Education

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has pledged to look at lengthening the school day in England in a bid to help more pupils recover from the Covid crisis.It has been suggested an extension to the school day will help children catch-up on lost learning and prosper after the pandemic.The recently-appointed minister told MPs there are some “excellent examples” of academy school leaders bringing in longer days that he will examine.Mr Zahawi also said he wanted all schools to ensure they move to the average school day length of 6.5 hours.Speaking in the Commons, Conservative MP Robert Halfon MP – who chairs the education select committee – asked if the cabinet minister would consider making the case for a longer school day.Mr Halfon said the Education Policy Institute had found that a longer day increases educational attainment – especially amongst disadvantaged pupils. “Will he at least consider some pilot schemes in disadvantaged areas?”Mr Zahawi replied: “There are some excellent examples … of a longer school day which I’m going to look at. The average school day now is 6.5 hours and I would like to see everybody move towards that average.”Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said any possible gains from extending the school day “must be weighed against the costs … including the impact on pupils’ mental health, reduced family time and less time for extra-curricular activities”.The union leader added: “Children’s happiness and wellbeing should be prioritised as well as their education.”Speaking at education questions, Mr Zahawi also said “there is no place for anti-vaxxers harassing or coming anywhere near school leaders” – as he insisted the vaccine rollout for senior school pupils “continues at pace”.Labour has called for councils to be able to stop anti-vaccination activists from protesting outside schools by using exclusion orders. Mr Zahawi said home secretary Priti Patel would look at ways to stop harassment of parents or teachers.The education secretary said: “I have the reassurance of the home secretary that she’ll make any resources available that the sector needs to make sure those people in our schools are protected and are able to get on with the job of teaching children and protecting them.”Meanwhile, education minister Michelle Donelan appealed for university lecturers to “reconsider taking strike action” amid a dispute over pay, pensions and working conditions.The Tory MP told the Commons: “I am deeply concerned about it because there is the threat of strikes, our students are now in a position to have face-to-face teaching, and I would urge every lecturer to reconsider taking strike action.”The universities minister added: “Strikes before have not helped the situation but they have impacted students, who deserve a fairer deal.” More

Universities should not opt for online learning instead of face-to-face teaching to cut costs, a minister has said. In-person teaching has been allowed at universities for all courses since May, after Covid lockdown measures meant some degrees had been online-only for months. But even though there are no longer restrictions on face-to-face learning, a number of universities have decided to keep some virtual elements. Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said on Wednesday online learning can be useful – but should not be done to keep costs down. “Students are consumers, they do have rights. They should be getting what they’ve been informed they were going to get,” she told the education select committee.“But it’s not as simple as saying online is bad, face-to-face is good, because in some scenarios it can add, but it should never be used as a cost-cutting exercise.”She said some online provision can “enhance learning” and some students have requested it. But she told MPs: “Online should never be used as a cost-cutting exercise or to devalue education or take away from it, and that we’re very clear on.“I’m writing to vice-chancellors this week once again on this matter to reinforce our message on it.”The government has said it expects universities to return to delivering face-to-face teaching, including lectures, now that restrictions have been removed.Professor Tansy Jessop, pro vice-chancellor of the University of Bristol, said around a third of learning was online.She told MPs: “I think if we switched off all our online media they’d be quite anxious.”Other universities which have decided to continue providing some online teaching include the University of Liverpool, the University of Kent and University College London. The University of Portsmouth said students wanted to “keep some of the positive changes” that blended learning offered last year and so were keeping some online components this term. Universities UK, which represents over 100 institutions, said universities are “maximising face-to-face opportunities” this term given the restrictions of the past year, but that some elements, such as large lectures, may still be online “where there are clear benefits for students or for public health reasons”.Additional reporting by Press Association More

A Labour MP has called for “buffer zones” to be established outside schools as anti-vaccine protesters target pupils. Stella Creasy said people did not have an “open, uncontested right” to impose their views on others. Anti-vaxxers have targeted schools with protests and legal threats since coronavirus vaccines began being rolled out to 12- to 15-year-olds in England.Some anti-vaxx groups on the messaging service Telegram have been mobilising members to visit areas around schools to approach teenagers to discuss vaccines and spread misinformation.Ms Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, told Politics Home she thought the government should introduce buffer zones measures around schools amid the protests. This would give local authorities more power to prevent anti-vaccine protesters from gathering in the vicinity.“Children should be able to get to school in peace,” the Labour MP told Politics Home.“For me the parallels are very clear with the buffer zone argument we’ve had about abortion clinics.”Ms Creasy added: “You don’t have an open, uncontested right to foist your views on other people, especially when it’s very clear these kids have said no, and these adults are continuing.”The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has suggested headteachers who believe protests could be held outside their school over participation in the Covid vaccination programme should contact police to help manage the situation.One headteacher in Nottingham said he had been in contact with police last month after staff received threatening messages and an “unwelcome visitor” came onsite as part of an ongoing campaign against the Covid vaccine rollout to children.Anti-vaxx protesters have also sent headteachers fake NHS “consent checklists” and told them to distribute these to parents, in what one school leader told The Independent was a “very convincing hoax”. Videos on anti-vaxx Telegram groups have also shown people approaching students in uniform to spread misinformation about the vaccine and hand out leaflets. The Department for Education has been approached for comment. More

