source : the age
A long, steady decline in students choosing to study Higher School Certificate drama has put the subject in a state of crisis, teachers say, as they urge the education minister to boost performing arts education.
Fewer than 1000 girls in public schools enrolled in drama last year, following a 40 per cent drop over the past decade, NSW Department of Education figures show. There were 436 boys, which was also a decline from the previous year.
In the next four weeks, 79,675 students are expected to complete at least one of the 123 written HSC exams that will span about 350 hours, starting with 75,348 putting their heads down for the first English paper from 9.50am on Tuesday. The second English paper will be taken on Wednesday, and exams for maths subjects start the following Monday.
Drama students will take their exams on October 22. The peak group for teachers of the subject recently wrote to Education Minister Prue Car about plummeting enrolments. The letter from Drama NSW followed the release of a 10-year plan to improve the state of music education in public schools, promising every student the opportunity to learn an instrument.
“Our concern is not that music has been included. It is that the other arts disciplines have not,” the letter said.
“Research has consistently connected drama education with stronger belonging, engagement, confidence, communication, empathy, problem-solving, ethical reasoning and community connection.”
The letter cited research pointing to a “polycrisis” swirling around drama, ranging from teacher shortages to increasingly fragile pathways into the creative workforce for students.
Drama NSW president Amy Gill said the enrolment drop was “devastating”.
“There’s a real sense in the drama education community that we are in crisis,” she said.
Parents were increasingly failing to see the performing arts as a viable long-term career for their children due to the broader state of the arts sector around Australia, which may be having an impact on subject choices.
“Musicals are shutting down across the country,” she said.
Public school enrolments in drama fell from 2403 in 2016 to 1441 last year. Across public, private and Catholic schools, enrolments dipped from 4724 to 3192 over the same period, a drop of 33 per cent.
Other creative subjects, including dance, alongside textiles and design, have suffered as enrolments declined 20 per cent over the past decade.
Ned Manning, an actor who has also taught drama in NSW high schools, said amid a push for STEM subjects, the creative arts had fallen by the wayside in schools.
“You need the leadership teams in the schools to say: ‘This is worthwhile’,” he said.
“The reason why the numbers have dropped off is that a lot of the schools, for various reasons, have stopped offering it.”
DiAnne McDonald, head of drama at Brigidine College St Ives, said numbers dropped off during the COVID era when the class was taught remotely.
“The federal government also started to charge double for arts courses at university – and students looked at where the subject was going to take them.”
She said drama helped students succeed in every other subject because it was the antithesis of the online world, helping bolster real-world personal communication skills such as eye contact.
“Students are living in a digital world, and the digital world doesn’t give them a lot of confidence. Drama has that very hands-on subject which bolsters human connection.”
Research published this year found a nationwide reduction of available creative arts courses at universities and TAFE.
NIDA director of learning and innovation Andrew Comrie said applications for 2027 study were up 13 per cent on last year.
“The drop in the number of school students choosing drama is concerning, though,” he said. “Performing arts education benefits everyone. It builds confidence, communication, collaboration and creative thinking, which are skills that matter in any career.”
Dulwich High School student Arden Fogarty wanted to study wood technology in the HSC; when he was unable to enrol, he ended up in drama.
“I was kind of very against it, for some reason,” he said.
He links that hesitation, and the falling numbers, with peer pressure and perhaps his fellow students’ hesitation to perform in front of others and the potential for embarrassment.
“I was pretty good at public speaking but I was pretty nervous. I think it’s because year 10, 11 and 12 are the years when it gets more of that kind of thing of trying to stay cool.”
But that faded quickly after his teacher got him working with new classmates he was not friends with.
There was a group performance, which was selected to subsequently perform for more than 400 students. “It was actually the best choice,” he says of his decision.
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