Discounted arts tickets ‘would aid poor kids’

Disadvantaged families should get cheap theatre and music tickets to help their children reap the same benefits as others for their education, a top researcher has said.

The suggestion by Emer Smyth, research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, followed her study showing children who take part in arts and cultural activities have more confidence at school.

She found, in children aged nine to 13, taking part in structured arts activities outside school time and self-directed reading contribute to verbal and numeric skills, and academic self-confidence. But the research for the Arts Council found children from better-off families were more likely to have access to those activities, largely due to the cost of doing them outside of school.

The Department of Education’s 2013 Arts in Education Charter recommended subsidies to offer reduced-price tickets for people in full-time education to attend arts venues and performances. But Ms Smyth said there is a case for going further by providing subsidies to disadvantaged families because of the financial barriers to participation.

“Given that not all disadvantaged young people attend DEIS schools and not all cultural provision is provided through schools, this is a crucial avenue for ensuring more inclusive arts engagement,” she said.

The report said the use of cultural activities to promote student engagement has been restricted by cuts to the School Completion Programme that limits after-school and holiday activities.

Ms Smyth suggested a review of the Deis programme — aimed at reducing educational disadvantage — examine increasing resources to the most disadvantaged schools to enhance their provision of after-school and summer cultural activities.

The findings of the research were garnered from the ongoing Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) longitudinal survey on the lives of children aged three, five, nine and 13.

The report for the Arts Council said that younger children between three and five who have better vocabulary are helped by being read to often and having more access to books. In turn, children at schools offering drama classes are more likely to read often outside school.

Watching more television is related to improved vocabulary but may also affect children’s wellbeing as it is associated with greater socio-emotional difficulties. In contrast, the study found painting or drawing more often is related to having fewer such difficulties.

Levels of TV-watching were lower among pupils of schools that provide choir or dance, while children at schools which have music classes after school play computer games less often.