School closures ‘could undo years of social mobility’ as privately educated pupils are almost twice as likely to have online lessons than state school children
- Just 41 per cent of deprived children at state schools attended online classes
- Researchers from the IFS and UCL surveyed 4,157 parents and children up to 15
- IFS fears an increase of the gap between children from different backgrounds
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
School closures could ‘put back years of slow progress on social mobility’ with privately educated pupils almost twice as likely to have online lessons than their state school counterparts.
The ‘prominent’ attainment gap between disadvantaged and more wealthy students is set to widen further amid the coronavirus pandemic, a report has revealed.
Researchers claim this gap could become permanent without ‘a concerted effort’ to help poorer pupils once schools reopen.
The stark warning from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) comes as Government sources refused to confirm whether all pupils will be able to return to school full-time in September.
Researchers from the IFS and University College London’s Institute of Education found school closures during the coronavirus lockdown could ‘put back years of slow progress on social mobility’. Pictured: A child maintains social distancing measures while washing hands ahead of a lesson at Earlham Primary School yesterday
Privately educated pupils almost twice as likely to have online lessons than their state school counterparts. Pictured: Children maintain social distancing measures while taking part in a lesson at Earlham Primary School yesterday
Just 41 per cent of children at state schools in the most deprived areas attended online classes during the lockdown period, compared to 79 per cent of families paying for private education said their child’s secondary school provides online classes. Pictured: Children maintain social distancing measures while playing in the playground at Earlham Primary School yesterday
Researchers from the IFS and University College London’s Institute of Education surveyed 4,157 parents with children aged between eight and 15 in English private and state schools from April 29 to May 12.
Some 79 per cent of families paying for private education said their child’s secondary school provides online classes.
This compares to just 41 per cent in state secondary schools attended by the most deprived children and only 53 per cent of state secondaries in middle class areas.
More affluent secondary pupils in both sectors spend almost an hour more a day on schoolwork than the least advantaged.
They also have more support at home, have had ‘more active involvement’ from teachers and are ‘much more likely’ to have private tutoring, the report found.
Overall, more affluent secondary pupils across both sectors are ‘spending more time in almost every single educational activity than their peers from the worse-off fifth of families’.
On average, they devote almost an hour more a day on schoolwork than the least advantaged.
They have more support at home and are also ‘much more likely’ to have private tutoring.
The IFS report says: ‘These gaps mean that children from better-off families are not only doing a higher quantity of home learning, they also have access to potentially higher-quality support from schools and home learning opportunities.
‘In addition, the activities that children from better-off families are doing may also require less parental support because they involve a more active engagement with teachers and tutors.
‘This means that they are less likely to overload parents with additional demands and to depend on the ability and availability of parents to be completed.’
It adds: ‘It is almost certain that these factors will coalesce to widen an already prominent gap between children from poorer and better-off backgrounds in England.
Boris Johnson (pictured during daily press briefing) said children in the UK will receive the remedial help they need after months out of the classroom
The Prime Minister’s comments come as he announces that he intends for all children to be back in the classroom by September. Pictured: A teacher takes the temperature of a pupil at Earlham Primary School
‘Unless there is a concerted effort to help these children once schools reopen, these wider gaps may well become permanent.’
The report adds that those leaving school or university this year will enter the toughest labour market in more than a generation.
It identifies other problem areas including the risk of a widening in wage and employment inequalities, especially as many low earners are in shut down sectors, being furloughed and at risk of unemployment.
The crisis appears to have widened the gap in death rates between better-off and less-affluent neighbourhoods, as well as between some ethnic minorities and the white majority.
Robert Joyce, deputy director at the IFS said: ‘The crisis has laid bare existing inequalities and risks exacerbating them, but some of its legacies might also provide opportunities.
‘Government will need to be on the front foot in laying the groundwork for a strong and inclusive recovery even while still dealing with the immediate crisis.’