Eric Clapton and Robert Plant back Ed Sheeran’s open letter to the government: “Music education is suffering”
Ed Sheeran has written an open letter to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. In it, he calls for immediate, long-term funding for UK music education.
The letter follows Ed Sheeran’s launch of the Ed Sheeran Foundation in January. The foundation is a nationwide initiative to provide high-quality music education to people nationwide.
The letter has been backed by several big names in the music industry, including Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, and Elton John. They have all endorsed Sheeran’s request that the government commit £250 million to musical education across the country.
The aim is to both protect and grow education within music. Sheeran is asking for five key sectors to be grown within musical education, which include funding in schools, training for music teachers, music apprenticeships, funding for grassroots venues / spaces and a diverse music curriculum.
The letter has already surpassed 500 signatures and follows some of the most hard-hitting speeches at the BRITS last month, where The Last Dinner Party, Myles Smith, and Ezra Collective urged the UK government to address the ongoing problems that small venues across the UK are facing. They also asked for better funding and musical education.
“Over recent months, I’ve been lucky enough to meet, speak and listen to a number of young kids and teachers across the UK, and it’s confirmed to me that music education is suffering,” wrote Ed Sheeran,
“There’s so much talent out there, so much passion but these kids don’t have the support to realise their dreams of entering the music industry, and I wanted to write this letter on behalf of them.”
He continued: “I acknowledge that the government recently announced a new package on arts education, which is encouraging, but we urgently need funding going directly into the hands of schools and communities on the ground. We’re losing time.”
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