Speaking at the 10th annual British Composer Awards in London last night, MacKenzie said there was still time to rally against the proposed changes to the national curriculum, which will see existing exams replaced with an English Baccalaureate Certificate favouring the core subjects of Maths, English and Science.
‘We are facing a government that is trying to marginalise music in the national curriculum. We must all speak up about it. There is nothing more important than ensuring that music is at the heart of the curriculum,’ she said.
‘We all need to learn music and the arts as children. We are brilliant within all the creative industries but this excellence is being put at risk from the proposed changes to the school day.
‘Make sure you speak up for music and its place in the national curriculum. You still have time,’ she urged.
In September, the Education Secretary Michael Gove announced that the GCSE exam in England will be replaced in core subjects by a qualification called the English Baccalaureate Certificate, the eBacc.
The new initiative will involve a shake-up of the exam system, bringing a single end-of-course exam and one exam board for core subjects.
Pupils beginning secondary school this year will take the first new exams – in English, Maths and Sciences – in 2017.
His plans have caused alarm within Britain’s creative sector, with luminaries from across the arts registering their trepidation. Jude Kelly OBE voiced her concerns at the Gold Badge Awards, while Lord Lloyd Webber, Danny Boyle and Sir David Hare have also expressed their alarm.
Mackenzie is the Director of the Cultural Olympiad, London 2012. She joined the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) in 2010, following a spell as an adviser on broadcasting and cultural policy for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Previously, MacKenzie worked at Chichester Festival Theatre, Scottish Opera, and the Nottingham Playhouse. She was awarded an OBE for her services to the theatre in 1995.
‘We are facing a government that is trying to marginalise music in the national curriculum. We must all speak up about it. There is nothing more important than ensuring that music is at the heart of the curriculum,’ she said.
‘We all need to learn music and the arts as children. We are brilliant within all the creative industries but this excellence is being put at risk from the proposed changes to the school day.
‘Make sure you speak up for music and its place in the national curriculum. You still have time,’ she urged.
In September, the Education Secretary Michael Gove announced that the GCSE exam in England will be replaced in core subjects by a qualification called the English Baccalaureate Certificate, the eBacc.
The new initiative will involve a shake-up of the exam system, bringing a single end-of-course exam and one exam board for core subjects.
Pupils beginning secondary school this year will take the first new exams – in English, Maths and Sciences – in 2017.
His plans have caused alarm within Britain’s creative sector, with luminaries from across the arts registering their trepidation. Jude Kelly OBE voiced her concerns at the Gold Badge Awards, while Lord Lloyd Webber, Danny Boyle and Sir David Hare have also expressed their alarm.
Mackenzie is the Director of the Cultural Olympiad, London 2012. She joined the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) in 2010, following a spell as an adviser on broadcasting and cultural policy for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Previously, MacKenzie worked at Chichester Festival Theatre, Scottish Opera, and the Nottingham Playhouse. She was awarded an OBE for her services to the theatre in 1995.
