[ad_1]
Secondary schools in England will be funded to run summer schools for pupils hardest hit by the pandemic, the government announced, as part of its latest educational recovery plans to help children catch up on missing learning.
The new measures include £ 200 million to expand the government’s national tutoring program, plus an additional £ 300 million “recovery bonus” that will go directly to schools to help the most disadvantaged children.
However, there was no mention of more radical measures that have been proposed in recent weeks, including extending the school day or reducing holidays so that students have time to catch up.
Critics warned that the latest government package was not close enough to address the huge education gap that has been opened between poor children and their more-favored peers during the pandemic and called for a more ambitious recovery plan.
“While any additional support for schools is welcome, the government package announced today is not enough to help students catch up with their learning and provide wellness activities for students of all ages,” said Natalie Perera, Executive Director of the Education Policy Institute. (EPI).
The new make-up premium will provide an additional £ 6,000 for the average primary school and £ 22,000 for each secondary, “too modest to make a serious difference,” Perera said.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders union NAHT, added: “Summer schools will be valuable to some students, but it will be important not to overwhelm students. Recovery cannot happen in just one summer. “
The government presented its plans as a new £ 700 million recovery package, but the prime minister had already announced £ 300 million last month. The £ 400 million of new money brings the total recovery fund to £ 1.7 billion.
Of that, £ 200 million will be invested in summer schools, which will initially go to 11-year-olds moving on to secondary school next September. An additional £ 18 million has been found to support language development in early childhood settings.
Introducing the packet, Boris Johnson said: “When schools reopen and face-to-face education resumes on March 8, our next priority will be to ensure that no children are left behind as a result of learning lost over the past year.
“This extensive catch-up funding program will equip teachers with the tools and resources they need to support their students and provide children with the opportunities they deserve to learn and develop their potential.”
Mary Bousted, deputy secretary general of the National Education Union, said: “Some of this is recycled from previous commitments and much more will be needed to address the scale of the problem of the education gap between poor children and their more favored peers.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he would have preferred the additional money to go directly to schools, colleges and early childhood education providers.
“By allocating a large sum of money to the national tutoring program and apparently putting another large sum of money specifically for summer schools, there is less availability for schools and colleges to use as general catch-up support.”
The government has appointed an education recovery commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, to develop longer-term plans. She said: “We know that ensuring that all children and youth can regain lost learning will be a longer-term challenge, and the range of measures announced today is an important next step.
“But this is just the beginning and I will engage with the industry, educational charities, and families, to ensure this support is delivered in a way that works for both youth and industry, and to understand what else is needed to help to recover the lost learning of the students in the course of this parliament ”.
