Faculty Association of the Royal Conservatory – OSSTF/FEESO District 34 Petition

In June 2023, The Faculty Association of the Royal Conservatory, a branch of District 34 Independent Educational Programs, launched a petition in response to the Ford government’s cuts to music and arts programs in publicly-funded education.

Music education contributes to all aspects of cognitive development. Studies in neuroscience have proven and demonstrated that learning to play an instrument or sing leads to changes in a child’s brain making it more likely for them to reach their full cognitive and academic potential.

Oliver Sachs, a British neurologist and author of Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, claims that music occupies more areas of our brain than language does. He presents the case based on the premise that “humans are a musical species.”

According to Dr. Jill Andrew, Ontario NDP Culture Critic and Women’s Issues Critic for the Official Opposition, “It is a slap in the face for the education minister to dismiss the academic and social value and the vibrancy that the arts and arts education brings to the lives of people across Ontario. We need to give kids more opportunities to experience the power of an arts education, not fewer.”

Please support the Faculty Association of the Royal Conservatory by sharing the petition and informing your colleagues, friends, and families about the pending cuts to arts programs across Ontario, like band, music, theatre and the visual arts.

Stanley Rosenzweig is the President of The Faculty Association of the Royal Conservatory – District 34