School visits to museums drop considerably

6:03am Friday 9th May 2008

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SCHOOL visits to museums have dropped by more than 50 per cent in the last year.

Maldon District Council has revealed the number of pupils visiting museums in organised school groups has dropped from 213 in 2006/07 to just 89 in 2007/08 - despite a target of 240.

A report to the overview and scrutiny committee read: "Unfortunately the volunteer responsible for co-ordinating and delivering the organised school visits passed away.

"It has been problematic finding a new volunteer for this work hence the considerable drop in figures from last year.

A spokesman for Maldon District Council said: "Maldon District Council does not directly manage any museums but we continue to be proactive in supporting those that we have in the district.

"We understand that a new volunteer will be in place this season to encourage more visits to the museums from school groups."