By Extra £1.4bn unveiled for education recovery
Tutoring sessions for pupils in England are being promised in school catch-up plans that will cost £1.4bn over three years.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We will do everything we can to support children who have fallen behind.”
The extra funding will help pupils whose learning has been disrupted by the pandemic.
Head teachers criticised the proposals as a “damp squib” and “hugely disappointing”.
The amount announced is lower than had been previously suggested – think tank Education Policy Institute (EPI) calculated a recovery plan would cost £13.5bn.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “This is a hugely disappointing announcement which lets down the nation’s children and schools at a time when the Government needed to step up and demonstrate its commitment to education.”
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Each nation of the UK is having to grapple with the problem of learning lost to the pandemic.
He added: “There has obviously been a battle behind the scenes over funding for education recovery which the Treasury has clearly won with the result that the settlement is less than a tenth of the £15 bn that was being mooted.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “After weeks of talking big and building expectation for education recovery this announcement only confirms the Government’s lack of ambition for education. It’s a damp squib – some focus in a couple of the right areas is simply not enough.
“The funding announced to back these plans is paltry compared to the amounts other countries have invested, or even compared to government spending on business recovery measures during the pandemic.”
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