There is growing concern that a whole generation of children could be failed if the Government does not properly address education needs.
The Department for Education (DfE) announced an additional £1.4 billion of funding – on top of the £1.7 billion already pledged for catch-up – to help pupils make up for lost learning following months of school closures.
But Dr Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said “at least 10 times the amounts that were announced yesterday would be needed for children to have a chance of catching up”.
He described departing education tsar Sir Kevan Collins as “one of the most respected” people in the sector and said he would not have taken the decision to step down lightly.
Sir Kevan quit after warning that the Government’s support package “falls far short of what is needed” to meet the scale of the challenge. It has been previously reported he called for £15 billion of funding and 100 extra hours of teaching per pupil.
Dr Major told the Today programme: “I just hope that it’s a wake-up call for Government to see this as the beginning of a much bigger, more ambitious programme.”
He added: “What we do know, and I think there is a lot of evidence around this, is that extra teaching for children will have huge benefits. And remember this is an investment for the future. If we don’t address these issues now the real fear is that we will fail a whole generation.
“This is about a whole generation of children and so my belief is that there is compelling evidence that, if done well, if you extend teaching, then that will help us catch up. I don’t see any other way of doing it.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said England's Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is working “incredibly hard” to ensure children can recover the education lost during the pandemic.
Speaking to broadcasters ahead of a G7 health ministers’ meeting, he said: “The consequences of the pandemic are obviously serious for children who haven’t been able to get all the education they need and our plan is to make sure that everybody can get that education back.
“I think the Education Secretary is doing a great job putting that plan together and working incredibly hard to make sure children get the recovery of their education that they need.”
Meanwhile, Shadow treasury minister James Murray said Labour’s proposals for a catch-up fund would have seen a similar amount of investment as suggested by Sir Kevan Collins.
Mr Murray told Sky News: “I think what the Government has been exposed as having done is not prioritising children’s education, not prioritising the wellbeing of children, and this is the Chancellor’s responsibility for not putting the funding forward.”
He said the funding from the plans should come from “Covid reserves”.
