Ex-education recovery tsar calls Government catch-up programme 'feeble'
Katy Morton
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Former education recovery tsar, Sir Kevan Collins, has highlighted the underfunding in early years, and branded the Government’s £1.4 billion Covid catch-up plan for children as ‘feeble’.
Speaking to the Education Select Committee this morning, Sir Kevan, who quit his role as the Government’s education recovery commissioner last month after ministers rejected his £15 million recovery plan, told MPs a ‘massive national effort’ to recover children’s learning was now needed rather than a ‘bit of tutoring in the corner’.
He said that that the Government’s investment in teaching and tutoring are ‘good components’, but that there needs to be a ‘bigger co-ordinated effort’. He went on to highlight how early years is ‘underfunded’ under the current package and said that ‘education recovery must start with the youngest children’.
Sir Kevin told MPs that one recommendation he was most disappointed that the Government did not take up was extending the school day, by just 30 minutes a day, to enable children to catch up on the things they have missed.
Following Sir Kevan’s evidence sessions, Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green has written to the education secretary Gavin Williamson urging him to take further action to support schools to keep children learning.
The letter states, ‘With children having missed well over half a year of in-person school your former education commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins has called your recovery proposals ‘feeble’. Will you now accept that you must do more to help every child bounce back from the pandemic?
‘Parents and school staff are crying out for help but have heard nothing from you or your department about how you will tackle this renewed impact of Covid on children and young people, and support parents who are once again having to juggle caring for their children at home with work and other commitments.’
A Government Spokesperson said, 'We have committed to an ambitious, and long-term education recovery plan, including an investment to date of over £3bn and a significant expansion of our tutoring programme, to support children and young people to make up for learning lost during the pandemic.'
