Museums and galleries in the UK have received a £7m boost from the government with the announcement of funding for educational work.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) have unveiled a joint scheme in which national and regional museums and galleries will work with schools to ‘help bring the curriculum to life’.

The two departments will jointly invest more than £7m in the programme over the next two years to strengthen museums’ and galleries’ ability to support children and young people’s education.

Culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, said: “This funding will create opportunities to enrich the learning of school age children and young people across the country. It will complement the successful regional museums education work funded by the Renaissance in the Regions initiative.

“In its first year, Renaissance led to a 28 per cent increase in the number of schools taking part in educational work with hub museums.

“The funding announced today will be used to foster partnerships, bringing together the expertise of staff in museums and professional educators, to provide added value learning experiences – through the use of cultural resources – in a classroom, museum or other setting.”

The funding has been allocated over two years to enable organisations to plan and deliver activities on a sustained basis. Details: www.culture.gov.uk