On the Adjournment: A recess opportunity for backbenchers to air their view. This week Cecilia Keaveney argues that the drive to improve the '3 Rs' in education should not be allowed to sideline the vital place of music in learning.
The catchphrase "What do points mean? Prizes" resounded recently as students received results of examinations. The prize on offer, it would seem, is a bright future, for those whose results match the required points; for the others, there are words of comfort.
In Ireland the "3 Rs" reign. We set the goal of the Leaving Certificate, and from primary school the aim is constant - to cross the line with the highest number of points. Few subjects will generally get in the way of reading, writing and arithmetic.
Does going the shortest route lend itself to having the most educationally rounded and confident individuals by adulthood? Does it matter that another ingredient may serve a useful purpose, on the "scenic" road to the same destination?
With the introduction this year of music as a subject in the primary school curriculum maybe there is a quiet awakening to the deafening proof being expounded internationally, that an engagement in the arts yields academic results.
In this realisation others see the "scenic", more colourful artistic route as more appropriate even if the destination of the "3 Rs" is Results, Results, Results.
Music is acknowledged as the only subject which develops the entire brain. At its earliest stages a mother looks to see her child develop its co-ordination, then language through its rhythmic development. Music offers the basic building block central to the cognitive development of the child.
How in past generations did so many learn their "tables" other than through the use of a strong rhythmic "rap"? For many of the weaker maths students they "knew the tune but could not remember the words" as multiplications got more complex.
Had musical interventions been more wide-ranging and more frequently deployed evidence now would suggest that the mathematical ability of the child exposed, for example, to piano-playing would yield significant results.
The word "results" crops up so often, and yet what end result does society wish to achieve? The goal currently is certainly not the production of young musical geniuses. Few facilities or supports exist even to start music training. Musicians are created despite, rather than because of, a system. And yet many become world-renowned on many stages and in many genres.
If the intention of those who expound the inclusion of a more artistic element in the general education of our young people is not necessarily to produce such prodigies, what is the result that they seek?
On teaching practice in a primary school in a past life I witnessed a class begin their maths lesson. Their heads were down, and the atmosphere was dull and not particularly productive. It was a scene of toil.
Suddenly the teacher asked who Mowgli's friend in Jungle Book was and what his favourite song was. Immediately they answered the questions and gave a rendition of I'm the King of the Swingers.
Just as suddenly, their teacher said: "Now back to maths", but the atmosphere had altered. The children's heads were up. The scene was one of production as heads bobbed along to the sound of the music that continued in their minds. The dread and toil were taken out of the task at hand. It is a simple example outlining one of the hidden roles in the use of music.
Music in Education offers a greater quality of life experience to students of all abilities and disabilities (without even mentioning music therapy). It also aids personal development in a holistic fashion, leading to well-rounded confident adults. Surely that is what anyone would aspire to for their child.
Music must be demystified. Many individuals know the value of Music in Education. Aided and abetted by musicians, arts officers, music-lovers and teachers with a musical aptitude, they develop the access to music for those in their care. But this happens only in a haphazard manner throughout the country.
Through the Arts Council there is scope and a will to take this proces forward. It has been difficult to overcome the usual "departmental hats" problem to date, with the Department of Arts saying that a stronger use of music in the classroom is the role of the Department of Education and the Department of Education saying that the question of music is one appropriate to the Department of the Arts.
The way forward must be the blending of the lines so that expectations of both artist and school are understood, and a method of delivering the best possible artistic intervention can be realised.
The "new curriculum" must link into realistic starting points, where we actually are now, not where we think we are. It is one thing to decide that the arts can play a positive role in academic achievement; it is quite a different thing to proceed nationally with a "one size fits all" approach that will work.
In the Arts Committee report, Music For Young People, the huge gaps between what teachers were asking for and what the curriculum took for granted were glaring. Theorising cannot always strive to be as powerful or as potent as reality. It is time to listen.
The Assembly of European Regions conference, to be held this month in Ireland, asks: "What Place for Arts in Education? Towards a New Pedagogical Pattern Based on Creativity and Participation". It will consider arts education "a major challenge for regional policy-makers". Let us take on that challenge.
Teachers are asking for properly structured musical supports. Parents, more and more, realise what their children are missing. Artists continually "do their bit" at local level. It is time for "hats" to come off and for all partners to accept the strong recognition internationally of the important place that the arts should have in our education system.
• Cecilia Keaveney is Fianna Fáil TD for Donegal North East and chairwoman of the Arts, Sports, Tourism, Rural, Community & Gaeltacht Affairs Committee in the Oireachtas