The overstretched music tuition service in Dumfries and Galloway has been boosted after it was agreed to employ another 2.25 full-time equivalent tutors.
This will help address a waiting list of over 400 pupils across the region who are queuing up for free additional lessons promised by the Scottish Government in guitar, strings, and other instruments.
However, there is still a question mark over whether the additional music tuition programme can be sustained longer term because no commitment has been made yet by the Scottish Government on future funding.
The matter was discussed at the council’s education committee last week where it was confirmed that £213,000 has been made available for the year ahead.
Education committee chairman, Councillor Jeff Leaver, said: “What I suggest we do is agree to utilise the Scottish Government funding to support an expansion of the musical instrument service by the 2.25 full-time equivalent (tutors) from the start of the 2022/23 academic year.
“And then to consider in a further report potential further expansions – once we know what funds are going to be available.
“So, we aren’t actually putting any timescale on this because we just don’t know. It’s out of our hands effectively.”
The Scottish Government scrapped charges for this extra curricular tuition, which sparked a huge increase in demand and resulted in the huge waiting list across Dumfries and Galloway.
Holyrood ministers promised local authorities £12m to provide these additional music lessons for free, however Dumfries and Galloway Council lost out on nearly £100,000 in tuition fees and has been short-changed by the Scottish Government in providing the service.
Mid Galloway and Wigtown West Councillor Katie Hagmann defended her SNP colleagues in Holyrood, insisting that the problems experienced by the music tuition service are a result of council decisions.
She said: “We’re in this situation not because we’ve necessarily been given enough money, but because of the historical decisions that we’ve made in the past.”
Councillor Hagman also raised concerns about the uptake of instrumental lessons dropping so rapidly in the west of the region, and asked for more information on why this has happened in a future education report.
