SEAToday.com, Jakarta - The British pop star Ed Sheeran on Thursday (1/9) launched the Ed Sheeran Foundation to ensure a “high-quality” music education for children in the UK.

“Music education has shaped who I am,” he said in a video shared on his Instagram account (@teddysphotos). “I’ve always enjoyed playing music, and it’s led to some of the best moments of my life.”

According to what Ed Sheeran wrote in the caption, the foundation was established because he felt there was less importance put into music, where it was often deemed a “doss subject”, “not a real job”, and not taken seriously. 

“I want kids to be able to learn instruments, learn production and songwriting, performing, and have apprenticeship schemes help them learn different skills to enter the industry,” he wrote.

With this foundation, he hopes to give support to the struggling music education organizations and ensure every child can have access to music education.

He also pointed out that many people mistakenly believe that music education is not a real profession, even though the music industry in the UK creates 216,000 jobs in various sectors and contributes up to 9.3 billion US dollars per year to the country's economy.