The funds, which are given to museums and galleries to support children's and young people's education, will be split equally across the two years.
For 2006-07, the £4.7m will be allocated to four areas - £2.08m for national museums that work with regional partners on education projects; £1.44m will go to the nine regional Museums, Libraries and Archives Councils to provide educational activities in regional museums; £800,000 will go to a secondment programme for teachers and museum educators; and £300,000 will be available to support education work for galleries without permanent collections.
There will be a small reserve of £80,000. The allocation of the £4.7m for 2007-08 has not been finalised.
The announcement was welcomed across the sector, although some expressed hope that this round of funding would be better managed than the first round in 2004.
Mark Suggitt, the head of Bradford Museums, which collaborated under the scheme with the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and the York Castle Museum on a project called Anim8ed, said: 'The main problem with the first round was that the announcement was put out and then there was a very tight turnaround for nationals to get partners on board and formulate projects. But the projects worked well because of good mutual partnerships.'
Maurice Davies, the deputy director of the Museums Association, said: 'We must hope that the DCMS has a transparent and wide-ranging consultation about the way in which this money will be spent in 2007-08.'
Answering criticisms about the delivery of the first round of funding, Keith Nichol, the head of museums education and workforce development at the DCMS, said that the government was 'on the front foot now'.
He added that he hoped there would be 'inclusive dialogue across the board' over future funds.
Patrick Steel
For 2006-07, the £4.7m will be allocated to four areas - £2.08m for national museums that work with regional partners on education projects; £1.44m will go to the nine regional Museums, Libraries and Archives Councils to provide educational activities in regional museums; £800,000 will go to a secondment programme for teachers and museum educators; and £300,000 will be available to support education work for galleries without permanent collections.
There will be a small reserve of £80,000. The allocation of the £4.7m for 2007-08 has not been finalised.
The announcement was welcomed across the sector, although some expressed hope that this round of funding would be better managed than the first round in 2004.
Mark Suggitt, the head of Bradford Museums, which collaborated under the scheme with the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and the York Castle Museum on a project called Anim8ed, said: 'The main problem with the first round was that the announcement was put out and then there was a very tight turnaround for nationals to get partners on board and formulate projects. But the projects worked well because of good mutual partnerships.'
Maurice Davies, the deputy director of the Museums Association, said: 'We must hope that the DCMS has a transparent and wide-ranging consultation about the way in which this money will be spent in 2007-08.'
Answering criticisms about the delivery of the first round of funding, Keith Nichol, the head of museums education and workforce development at the DCMS, said that the government was 'on the front foot now'.
He added that he hoped there would be 'inclusive dialogue across the board' over future funds.
Patrick Steel
