Schools to get cash to visit Burns museum

Published on Saturday 22 January 2011 14:38

THE treasures on show at the new Robert Burns museum are to be made available to lads and lasses o' pairts across the country under a new Scottish Government initiative to teach schoolchildren more about their National Bard.

All pupils are to be given the opportunity to visit the attraction thanks to a boost to schools' budgets, which will be officially announced in Alex Salmond's Burns Night address on Tuesday.

Scotland on Sunday understands that the government intends to increase school visit budgets by 20 per cent to 150,000, to enable as many children as possible to go to the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum.

Although it will be up to individual schools to organise trips to the museum in Alloway, Salmond is keen that all Scottish youngsters be given the chance to learn about Burns and share his own love of the Ploughman Poet.

On Desert Island Discs last week, Salmond chose Burns' Complete Works as his reading matter, while a rendition of Ae Fond Kiss was one of his eight favourite records.

The First Minister last week was at the official opening of the new 21 million National Trust for Scotland museum, which incorporates the thatched cottage where Burns was born in 1759.

The opening ceremony was performed by the recently crowned Makar Liz Lochhead, who had been named the national poet the day before. As part of the opening celebrations the museum, which contains 5,000 artefacts relating to the poet, was open to the public for free yesterday.

The government's initiative was warmly welcomed yesterday at the museum, which was inundated with visitors taking advantage of the special deal.

"We are delighted about anything that helps school visits and opens the museum up to schoolchildren," said Shona Clifford, the museum's administrator.

"We have already had a great response to the museum. We are extremely busy. We have queues waiting to get in and we have had a particularly good response from people once they've been round the museum."

Burns enthusiasts welcomed the plan, of which full details will be announced in Salmond's speech next week.

Murdo Morrison, a director of the Robert Burns World Federation, said: "We are delighted that this sort of promotion is being pushed by the Scottish Government. As an organisation, we have been promoting Burns since 1913 through school competitions. This year our competitions attracted 160,000 entries in Scotland alone.

"Every organisation does need financial and moral support, so this is wonderful news. A knowledge and understanding of Robert Burns gives us a Scottish identity and international recognition. It is the sort of knowledge that opens doors and give youngsters pleasure for the rest of their lives."

Last night the First Minister's spokesman said: "The museum is a truly world-class visitor attraction and is a fitting tribute to Scotland's National Bard. Scotland's schoolchildren should have the opportunity to see it for themselves and that's why we are increasing the budget for the schools visitation programme."

The spokesman added that the "aim" was to give "every pupil in Scotland the chance to see the work of Robert Burns brought to life".

As well as comprising the famous cottage where the poet was born, the museum has been converted to house the world's most important collection of his life and works.