The Education Committee is holding a short inquiry on the
Government’s education catch-up programme and how
children and young people can best be supported to
recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Committee heard during its inquiry on the impact of
Covid-19 on education and children’s
services about the significant disruption to the
education and wellbeing of children since the start of the
pandemic last year. A study by the
IFS estimated that the loss of school time due to Covid
could lead to pupils losing an average of £40,000 each in
lifetime earnings, while a report from
NHS-commissioned mental health service Kooth showed an
increase in sleep issues (161%), loneliness (63%) and self-harm
(27%) among young people compared with
2019. Kooth also reported that mental
health issues were exacerbated in young people in black and
minority ethnic groups.
A series of evidence sessions, starting next week, will explore
the latest research on the significant challenges the
pandemic has posed for young people’s academic attainment, and
wellbeing, with a particular focus on the experiences of
disadvantaged groups. It will also scrutinise the efficacy
of the Government’s recovery programme,
including the National Tutoring Programme and the provision
of funding, and consider whether other
catch-up measures should be introduced.
Research by the Education
Policy Institute for the Department for Education
(DfE) sets out how primary and secondary-aged
pupils have experienced learning loss across the
2020/21 academic year. By the summer term, primary-aged
pupils had lost 0.9 months learning in reading and 2.8 months in
maths.
The research also found that pupils from
disadvantaged backgrounds experienced greater learning losses
than their more affluent peers as a result of the
pandemic. By the summer term, the gap in learning loss
was around 0.4 months for primary-aged pupils and around 1.6
months for secondary-aged pupils.
In total, the Government has committed nearly
£5billion of funding to supporting education
recovery since 2020, including the announcement
of £1.8billion in the recent Spending
Review. The new package includes a £1billion Recovery
Premium for the next two academic years and £800million to ensure
all 16-19 students will benefit from an extra 40 hours of
education across the academic year.
Last year £350million was invested by the Government in the
National Tutoring Programme, with a further £200million allocated
in February 2021.
Chair's comment
Rt Hon MP, Chair of the Education
Committee, said:
“The outbreak of Covid-19 has been nothing short of a disaster
for our children and young people. Lockdowns and school closures
have seen the four horsemen of the educational apocalypse gallop
towards students in terms of a widening attainment gap,
a worsening mental health crisis, a rise in safeguarding hazards
and damage to their life chances. We know that
those from disadvantaged backgrounds have been hit
particularly hard. Our Committee will scrutinise
the work of the Government to date to ensure that education
recovery is targeted towards remedying the learning loss caused
by the
pandemic, but also on improving wider
aspects of mental health and wellbeing. Only then can we be
sure that our young
people are being helped back
on to their feet to climb the ladder of
opportunity to their futures.”
On Tuesday 7th December at 10am the
Committee will hear from policy
experts from education charities and think tanks.
Questioning is likely to focus on how learning loss and recovery
can be evaluated and whether the Government’s investment so far
on catch-up has been sufficient. MPs may also ask about
the effectiveness of recovery measures such as the National
Tutoring Programme and extending the school day.
Witnesses
Tuesday 7 December at 10am:
- Professor Becky Francis, Chief Executive – Education
Endowment Foundation
- Rt Hon David Laws, Executive Chair – Education Policy
Institute
-
, Chief Executive – The Tutoring
Trust
