Last year, the Ministry of Education was tasked with developing a proposal for how cutting-edge music education could be designed and introduced in primary schools. The aim was to encourage students with talent and interest in music to develop as far as possible.
"To become a skilled musician, you need to start early and practice a lot. Therefore, it is important that musically talented students are given the opportunity to develop already in primary school," said Lotta Edholm (L), Minister of Upper Secondary Education, Higher Education and Research, at a press conference.
In the memorandum "Advanced education in music in primary school - an experimental project", investigator Mattias Almqvist proposes, among other things, that advanced education should be allowed to start in either grade 1 or grade 5.
It is also proposed that the total number of places in the advanced education programmes should be a maximum of 450 per year and that selection should be made through entrance examinations. The new subject "music advanced" will replace the regular subject of music.
The pilot project, which according to the proposal is to start in 2028, will cost approximately SEK 17 million in the first academic year, and at most SEK 64 million if fully expanded to the maximum of 1,350 students.
"We need both breadth and cutting-edge in the cultural field. The fact that cutting-edge education is now being proposed in the subject of music in primary school is very welcome. Such cutting-edge education will be a new and important part of the education chain," said Parisa Liljestrand (M), Minister of Culture, in a press release.
The proposals will now be further prepared within the Government Offices.
