BBC ‘record boost’ for home study children
THE BBC is to deliver the ‘biggest education offer in its history’ for pupils during lockdown, with programmes across a range of channels.
Curriculum-based learning will also be covered by the Red Button service and iPlayer. From Monday, CBBC will have a three-hour block of primary school programming from 9am while BBC2 will support pupils studying for GCSEs with a least two hours each weekday.
Shows including Our School, Celebrity Supply Teacher, Horrible Histories, Art Ninja and Operation Ouch will be broadcast. BBC director-general Tim Davie said: ‘Education is absolutely vital – the BBC is here to play its part and I’m delighted that we have been able to bring this to audiences so swiftly.’
Meanwhile, schools may face spotchecks from inspectors on the quality of online teaching as concerns grow over the ‘digital divide’ among youngsters.
Schools are now under a legal duty to provide all students with ‘immediate access to remote education’. There remain concerns over the Government’s free laptop scheme and the cost of data packages, which can scupper poorer children’s home learning.
The scheme provided 560,000 devices in 2020, with another 100,000 due shortly. However, it has been repeatedly criticised. Yesterday Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said children without laptops should be allowed to attend school for face-to-face learning. She insisted: ‘A lot of pupils still don’t have laptops. They are surviving on broken phones – those children now need to be seen as a priority to get into the classroom and deemed to be a vulnerable child’. Last night the Department for Education said it would prioritise ‘strengthened remote learning’, keep the supply of free laptops going and work with firms to get the cost of data down.
It came as leading union Unison called for nurseries to close. Head of education Jon Richards said: ‘Keeping nurseries and other pre-schools open puts staff and communities at risk. Social distancing is impossible with young children.’