Music Program funding
Instrumental Music Program funding is allocated to schools on an annual basis by DEECD regions. A restructure effective from 1 January 2013 reduced the number of DEECD regions from nine to four. While the evidence gathered in this Inquiry related to the former DEECD regional structure, the Committee understands that the system of allocating funding for instrumental music funding will continue to operate as it did previously.
Each new region has an instrumental music coordinator responsible for the Instrumental Music Program and allocating the program funds to schools in their region.472 Each region also has annual school reporting processes which inform future funding allocations.473
DEECD advised that the new regions are likely to use the previous regions’ processes for allocating funding in 2014. Examples of the type of factors taken into consideration by a number of former DEECD regions when allocating Instrumental Music Program funding are set out in figure 23.
The majority of Inquiry participants supported the current regional approach to allocating instrumental music funding to schools and were positive about the role played by regional instrumental music coordinators. For example, Mr Peter Sharp, an Instrumental Music Teacher, told the Committee he believed that the regional coordinator in the Southern Metropolitan Region had done an excellent job understanding what is happening in schools and allocating the funding accordingly.474 The submission from the Instrumental Music Coordinators for the former Southern Metropolitan Region noted that the current regional model for allocating funds provides a good level of accountability and regional instrumental music coordinators can assess a school’s situation and ensure that funding is used in the most effective way.475
472
Letter from Minister for Education (Victoria), to Chair, Victorian Parliament Education and Training Committee, 19 September 2013, 3.
473
Letter from Minister for Education (Victoria), to Chair, Victorian Parliament Education and Training Committee, 19 September 2013, 3.
474
Mr Peter Sharp, Instrumental Music Teacher, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 9 April 2013, 3. See also Ms Gayle Gardner, Instrumental Music Teacher, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 9 April 2013, 4; Mr Lee Trigg, Instrumental Music Teacher, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 9 April 2013, 4; Ms Sue Cook, Submission127, 6; School Music Action Group, Submission195, 25; Frankston High School, Submission 159, 6; Ms Marianne Barrow, Submission156, 7; Ms Sally Newstead, Submission134, 4.
475
Figure 23: Examples of factors taken into consideration by former DEECD regions in allocating Instrumental Music Program funding
Former Southern Metropolitan Region476
Former Eastern Metropolitan Region477
Former Western Metropolitan Region478
Schools seeking funding were required to make a submission providing a broad range of information, including music student numbers, ensemble participation rates, socioeconomic status, costs to parents and the school’s equipment and infrastructure.
Schools seeking funding were required to provide the following information:
• the number of instrumental music students
• the instrument type of each student
• the year level of each student
• the proportion of students studying VCE Music.
Schools seeking funding were required to respond to an annual survey which collected a broad range of information, including data on instrumental music teachers, student numbers, ensembles, performances and VCE numbers.
Some of the evidence received by the Committee was critical of the lack of consistency between the DEECD regions with respect to the governance and accountability requirements. For instance, Mr Williams, the Instrumental Music Coordinator for the former Eastern Metropolitan Region, submitted:
Currently there is no continuity between the Regions around the administration and allocation of instrumental music funding. I believe a 28 million dollar program should have more accountability and consistency. Regional arrangements vary from a team of coordinators undertaking transparent and equitable auditing processes, to no coordination at all.479
Similarly, Dr Mary Cannon, Principal of Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College, submitted, ‘There seems to be differences between the way in which funds are allocated across regions and the lack of consistency is an issue.’480
Mr Ludowyke of Melbourne High School suggested moving towards a central allocation model for instrumental music funding, questioning the need to retain the regional model ‘given the inconsistencies and lack of transparency or accountability for IMT allocation that has occurred across regions’.481
The Committee is of the view that the regional approach to allocating Instrumental Music Program funding is working well and should be retained. This model means regionally-based instrumental music coordinators can have a better understanding of the local circumstances of schools and how they are using their instrumental music funding. However, the Committee considers that the current inconsistency between how regions allocate Instrumental Music Program funding is undesirable and leads to disparity between DEECD regions.
476
Ms Megan Waugh, Ms Tracy Gunn and Mr Dmitry Serebrianik, Submission227, 5.
477
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (Victoria), Eastern Metropolitan Region instrumental music teacher induction guide, report prepared by Yolande van Oosten(2009), 5. Available at <http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/department/structure/eastern/imtinductionguide09.pdf> viewed 30 July 2013.
478
Ms Sarina Iacono, Submission171, 1.
479
Mr Carl Williams, Submission143, 5.
480
Dr Mary Cannon, Principal, Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College, Submission29, 2.
481
The Committee recommends that the Victorian Government develops a set of criteria for DEECD regions to use to assess the allocation of Instrumental Music Program funding. The Committee notes that some of the previous DEECD regions had excellent systems in place which could be very useful in informing the development of new state-wide criteria for funding allocation.
Recommendation 14: Developing criteria to allocate Instrumental Music Program funding
That the Victorian Government develops a set of criteria for Department of Education and Early Childhood Development regions to use when allocating Instrumental Music Program funding.