French conservatories in financial distress
The French Syndicat des Personnels de Direction des Conservatoires (Spedic) has submitted a petition to Aurélie Filippetti, the country's Minister of Culture. It is directed against drastic cuts in funding for music education in the country.
According to a report by "France Musique", state subsidies for conservatoires were already reduced by 25 percent in 2013. In 2014, they are to be cut by a further 31 percent, meaning that the subsidies will be reduced by around half within two years. Spedic is demanding that the contributions remain at least at the same level as before.
The reductions in contributions to the conservatoires are in line with the general reductions in the state culture budgets in France. These will be cut by around 2% in 2014. The state spends around 2.7 billion euros annually on the cultural sector and 4.56 billion euros on the creative industries (including the media).
The petition on the web:
https://secure.avaaz.org/fr/petition/Conservatoires_en_danger/?stFdveb
