Why can’t Hong Kong primary schools teach music properly for pupils who want to learn an instrument?

My daughter, who is in Year Four, is already a proficient musician and music lessons at her school are pitched way below her ability. Her class is learning to play the recorder. She says it’s really boring and the other children make a horrible noise. Can’t schools cater for more able children in music lessons as they do in maths and other subjects?

Most people would agree that the noise of novice recorder players – or indeed beginner violinists or trumpet players – can be excruciating. Unfortunately, primary schools don’t usually have the budget for more than one specialist music teacher, and this makes streaming classes in music impossible.

In previous decades, many schools didn’t have a specialist music teacher at all, so provision was varied, depending on the training and personal knowledge of the general class teacher.

Competent music teachers cater for different abilities in music lessons. This is greatly enhanced by the provision of extra space, which may not always be available. However, those teachers who have practise rooms linked to the main music room can organise small groups of students to work on their own compositions and experiment with instruments creatively without disturbing others.

This promotes creativity and independence, as well as enjoyment and cooperation, not only in a musical sense but also nurturing a student’s social and emotional development. If room is limited, as in many Hong Kong schools, even a talented teacher would find it challenging to get a large class of children practising instruments at their own level.