The average private school fees are 90 per cent higher than spending per state school pupil, according to a new report that found the difference in funding had widened further. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found the gap between private and state school spending has doubled in just over a decade.An education union said it “does stick in the throat” to see the gap widen “to such a huge extent”. Private school fees were on average £13,600 for the last academic year, the IFS found.By comparison, the total spending on state schools per student was £7,100 for the same year, according to the research institute’s report.This meant the average private school pupil had £6,500 – or 91.5 per cent more – spent on them during the 2020-2021 academic year than the average peer at a state school.Around a decade before, the gap was £3,100, or 39 per cent, the IFS found.The research institute said private school fees had grown by more than 20 per cent after inflation since 2009-10.Meanwhile, average spend per state school pupil had dropped by nine per cent in real terms.Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said school budgets have been “hammered” over the past decade and this was “holding children back”.Geoff Barton from the Association for School and College Leaders (ASCL) said: “It is pretty outrageous that the government has cut funding in real terms to schools and colleges over the past decade while independent school fees have increased over the same period.“The funding gap between the two sectors has always been there of course, but the fact it has widened to such a huge extent does stick in the throat.”He added: “It means that while state schools and colleges have been forced to cut back on things like subject choices, pastoral support, and extra-curricular activities – and with secondary class sizes rising – independent schools have been able to improve their provision in all these areas.”The new report comes shortly after Labour pledged to tax private schools £1.7bn in order to fund improvements to state schools at the party’s conference.Luke Sibieta from the IFS, who was the report’s author, said: “Longstanding concerns about inequalities between private and state school pupils, which have come into sharp focus during the pandemic, will not begin to be easily addressed while the sectors enjoy such different levels of resourcing”.The Covid pandemic saw most pupils told to stay at home for extended periods of time twice, while students have also not been able to go into school due to positive tests and isolation. Recent analysis found the gap between remote learning and in-class learning appeared larger in schools with more disadvantaged pupils.The government and charities issued hundreds of thousands of laptops to disadvantaged pupils to support them with remote learning for when they were unable to go into school during the pandemic.But one study suggested a third of disadvanted students did not have access to a device needed for online work between May and November last year. A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government is providing the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade – £14 billion in total over the three years to 2022-23. This includes a £7.1 billion increase in funding for schools by 2022-23, compared to 2019-20 funding levels.“Next year, funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF) is increasing by 2.8% per pupil compared to 2021-22. The NFF continues to distribute this fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts.” More

Schools have been urged to stock up on food ahead of anticipated shortages, with the government accused of “failing” some which have already faced disruption to supplies.One of the largest canteen suppliers in the UK has written to school catering staff advising them they should stock up on frozen and tinned food to ensure that children are properly fed over the winter.ISS supplies 450 schools – according to an email seen by ITV, the company said food availability for school canteens was being impacted by a shortage of HGV drivers as well as a lack of staff and import delays.The email urged catering staff in schools to “top up on long life, dried, tinned and frozen products to ensure that there will always be some form of food available in a worse case scenario”.In a statement, ISS said: “Our priority is always the schools, and the children, whose meals we provide.“We would like to reassure parents and carers that our ability to continue to provide nutritious school meals is not being impacted by the well-publicised shortages of items that the UK is currently experiencing.”It added: “Naturally, we have contingency plans in place to ensure that a good supply of meals remains in place. That contingency planning includes regular communication with our stakeholders during these challenging times for many schools across the country.”Labour and the Lib Dems accused the government of not doing enough over supply chain issues.Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said ministers were “burying their heads in the sand” over problems with the supply chain, which have led to petrol pumps running dry and as well as empty food shelves.Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has written to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi calling on him to urgently meet school caterers, school governors and local councillors in order to discuss the crisis.He said his party had heard of “stark issues” with food shortages.In his letter to Mr Zahawi, Sir Ed criticised the government and its “shocking abduction of leadership”.He wrote: “Across the country, I have heard from Liberal Democrat councillors and schools about some stark issues with food disruption in our schools for our children.“Parents have endured so much and worked so hard during the pandemic but it seems your government has failed them yet again. The least you can do is ensure a hot meal at their school for their children.“For months you and your fellow ministers have been warned about the effects the shortage crisis could have on our economy and our everyday lives, now we see this reality coming true. For you to not have this on your radar is both surprising and a shocking abduction of leadership.”Ms Green said that more HGV drivers must to be recruited and trained to help ease the supply issues. She added: “No school must be left without the food supplies it needs, and no child left going hungry.”Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT headteachers union, said school leaders were “concerned” about the disruption some were facing with supply chain issues.”We’re not hearing widespread disruption from our members but certainly the government does need to take notice of the individual cases that are occurring so that the problem doesn’t become more widespread,” he added.A government spokesperson said there was “no evidence” to suggest widespread supply issues and schools had flexibility to substitute products if particular ingredients were not readily available.They added: “We routinely consider contingency arrangements and expect schools and catering companies supplying them to do the same.“In the event of any disruption to supply, we will work with councils and the sector to ensure warm, nutritious meals can continue to be provided.”Additional reporting from PA More

