Ministers want pupils of all ages in England and Wales to be offered at least an hour a day of culture during the week. Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, and Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary, will launch the scheme at the Young Vic theatre in London.
At first, the scheme will run as a series of pilots but Mr Burnham will say that, eventually, the Government intends all children to have access to five hours of culture a week as a right.
A Youth Culture Trust will be set up to encourage children from every school, particularly those in low-income areas, to experience theatre, dance and classical music.
Opera and ballet companies will be invited into schools to help instil a love of the arts in children of all backgrounds. Youngsters will also be given the option of learning a musical instrument, and taken on trips to art galleries.
Those taking part in the 10 pilot schemes, which will cost £10 million, will initially come from disadvantaged backgrounds or already display a special talent.
I don't want to sound cynical but... I'd be very surprised if the children at Anfield react favourably to this idea. They didn't respond that well to Citizenship nor have they taken to Enterprise. Five hours of culture per week could just prove to be hell for the teachers involved.
Even if any of the children I taught had enjoyed ballet and classical music they would never have admitted to it.
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