Darren Henley: arts subjects in schools “are not a soft option”

Arts Council England chief Darren Henley has stressed that arts subjects in schools are “not a soft option” and that cultural education is the birthright of every child.

His comments were made hours before MPs debated whether arts subjects should be added to the EBacc list of compulsory subjects earlier this week.

In a speech in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he was helping the Royal Shakespeare Company launch its new education programme, Henley claimed it made no sense to allow children to miss out on arts and culture in schools.

He said: “The arts are not a soft option. They teach kindness and empathy, but the route to mastering any discipline is tough.” Claiming the links between art and both physical and mental wellbeing were increasingly recognised, he added: “Children who have a quality cultural education have an advantage. “A rich cultural education should be the birthright of every child and young person, and not the privilege of the few.”

Henley said an arts education happens both inside and outside school, but insisted that the best place to reach most children “will always be in school – because that’s where they spend the majority of their days”.

He continued: “It makes no sense for a nation to exclude any of its talent from a shared culture: it makes no sense for a nation to neglect to introduce its greatest national asset – its youth – to its greatest natural energy – its art and culture.”

His views contrast with schools minister Nick Gibb, who told MPs earlier this week that pupil choice would be restricted, not expanded, if the arts were made a core subject.

Last year Arts Council England launched a new scheme, the Cultural Education Challenge, through which 50 new partnerships will be created between schools and local arts organisations in areas most deprived of culture.