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Education Minister Evarist Bartolo: To review the new subject weightings and conditions of Art Education
Charmaine Z.
started this petition to
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo
Art in schools is often perceived as a soft option, a subject for less academically-able minds, a waste of time. Instead of doing their utmost to counter such perceptions, educational decision-makers in Malta have perpetuated them by gradually reducing time allocated to Art in school curricula. Art Heads of Department and Art teachers are not consulted because as far as these decision-makers are concerned, they don't exist. Virtually all other subjects in the curriculum get a better deal in subject weightings. At the same time, we are told that Valletta will be the European Capital of Culture in 2018 and that this event will help to drive “excellence in culture and the arts in Malta”!
The introduction of the ‘new' subject ‘Expressive Arts’ for Years 7 and 8 replicates a system which was already tried and tested in the past. Art teachers know that it was never effective but then again, art teachers weren’t consulted before these ’new’ proposals were presented as a ‘fait accompli’. Remember, art teachers - like their students - are less academically-able, so their opinion doesn’t count. The little time allocated to the subject ‘Expressive Arts’ in the new subject weightings is only an act of tokenism - the sort of bureaucratic gesture that pretends to fill in a void by leaving it empty.
It is vital to remind decision-makers that Art in schools does not serve to produce artists but to equip students with skills for life, eg. thinking skills, teamwork, decision-making, communication etc.. Art should be at the centre of the curriculum. Decision-makers’ unwillingness to grant art education a stronger place in the curriculum does not only impact art learning but the rest of the students’ education and growth as holistic human beings.
With this petition we are asking for the new subject weightings issued recently to be reviewed to allocate more time to Art Education and improve conditions for Art Education in the following ways:
• More time allocated per week for Art education all year round
• The lessons should be double, because task-time is reduced due to time spent on cleaning, storage and preparation of materials
• Art rooms should not exceed 15 students due to individual attention and space
The introduction of the ‘new' subject ‘Expressive Arts’ for Years 7 and 8 replicates a system which was already tried and tested in the past. Art teachers know that it was never effective but then again, art teachers weren’t consulted before these ’new’ proposals were presented as a ‘fait accompli’. Remember, art teachers - like their students - are less academically-able, so their opinion doesn’t count. The little time allocated to the subject ‘Expressive Arts’ in the new subject weightings is only an act of tokenism - the sort of bureaucratic gesture that pretends to fill in a void by leaving it empty.
It is vital to remind decision-makers that Art in schools does not serve to produce artists but to equip students with skills for life, eg. thinking skills, teamwork, decision-making, communication etc.. Art should be at the centre of the curriculum. Decision-makers’ unwillingness to grant art education a stronger place in the curriculum does not only impact art learning but the rest of the students’ education and growth as holistic human beings.
With this petition we are asking for the new subject weightings issued recently to be reviewed to allocate more time to Art Education and improve conditions for Art Education in the following ways:
• More time allocated per week for Art education all year round
• The lessons should be double, because task-time is reduced due to time spent on cleaning, storage and preparation of materials
• Art rooms should not exceed 15 students due to individual attention and space
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