Commenting on the IPPR report The New Normal: The future of
education after Covid-19, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary
of the National Education Union, said:
"Many schools and colleges have gone above and beyond to support
their pupils through access to specialist support, providing
wellbeing calls and access to food.
'However, schools simply do not have the resources they need to
do this work effectively over the long run.
'Cuts to real terms school funding have dramatically reduced the
specialist support schools can provide. In school after school,
this has meant cuts to onsite counsellors, as well pastoral
support provided by teachers and support staff.
'This report worryingly shows a post-code lottery in provision
and that the pupils most in need of support, cannot access it.
'The NEU supports the call that all children should have access
to on-site mental health support, including on-site counsellors
and interventions to support parental support programmes. This
requires extra funding. School and colleges will also need much
more flexibility in the curriculum to support the complex
socio-emotional needs of children and young people. This cannot
be education as normal.
'We will not be able to prepare children for life unless we have
a broad, rich and inclusive curriculum and an end to the exam
factory system. It is important, therefore, that statutory
testing in primary schools is cancelled and that secondary
examinations are adapted to respond to students needs in a period
of unprecedented interruption. League tables should be suspended
for 2021, as they were for 2020, as they place unnecessary
pressure on education staff and restrictions on the curriculum
and the time available for the necessary pastoral care.”
