JAZZ IN EDUCATION

Early day motion 804, tabled 17 February 1998 by Kelvin Hopkins (Labour). Signed by 22 members.

That this House shares the Government's commitment to raising standards of literacy and numeracy by requiring a dedicated proportion of the school day to be given to the acquisition of those basic skills and draws attention to the connection, which is evidenced by international research, between pupils' achievement in music and improved performance in the schools' core curriculum; further notes that the performing, improvising and composing elements of the music curriculum provide valuable opportunities for jazz education to be fostered in UK schools, which is reflected in a growing number of school based and authority-wide jazz ensembles of steadily improving quality; and calls upon the Government to ensure that its review of the National Curriculum in no way undermines the place of music in general - and jazz in particular - in schools.

Signatures by party: Labour 20, Labour/Co-operative 1, Liberal Democrat 1.