Why the arts are needed to put the 'A' into 'STEAM'

Amongst the good places to be in Britain, the National Theatre and the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon are up there. What I see or do when in these places is almost secondary to being there. Soaking it up in the National Gallery is a close second. Knowing that this country once had the courage to provide the necessary subsidy to create a national theatre; it is daily fillip to see what a beacon our two great theatres are for work that makes us think about how we live.

This feeling is compromised by knowing what is going on in maintained schools at the moment. Writing in The Guardian, the Director of the National Theatre, Rufus Norris, asked why we are squeezing the creativity from our schools. Norris offered as evidence statistics on the benefit to the UK economy of the creative industries (which are of greater value to the UK economy each year than the automotive, oil, gas, aerospace and life sciences combined). I would add that a major factor in keeping Brexit-sensitive highly paid jobs in London is likely to be the strength of the capital’s cultural life.

In recent times, the educational mood music from Whitehall has been that STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) are the horses to back in terms of skills for employment in the global race. We can all agree on the importance of these disciplines, but I see an instinct to promote STEM subjects in school at the expense of a wider education. Policy makers would do well to heed the growing body of evidence concerning the crucial importance of the arts and humanities to STEM practitioners.