Responding to ONS statistics published today on the impact of
homeschooling during the coronavirus pandemic, Liberal
Democrat Education Spokesperson said:
“Coronavirus has clearly impacted every aspect of life, including
the wellbeing of parents and children, and the quality of
education the majority of children receive. We must ensure no one
is left behind.
“If it wasn’t for years of cuts to our schools and government
failing to consult adequately with teachers and school leaders,
it wouldn’t be this way. Ministers must now increase the
necessary provision of laptops and introduce a Summer Learning
Fund that supports the most disadvantaged children.
"Moreover, the Government must address the mental health impact
of the pandemic by signposting the appropriate support services
to every household, and properly funding the charities that
provide those services.”
ENDS.
Notes to editors:
Coronavirus and homeschooling in Great Britain: April to June
2020 can be found here.
Between 7 May and 7 June 2020, 87% of parents said a child in
their household had been homeschooled because of the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, with the percentage decreasing as the age of
the only or eldest child increased.
Over half (52%) of parents with school-aged children said a child
in their household was struggling to continue their education
while at home, with just over three in four of these parents
(77%) giving lack of motivation as one of the reasons.
While under 1 in 10 (9%) parents with a child who was struggling
gave a lack of devices as a reason for struggling, this was
significantly higher for households with one adult (21%) than
households with two or more adults (7%).
Between 3 April and 10 May 2020, of parents who were
homeschooling, one in three women (34%) agreed that it was
negatively affecting their well-being compared with one in five
men (20%), while 43% of homeschooling parents agreed that it was
negatively affecting the well-being of their children.
See below for full details of the Liberal Democrats’ five-point
plan for reopening schools to more pupils in England.
- Increase capacity for physical learning, by combining local
spare space registers, so that local councils and school leaders
can find suitable empty buildings in the community to use as
learning spaces.
- Recruit an army of extra teachers to cope with demand. The
Government should launch a Teach for Britain recruitment campaign
to bring out-of-work supply teachers and recently-retired
teachers into schools so more pupils can return. This builds on
the success of the Social Work Together campaign, developed with
the Local Government Association. Ministers should work with
unions to get more teachers into learning spaces in any one
school day.
- End the online learning void for thousands of children.
Ministers should develop a bold strategy to leave no child behind
by partnering with the private sector to get laptops and internet
access to any disadvantaged child currently unable to learn
online. The Government’s current target to provide 230,000
laptops has left out too many children. Councils are neither
receiving the equipment they have asked for, nor seeing high
uptake rates for the kit they’re given. The Government should
launch a major advertising campaign to encourage families and
children to ask for equipment, backed up by working with schools
to get more physical resources including textbooks to children
lacking internet or computer access.
- Design a flexible, phased reopening that follows the science
and has the trust of parents and the profession by being
developed with them, following the lead of in Wales. Schools should aim to begin the next
academic year on time in September, but double the autumn
half-term break to two weeks. We must recognise that many
schools are doing a fantastic job at phased reopening, and
ensure local authorities, academy trusts and government are
learning from their successes.
- Halt the widening of the disadvantage gap. The Government
should combine the summer provision of free school meals with an
emergency uplift in child benefit of £150 per child per month,
with £100 for every subsequent child, during this crisis. The
catch-up premium should be worth at least £700 for every
disadvantaged child eligible for the pupil premium, to enable
schools and charities to give them a much-needed boost in the
next academic year. Ministers should create a Summer Learning
Fund so that councils can run summer learning camps for children,
focused on local authorities in the most deprived areas. This
will prepare children for September and give many children a
positive environment in which to learn and re-acclimatise to an
educational environment. The Government should fund places on
these courses for children on free school meals.
