The government has today announced a £130 million boost for sports and music in English schools.

Launching the new Space for Sport and Arts programme, Tessa Jowell said that 300 primary schools will be given cash to modernise or build new multi-use halls, areas that cater for a range of sports on one site, all-weather pitches and new music and arts studios.

Forum Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

Mike Moore, senior vice-president at the ATL, told ePolitix.com: "The national curriculum, when first introduced, quite rightly concentrated teacher's minds on literacy and numeracy, but it was at the expense of the other vital parts of a student's education.

"Teachers are very imaginative and have lots of individual skills and aptitudes that they would love to pass on to their pupils. These personal interests can provide young people with wonderful opportunities to become interested in a wide variety of non-curriculum activities.

"Unless teachers are given the chance to teach a fully enriched curriculum where will the next Benjamin Brittain or David Puttnam come from?

"Presently there is little chance for pupils to experience the creative and inventive activities that do not appear within the strict confines of the national curriculum. What teachers really want is to be able to make education fun and enjoyable."

Forum Response: National Union of Teachers

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT, told ePolitix.com: "This is a welcome move but the problem still remains of lack of time in the school day for sports and arts education.

""The physical and creative development of children are central to the promotion of a healthy, well-rounded future but currently the primary curriculum is over-loaded, limiting the opportunities for teachers to develop these areas as much as they would wish."

Forum Response: Sport England

Brigid Simmonds, acting chair of the Sport England Lottery Panel, told ePolitix.com: "This is a very good example of lottery distributors working together. Space for Sport and Arts is the first scheme to focus on primary schools. We place great importance on primary schools as it is where the essential sport skills including hand/eye co-ordination has to be learnt, whether you are participating in sport just for fun as a more serious athlete."