Pupils risk ‘losing out on £40k in earnings’
SCHOOL closures could lead to pupils losing approximately £40,000 in income over their lifetime, a report warns.
This equates to £350billion in lost lifetime earnings across the 8.7 million children in the UK, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
A “massive injection” of resources is needed to help pupils catch up after many have missed around six months of in-person lessons.
Options including allowing students to repeat a whole school year, lengthening the daily timetable or extending the academic year should be “on the table”.
James Turner, chief executive of social
mobility charity the Sutton Trust, said: “It is clear these months of disruption to young people’s education will have repercussions for many years to come.
“The IFS is absolutely right to call for substantially more education funding.”
So far, national governments in the UK have allocated around £1.5billion towards catch-up support.
The IFS report warned: “Without significant action, lost learning will translate into reduced productivity, lower incomes, lower tax revenues, higher inequality and potentially expensive social ills.
“The lack of urgency or national debate on how to address this problem is deeply worrying.”
Six months of day-today school spending is more than £30billion.
A study last week found that primary-age pupils’ performance in reading and maths dropped significantly in the first lockdown.