You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Government investment in the arts such as music and theatre is a waste of money. Governments must invest this money in public services instead. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.
Write at least 250 words.

MODEL ANSWER>>>

It is argued that spending public money on arts such as music and theatre is not worthy. Instead the state investment should be channeled to public services such as health and education. Although I do not oppose the spending on arts, I feel the primary focus should be on necessary public services.

Firstly, one should understand the fact that in many countries public services such as health, education, communication and transport are either inadequate or not well-developed. If such facilities are not standardized, the quality of life would be compromised. For example, if the government does not spend enough money on the health sector, morbidity and mortality rate of the country would hike. Similarly, if not enough money is spent on education, the overall development would stagnate. Therefore, it is the duty of a responsible government to give prioritized allocation of funds in these vital areas before focusing on any secondary sector.

Nonetheless, this does not necessarily mean to cut down the state’s financial aid to support arts. There are many traditional theatre arts and music forms which are almost neglected these days due to the advent of newer forms of entertainments like online games.  These sorts of arts reflect the culture of a social section in a country, and therefore preserving it and passing it to the next generation is the responsibility of everyone.

To conclude, it is obvious that there are benefits when investments are made primarily in public services as it enhances the quality of people’s life. At the same time, I cannot believe it is a waste if money is spent to support art and art forms.

Word count: 271