The risk of children’s education not recovering from the pandemic is at crisis level, a Department for Education report has warned.
Officials rated the risk of children failing to recover from the impact of the pandemic, and a subsequent widening of the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils, as “Crisis — Likely, or Critical — Very Likely.”
Education recovery was listed as one of six key risks in the Department for Education’s annual report, which raised fears that if children do not sufficiently make up for the lessons missed during Covid, then poorer children and those with special educational needs will drop further behind.
It comes after watchdog Ofsted warned that children’s recovery from the pandemic was being hampered by a workforce crisis which means there are not enough teachers in schools and nurseries.
Ofsted said staff were fleeing the profession for better paid jobs elsewhere as the cost-of-living crisis hit, and many children were being left in larger classes. Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman warned that many school sports, drama and music lessons have not been reinstated since the pandemic.
The Government has been criticised for failing to fund catch-up programmes enough. Former Covid-catchup tsar Sir Kevan Collins had called for a £15bn recovery plan, including an extended school day for all. But he resigned in June last year when the Government refused to fund it fully.
The DfE report said that between June 2020 and October 2021, £4.9billion was announced to support education recovery and improve the wellbeing and outcomes of children and young people.
