Poor pupils hit hardest if classes stay shut

TeAcHerS were warned last night that the poorest children will be hit hardest if schools do not reopen fully in September.

The Sutton Trust, which campaigns on social mobility, said the lockdown has already reversed ten years’ progress in closing the education gap between the rich and poor.

This is because middle- class pupils received more online teaching than poorer ones.

chairman Sir Peter Lampl said the situation would only get worse if classrooms remained closed next month and told Boris Johnson that the need for a full return ‘overrides everything’.

The plea comes amid growing frustration from ministers that militant unions are attempting to sabotage the reopening plans.

Yesterday the Prime Minister visited a school in east London to make the point that it is a ‘moral duty’ to get children back.

Mr Johnson reportedly will only close schools as a last resort after advisers suggested that more restrictions may be needed for students to return next month.

He said it was ‘not right’ that children should spend any more time out of school, adding that it was more ‘damaging’ for pupils who have fallen further behind amid the school closures.

Sir Peter pointed to a survey carried out by the charity near the start of the school lockdown which found that 30 per cent of pupils from middle-class homes were taking part in live and recorded online lessons every day. But among the working classes, this was just 16 per cent.

At private schools, 51 per cent of primary and 57 per cent of secondary students were able to access online lessons every day – more than twice as likely as their counterparts in state schools.

There were also huge differences when it came to whether teachers collected in pupils’ work and marked it. The Sutton Trust found that 60 per cent of private schools and 37 per cent of state schools in the most affluent areas had an online platform in place to receive work. But only 23 per cent of the most deprived schools had a similar system in place.

And middle- class pupils were more likely to send work they had been set back to their teacher.

While teachers in private schools say they receive most work back, just 8 per cent say the same in the least advantaged state schools.

Sir Peter told the Mail: ‘School closures have hit poorest students the hardest. The lockdown is estimated to have reversed a decade’s worth of progress in closing the education gap between rich and poor.

‘We have seen big differences in how schools have reacted to the pandemic, both within the state sector and between independent and state schools.’

Sir Peter demanded the Government provide poorer children with laptops so if there are any local lockdowns, they will not lose out again. He said: ‘As there are likely to be more local lockdowns, it is crucial that state schools are supported to provide effective online learning. This means all pupils need to have access to the necessary technology and a stable internet connection.

‘There should also be clear minimum standards and guidance and training for teachers so they can make online provision more consistent between schools.

‘However, overriding everything is that all pupils must be back at school as soon as possible, providing of course it is safe to do so.’

‘Moral duty to get children back’

IT’S enough to make anyone who believes in social mobility weep with despair.

A study by the respected Sutton Trust estimates that school closures during lockdown ‘ have reversed a decade’s progress in closing the education gap between rich and poor’.

Pupils in the state sector received just half as much online and virtual tuition as those in private education. Inevitably, the situation was worst for the least advantaged.

Tragic though this is, we should not be surprised. At the beginning of lockdown the National Education Union said explicitly that its 450,000 members should not live-stream lessons from home.

The excuses given were ‘safeguarding issues’ and, even more preposterously, fears that images of teachers could be ‘misused’. Meanwhile, as NEU members had four months off on full pay, the poorest pupils fell further and further behind. They may never make up that educational gap, severely limiting their life chances.

Yet far from being contrite, the unions are putting obstacles in the way of a full school return next month. Even more scandalously the Labour Party, which is meant to care about the poor, sits on its hands.

While agreeing it is ‘essential’ that schools go back, shadow education secretary Kate Green won’t declare publicly that it’s safe for them to – despite evidence from across Europe that the danger of Covid transmission in schools is negligible.

The reality is that Labour is putting the interests of its trade union backers ahead of the welfare of children.

And as the Sutton Trust study so vividly demonstrates, in doing so they are robbing poor children of the chance of a better life.