Children in school for lessons ‘have advantage over those left at home’ in lockdown

BRITAIN-FRANCE-HEALTH-VIRUS-EDUCATION
Professor Alan Smithers said children who are in school could be at an advantage to their peers stuck at home
AFP via Getty Images
Anna Davis @_annadavis12 January 2021

The increasing number of children attending school during lockdown risks creating a “lopsided” system with students experiencing vastly different standards, an education expert warned today.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said children who are in school could be at an advantage to their peers stuck at home.

This risks widening the gap between the types of education children receive during the pandemic even further.

He said even if pupils in schools are watching the same online lessons as their peers at home, they may benefit from being in a school environment and having friends and teachers on hand to discuss work with.

It comes after the Evening Standard revealed that the number of children in London schools has increased dramatically since the first school closures in March.

One in six London schools had 15 per cent or more of their normal student body in class last week. But at the beginning of the lockdown in March, just one in 100 London schools had the same number of pupils attending.

Schools are closed to everyone except vulnerable children and the children of key workers. But the definition of both categories has expanded, meaning more children are eligible for a place.

Department for Education guidance states that even if children are eligible for a place, parents should keep them at home “if they can.”

Professor Smithers said: “Some parents are using the relaxation in rules to get their children back into school in the hope of a better education. If the school is on top of its classroom provision alongside online learning, this will confer an advantage.

“Schooling during lockdown is becoming even more lopsided and risks further widening the gap between the haves and have-nots.”

But he added that some schools are unable to offer much more than child-minding to pupils who turn up.  

He said: “This adds to the variation in the experiences of children. It makes what children are receiving a lot more lopsided.”

Professor Smithers called for teachers to be vaccinated and schools to reopen as soon as possible.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday that if only one parent in a household is a key worker then children should not go to school.

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