If schools do not go back until September and current rates of home learning continue, the gap between better-off families and those from poorer households will accumulate to the loss of 15 full school days, according to data released today from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS).
The survey of more than 4,000 parents in England between 29 April and 12 May shows that children from better-off households are spending 30 per cent more time each day on educational activities than children from the poorest fifth of households.
This gap of an hour and a quarter every day means that these children will already have done extra home learning hours equivalent to a week and a half of full-time school compared with poorer children by 1 June, when some students could return to school.
As well as spending more time on educational activities overall, pupils from better-off households are more likely to spend time on activities that may be particularly beneficial, such as online classes and with private tutors.
Even within state secondary schools, 64 percent of parents in the richest fifth of families report their child’s school is offering interactive resources such as video or text chatting, compared with 47 per cent for children in the poorest fifth of families. Four-fifths of private school students get some online teaching.
Alison Andrew, senior research economist at IFS and one of the authors of the report, said that children in lower-income households are ‘less likely’ to have their own space for schoolwork and are ‘less likely’ to have a computer or tablet to use for school.
Commenting on the survey, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said, ‘While this period of lockdown will end, the educational disadvantage that exists as a result of poverty will not. Schools cannot tackle this on their own.'
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: 'Lockdown has provided a unique opportunity for policy-makers to reboot their attitude to disadvantage and equality of opportunity.
'The disadvantage gap was huge before lockdown... Without doubt, education plays a key role in navigating a route out of poverty, but a lack of education does not in itself cause poverty. Other social factors do that, and to date they have consistently worked against schools' efforts. We need to rethink how we tackle inequality in this country.
'It would be disappointing if the same old arguments and assumptions about disadvantage were allowed to persist once lockdown has ended. NAHT will be encouraging the government to grasp this moment and use it to level the playing field once and for all.'
'Squabbling' over wider opening
Meanwhile, England’s Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield, has urged the Government and teaching unions to ‘stop squabbling’ over the reopening of schools on 1 June. But despite meeting with scientific advisers last week, unions insist that although they are ‘moving forward’, it is now important to release ‘scientific analysis’ to back up their assurances that schools are safe to re-open for some children.
Commenting on Gavin Williamson's COVID press briefing on Saturday, which discussed the the wider reopening of schools, Mr Courtney said that the NEU was pleased to hear the Secretary of State restate that a wider opening of schools on 1 June is ‘conditional on the Government passing certain tests’, and pleased to hear Mr Williamson say that the Government will be closely monitoring the impact of this week’s loosening on the R rate and the overall case count, before deciding to take further measures.
The NEU has come up with a list of five tests for the Government before schools reopen, which have been endorsed by the British Medical Association.
These include much lower numbers of Covid-19 cases; a national plan for social distancing; testing; a whole school strategy and protection for the vulnerable.
The NAHT's Mr Whiteman refuted claims of a rift between the Government and the unions and said that Friday’s meeting with the government’s scientific advisers was ‘productive’, but although they heard ‘some assurances about safety’, they didn’t get the analysis behind those assurances.
‘What’s important now is that scientific evidence and advice is put in the public domain,’ he said. ‘Most critically, clear evidence on the level of risk that pupils, parents and school staff may pose to one another in a school environment and how these risks can best be mitigated. The ball is currently in the government’s court here, so we hope they’ll publish this with no delay.’
- The National Education Union’s 5 Tests: https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/5-tests-government-before-schools-can-re-open
- IFS Report Learning during the lockdown: real-time data on children’s experiences during home learning
