At the eleventh hour, an ACT Assembly inquiry has called on the government to save a prestigious music program before its funding disappears next year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The "H Course", as it is now known, has offered talented year 11 and 12 students free expert tuition at the Australian National University's School of Music for more than 30 years. Scores of musicians credit the program with forging their careers and warn Canberra's already vulnerable music "ecosystem" will be further strangled without the talent pipeline.
In July, an inquiry into the government's controversial decision to pull the bulk of its funding, which came from artsACT, descended into finger pointing between officials and the university.
While the government said it was the ANU that ultimately cut the program, university staff said they couldn't run it without those funds and denied claims they dragged their heels in talks to save the course.
The government's suggested "cost efficiencies", such as carving out the expensive but "essential" one-on-one tutoring component, would have stripped it of its value as an elite extension, many argued.
But on Tuesday, the ANU told The Canberra Times it had later put a revised "scaled-down" model to the ACT education directorate in August. While it was yet to hear back from the government, the university said it was committed to saving the course.
It did not provide the new cost of the proposal, but said it was less than the $275,000 per year it had originally asked for, as it would involve a smaller number of students and less one-on-one tuition than the current offering.
During the committee hearings, ministerial briefings released under Freedom of Information laws suggested past concerns about how ANU was spending government arts grants were also partly behind the move to scale back funding for its programs, including the H course. The ANU has strongly denied mismanaging the money and stressed all its funds are regularly audited.
Government officials pointed to underspends and the use of art funds to prop up academic research and staffing at the music school, which was still reeling from brutal 2012 funding cuts imposed by ANU management.
But they did not appear to find fault with the content of the programs themselves, which were considered of "significant benefit to the community".
Canberra's music scene also backed the H course in particular as cost effective, noting its unique design within the ANU's existing school of music was less expensive than most other extension programs interstate. Pulling funding left Canberra's next generation of classical and jazz musicians without an alternative path at that level.
But the government said it no longer aligned with artsACT's focus on community outreach rather than education.
Facing down calls to stump up funding from her own education portfolio, minister Yvette Berry said there was no room in the budget to continue the program at its current cost.
Her office did not say if it had softened its stance on Tuesday, as the committee handed down its report calling on the education directorate to immediately pick up the shortfall.
The report admonished the "very poor communication" between the directorate and the ANU and said the H course should remain elite and audition-only, with priority given to public school students.
In a breakaway recommendation not backed by his committee, chair Michael Pettersson fell into line with his Labor colleagues by instead suggesting the program continue without its private tutoring component.
While this would mean it could no longer access the $40,000 the course receives in Commonwealth funding, as it would fall short of university accreditation standards, he said it could still meet ACT secondary study requirements, "a far greater consideration".
READ MORE:
The committee said it was vital any change to the program not risk the accreditation status that contributes to a student's tertiary admission rank, the ATAR.
On Tuesday, Canberra Liberal Vicki Dunne stepped up calls for the government to reverse the cuts, saying it was hard to see how such a valued and successful course didn't fit with the ACT government's priorities.
University records show about half of students enrolled each year go on to study music at a tertiary level, though the government presented significantly lower figures to the committee.
The inquiry did not deliver findings on allegations that artsACT funding was misspent by the ANU, but did hear from witnesses in closed hearings about the matter.
Sherryn Groch
Sherryn is a journalist at The Canberra Times, with a special interest in education and social affairs.
Sherryn is a journalist at The Canberra Times, with a special interest in education and social affairs.
