The State is being approached with demands for financial help in
order to enable rural districts also to have such voluntary music edu-
cation. It is hoped that in the near future Parliament will discuss this
project, involving State provision of 50 per cent of the costs. The city
of Nacka now contributes about 125,000 Swedish crowns (25,000 dol-
lars) annually to the music school.
In the Swedish elementary school system, children begin their school
training at the age of 7. There are no o&cial infant schools as part of the
ordinary school system but some are maintained voluntarily. There are
eight grades in the elementary school, linked with the high schools on
a dual basis so that pupils may either remain throughout in the elemen-
tary school or move on to the high school after the fourth or sixth grade
of the elementary school.
All Swedish elementary schools have the same curriculum, set up by
the Royal Ministry of Education, and each teacher plans his own daily
programme on that basis. The education programme is sent to the
headmaster who forwards it to the State inspector. Thus it is theoreti-
cally possible for the Director-General of the Royal Board of Education
to know day by day which subjects are taught in any school in the
country. He can, for instance, say that Mr. Johnson, teacher in a school
in Lapland, teaches geography between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
And Mr. Johnson in all probability does teach geography at this time,
but if suddenly a look could be taken at this classroom, the pupils
might be found singing or making music or just listening to music.
Because it is in this way that music is treated in our country, so that
you may sing during the geography lesson, for example, and outside
the time allotted to music in the programme.
There is generally one period of 45 minutes a week given to music;
on the middle level, two such periods a week; and in the first grades
music may be made at any time. In most elementary schools the general
teacher is the music teacher as well; in some greater cities specialists
are put in charge in the upper grades.
SOME PRINCIPLES IN MUSIC EDUCATIONMusic education was once based on the opinion that children did not
know anything about music when first entering school, and had to be
taught everything. So they were taught a number of songs supposed
to be appropriate for them, and learned about notes, keys, scales, bars
and so on.