A recently released document analysing arts and cultural education in schools across Europe praises Malta’s curricula and initiatives when it comes to promoting the arts among the up and coming generation.

The study was conducted by the EU’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.

“With 2009 being the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, the role of arts education in forming the competences for young people for life in the 21st century has taken on more significance.

“Previous research on the potential of arts education to enhance the creativity of young people has underlined the need to continuously improve its quality. The study contains comparative information on the provision of arts and cultural education within the curricula of 30 European countries.

“It clearly shows that music and visual arts are the most widespread subjects taught in schools at primary and lower secondary level, while the participation of professional artists in arts education is quite limited,” said Jan Figel, the commissioner responsible for the study.

In March 2009, the European Parliament passed a resolution on Artistic Studies. Among the key recommendations are that artistic education should be compulsory at all school levels, arts teaching should use the latest information and communications technologies and the teaching of art history must involve meetings with artists and visits to places of culture.

In several European countries, including Malta, cross-curricular links between the arts and other subjects may be established. Malta has also recently launched the ‘National e-Learning Strategy’, the underlying principles of which ensure that educators and administrators have the necessary skills and support for the use of ICT in their work, as well as to support their own career development. As part of the strategy, free laptops were also given to teachers.

The study reports that Maltese pupils frequently make visits to artists’ workshops, organised by their art teachers, as part of the school’s visual arts programme. Children are also encouraged to participate in arts-related competitions at national and international levels.

The study also highlighted the fact that, from September 2008, the schools of art and music on the island, together with the Malta Drama Centre, merged into a College of Arts, allowing for cross-disciplinary interaction and further development of cross-disciplinary courses.

The government also intends to encourage further networking between these schools and other artistic and cultural entities such as the National Orchestra, the Manoel Theatre, the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, the University of Malta and MCAST.

In the long run, says the report, the long-term goal in Malta is to have schools where teaching is based on the general curriculum with a special focus on music, drama, art and dance.

Out of the 30 participating countries, only Denmark, Germany, Cyprus and Liechtenstein decided against implementing new changes in arts education since 2007.