Adrian Hille
Music is one of the most important education-oriented leisure time activity for children in Germany and other European countries. In the last decade, the share of children learning a musical instrument has been steadily increasing in Germany. However, access to music education still strongly depends on the parents' socio-economic background, and does so even more than ten years ago. This is a challenge for policymakers, as unequal access to music education compromises the policy goal of equal educational opportunities: In addition to learning to play music, extracurricular music training is likely to teach children important skills which are relevant for educational and labour market success. After presenting research results on the effects of music training on the development of skills, I present two recent German policies, which aim to make music schools more accessible to children from disadvantaged social backgrounds. The "educational package" subsidizes music school fees for poor families, whereas "an instrument for every child" makes music more accessible by creating direct cooperations between primary schools and music schools. I discuss the success of both policies based on recent research results.
DIW-Link
Array