A leading think tank believes that children may need to spend longer hours at school in order to get their learning back on track once the coronavirus pandemic is finally conquered

LONGER school days should be introduced so pupils who have lost learning amid Covid can take part in social and academic activities, a report suggests.

A three-year funding package of £13.5 billion is required in England to reverse the disruption to pupils’ education due to the pandemic, according to the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank.

Ministers should extend school hours, offer more incentives for teachers to work in “challenging areas”, and allow some pupils to retake the year as part of its education recovery plans, the report said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already made £1.7 billion of catch-up funding available in England to help children who have faced disruption from school and college closures due to Covid-19.

As part of the recovery package, this year summer school will be introduced for pupils who need it the most, while tutoring schemes will be expanded.

But the think tank said ministers will need to put in place an ambitious, multi-year programme of support to prevent total lost future earnings for pupils running into the tens of billions.

The report recommended a variety of policies to support pupils, including extending school hours to host sports clubs, social activities, games, pastoral support and academic programmes.

It said summer wellbeing programmes should be open to all school-aged children, rather than just targeted at Year 7s, and the government should introduce a new right for pupils to repeat a year of education, where it is supported by their parents, to tackle extreme cases of learning loss.

The think tank added that extra payments given to teachers to work in “challenging areas” should be doubled to £2,000 a year, extended to existing teachers, and focused on the poorest 20-25 per cent of schools – and extra funding should be given to schools to hire mental health support workers.

Natalie Perera, EPI chief executive, said: “If the government is committed to building back better and preventing the harmful and long-term consequences of Covid, then it needs to provide a serious funding boost of around £13.5 billion over this parliament to schools, early years settings and colleges.

“We are calling on the government to implement a series of effective, evidence-based policies from this September to support children and young people – not only with their learning, but with their wellbeing and mental health too.”

David Laws, executive chairman of the EPI, said: “Over the last year, children have fallen badly behind in their learning, and those who are disadvantaged have suffered most acutely. We have seen the worst disruption to education in our country since the Second World War.

“If the pandemic is not to scar this generation of young people, the Prime Minister needs to put in place an ambitious education recovery plan, based on sound evidence and sufficient funding.

“If we fail to make good the lost learning, there will be significant adverse implications for skills, earnings, economic growth and social mobility.”

The government’s education recovery commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, is considering long-term proposals to address the impact of Covid on children.

The Education Secretary has confirmed that a change to the summer holidays and longer school days are being looked at as part of the long-term recovery plan for pupils who have missed out on lessons.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said extending school hours and opting for summer schemes “have a great deal of merit as long as they are properly resourced and do not increase the workload of leaders and teacers to an even more unsustainable level”.

He added: “But there are also many other very important proposals in this package, including increased funding for disadvantaged children in the early years, and disadvantaged students in 16-19 education, which seem so obviously right that the government simply must act.

“In the meantime, we look forward to hearing from the education recovery commissioner Sir Kevan Collins on the plans he is currently developing, and we appeal to the government to ensure that it backs up these plans with the funding that is so clearly required both immediately and in the longer term.”

l Meanwhile the TUC is warning that the virus-related trend to working from home could lead to a new “class divide”.

Some people have been able to work from home during the pandemic, and will find it easier to achieve more flexible working in the future, but others may have fewer options, said the union organisation.

It published a report highlighting that flexibility is not just working from home, but includes having predictable or fixed hours, working as a job share, or flexitime, term time-only hours, annualised or compressed hours.

The TUC said many more workers should have the right to set hours, to enable them to manage their working life and other commitments such as childcare, rather than having to make different arrangements every week when shifts are announced.

Figures published by the TUC to mark Friday’s Work From Home Day, organised by Work Wise UK to improve work-life balance, suggested that permanent home working may have doubled from 6.7% in 2019 to 12.2% in 2020.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It’s likely that many workers will want to spend more time working from home than before, and it’s vital that employers have positive and constructive discussions with staff and unions about how to make this work.

“A sole focus on home working rights would create new inequalities for those who cannot easily work from home.

“All workers need stronger rights to the full range of flexible working options like flexitime, predictable shifts and job shares.

“The Prime Minister’s failure to include an employment bill in his legislative programme is a colossal failure to address the needs of working people. He must bring forward new rights to flexible working without delay.”

Ms O’Grady urged firms to consult with workers about a wider return to work expected after June 21 when the latest phase of ending the lockdown comes into effect.

Work Wise UK chief executive Phil Flaxton said: “As the UK emerges from lockdown, the way we work may change. Will we end presenteeism, reduce commuting, use designated workspaces in homes, or make hybrid working across workplaces and homes the norm?

“National Work From Home Day provides an opportunity for employers to start conversations with their staff on future ways of working.

“Working people need a say on what works for them and what doesn’t. If their needs are respected, it could really help healthy changes that benefit the whole working population.”