Clare music education hopes pinned on music aid

CLARE Music Education Partnership anxiously awaits the outcome of an application to Music Network for a slice of the €7 million being made available by U2 and the Ireland Fund for establishment of local music education partnerships.
The County Vocational Education Committee, in co-operation with Maoin Cheoil an Chláir, led the establishment of the Clare partnership to advance the development of a cohesive framework for the promotion of music education as a result of the new funding offer.
Representatives from the local music infrastructure, the local authority and the vocational education committee set up the partnership after receiving over 40 contributions from a broad range of interests. These included music teachers and schools, independent musicians, community groups, youth and family resource groups, primary schools and parents associations.
Clare MEP believes music ought to be a central and indispensable facet of a rounded education and part of the lifelong learning agency. The MEP’s vision is that Clare will become recognised as the music-learning county. Its mission is to provide accessible and inclusive music education opportunities for young people throughout the county.
In order to give substance to that vision and achieve its mission and to lay a sound foundation for further sustained development, the MEP will focus on six key strands of activity: pre-school, school, out of school, quality, performance and inclusion.
In essence, its approach will be to build on what is already going on in the county, to work collaboratively with and to support and encourage current providers, improve quality of provision and to actively outreach to areas of the county and to communities who up to now have had limited access to music education, says Dr Sean Conlan, education officer with Clare Vocational Education Committee.