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said face masks could be made mandatory in England’s schools again – but ruled out a return to the “bubble” system to deal with Covid cases.More than 200,000 pupils were estimated by the government to have missed classes last week due to the coronavirus – up two thirds on the previous week.Mr Zahawi ruled out a return to the “bubbles”, which classes and year groups sent home for ten days if one pupil in a group tests positive for the virus.“I don’t want to return to bubbles,” the minister told Sky News on Thursday. “Because actually you saw the fall off in attendance which really does harm mental wellbeing, mental health of children.”The recently-appointed education secretary added: “I don’t want to return to that. My priority is to protect education and keeps schools open and children at school.”However, Mr Zahawi did confirm that the government’s contingency plan for the winter could see face coverings made mandatory in England’s schools once again.“We have got a contingency plan as you would expect me to do … it contains lots of things, including wearing masks, absolutely,” he said.Despite Mr Zahawi’s reluctance to re-introduce the strictest Covid measures, dozens of schools up are said to be bringing back masks to combat a deal in Covid cases among pupils.Schools across the country – including London, Greater Manchester and Cumbria – have told students to wear masks again in communal areas due to a rise in cases in school or the local area. Some councils, including Devon and Cornwall, have also asked pupils to wear face coverings in schools this term. The government says local public health directors may advise schools to “temporarily reintroduce” stricter measures if there is a “substantial increase” in Covid cases in its setting or they are in local areas targeted for extra support.But Geoff Barton from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) told The Independent: “There is nothing which prevents schools and colleges taking their own decisions to use face coverings as part of their risk management plans, and some may well have decided to do so taking into account the circumstances in their context.” Last month, headteachers told The Independent they were imposing their own stricter versions of the government’s test and trace system in a bid to prevent outbreaks and further disruption.National guidance stopped recommending face masks in communal areas in secondary schools in May, while children have not been required to isolate after being identified as a close contact of a Covid case since August. Earlier this week, ASCL called the latest statistics on Covid-related absences in schools “grim”. More than 100,000 pupils in England were out of school last week with a confirmed case of Covid-19, according to government figures.In total, the government estimated 204,000 pupils in England were absent due to a Covid-related reason. which includes a positive test, suspected case and school closures, on 30 September – a 67 per cent jump compared to two weeks before.The National Education Union’s vice president Louise Atkinson said a growing number of schools had brought back face coverings and social distancing. “We fully support any schools bringing back such measures,” she said.It comes as the education secretary admitted there had been problems with the supply of CO2 monitors being rolled out to schools.Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Zahawi said: “So we’ve had several thousand delivered. By the end of this month we’ll be touching sort of 80-90,000, and then through November, we scale up to all 300,000 will be delivered.”Asked why the delivery had taken so long, the minister said: “I think it’s – obviously I’ve only been in department for two weeks – but I think it’s a combination of supply and making sure we’ve got supply, and then working with schools to see how many they need in each school. But we are ramping up through this month and next month.” More

Gavin Williamson has accused some UK universities of pursuing a “divisive agenda” through actions such as “cancelling national heroes” and “debating statues”.The education secretary said such moves only “widen divisions” in a speech on Thursday. “Although our universities are in the main fantastic communities, we would all admit, like anywhere in society, they are not perfect,” he said.“Whether it is antisemitic incidents, the use of non-disclosure agreements to silence victims of sexual assault, or increasingly casualised workforce or inadequate teaching provision for disabled students, there are genuine injustices that we should strive to get right.”But he added: “Too often, some universities seem more interested in pursuing a divisive agenda.”Mr Williamson said this involved “cancelling national heroes, debating about statues, anonymous reporting schemes for so-called micoaggressions and politicising their curricula”.“Vice-chancellors who allow these initiatives to take place in their name must understand they do nothing but undermine public confidence, widen divisions and damage the sector,” he said.The education secretary has been a vocal supporter of free speech on campus, amid campaigns and conversations over decolonising curriculums, removing controverisal statues and de-platforming speakers over views.Earlier this year, he backed a Oxford College’s decision not to remove a statue of white supremacist Cecil Rhodes, which students have been campaigning for years to have taken down.Mr Williamson also condemned students in another Oxford college who had taken down a picture of the Queen, which they said was an emblem of “recent colonial history”.The National Union for Students told The Independent the education secretary’s involvement in the matter “posed questions” over the government’s commitment to free speech.The education secretary has previously said he was “deeply worried” about the “chilling effect on campuses of unacceptable silencing and censoring”.The government has put forward a bill that would create new requirements for universities and student unions over freedom of speech, with a regulator able to issue fines for any breaches.But unions have accused the government of “exaggerating” the threat to push through these laws and said there was “no evidence” of a freedom of speech crisis at universities. More