The Stage

Broadcasters and ACE must increase provisions for youngsters, says children’s manifesto

Published Wednesday 23 July 2008 at 11:45 by Lalayn Baluch

Broadcasters must increase their programming for children, while Arts Council England should boost the amount of money given to theatre aimed at youngsters, according to a new report looking at improving cultural provision for under-12s.

The Manifesto for Children’s Arts, published by charity Action for Children’s Arts, and the first of its kind, criticises the UK for failing to deliver Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child - which states that the government should ensure all children have access to cultural activities.

The report calls on Whitehall to increase funding for the sector. It urges the Department for Children, Schools and Families to ensure the education system does not stifle creativity and that primary school teachers are giving proper training in the arts.

ACA also calls on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to demand that broadcasters increase their provision of high-quality radio and television programmes for children, and to commission a report looking at how youngsters around the world are encouraged to participate in cultural activities.

The document, which was launched earlier this week at the Unicorn Theatre in London, was welcomed by children’s minister Beverly Hughes. She said: “I believe that the arts form an essential part of the happy, rounded upbringing that we want all children to have. I’m fully behind the manifesto and I accept the challenge that it sets for the government.”

Hughes said the government was trying to widen participation through the Find Your Talent scheme, which aims to provide all young children with five hours of cultural activity each week.

Liberal Democrat spokesman for Culture, Media and Sport, Don Foster, believes that not enough action is being taken. He said: “We have failed to free up the curriculum, to allow not just the creativity of children, but the creativity of our own teachers. For them to bring their own experiences - the things that matter to them, that excite them - so that they can enthuse young people and children.

“That is what I believe has been so badly missing in our education system for far too long. This manifesto really does give hope of bringing it all together and driving it forward.”

Key recommendations

Government:

• Increase funding to ensure all children participate in cultural activity.
• Ensure examinations do not limit the place of the arts within the curriculum.
• Commission a report looking how children are involved in the arts across the world.

Schools:

• Give youngsters the widest possible range of creative activities.

Arts Council England:

• Develop specific policies for children under the age of 12.
• Increase funding for work for youngsters to keep standards high and ticket costs low.

Arts organisations:

• Up the profile of the education department within the company.

Local authorities:

• Encourage partnerships between schools and arts organisations.

Media:

• Increase the amount of critical attention given to children’s arts in the national press.