new vision for supporting and developing VMTs. The funding part is not an unreasonable request, especially when all we are asking is that the government provides enough resource to deliver on its own stated aims in music education. In terms of vision, there are easily enough bright minds in the sector to execute this if given the opportunity.

Excessive room rental charges are simply unacceptable (although peppercorn charges can be acceptable for genuinely self-employed teachers). Charges of £5 per hour or more are a product of the increasing power of school business managers who see VMTs as an easy way to top up school coffers. The government must intervene to prevent teachers having to pay exorbitant charges just to go to work.

This year more than ever we have a chance to get serious about the issues facing VMTs through the government's new National Plan for Music Education, which is due for publication imminently. There is traditionally a chasm between our sector's talk of the life-changing power of music and the often-grim reality faced by teachers, and this time we must bridge it. We know and regret that funding is tight – and we continue to advocate for a review of this – but the new plan must at least acknowledge the issues faced by our VMTs if it is to command their confidence and respect. Let's be optimistic and hope for something good.

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