Former Education Catch-up Tsar Rishi Sunak has criticised Rishi’s’meagre ‘Budget plans to help children recover after the disruption caused by the coronavirus crises.
Sir Kevan Collins, who quit the role in June this year, said it is ‘great to see additional money’ allocated to education after Mr Sunak pledged a further £1.8billion for catch-up.
That took the Government’s total spend on the issue to almost £5billion but Sir Kevan said that is ‘not enough’.
He warned that if schools are not provided with more funding, pupils will leave school with ‘lower skill’ than their predecessor cohorts.
Sir Kevan Collins, who quit the role in June this year, said it is ‘great to see additional money’ allocated to education after Mr Sunak pledged a further £1.8billion for catch-up
Rishi Sunak pledged an additional £1.8billion for catch-up at the Budget on Wednesday this week
Mr Sunak announced in his Budget speech on Wednesday that the Government will ‘go further’ to help schools and colleges with education recovery, bringing its total catch-up investment ‘to almost £5 billion’.
Unions said the extra £1.8billion, made available on top of £3.1billion already pledged, was ‘inadequate’.
Sir Kevan resigned from his Government role earlier this year after ministers rejected his proposals for a £15billion recovery package, to be spent over a three year period.
He said that the £5billion allocated by the Government falls short of what is needed.
According to The Guardian, he stated that while it was great to see more money in education, it is not enough.
“I am concerned that these meagre steps show a failure to recognize the foundational role schools play when creating fair and prosperous communities.
“We are all aware that the pandemic has struck our poorest communities most severely.
“We know we have done all we could to close the gap. The gap is now wider between disadvantaged children than their peers.
Unions said the extra £1.8billion, made available on top of £3.1billion already pledged, was ‘inadequate’
“The short-term savings of a limited recovery program will be outweighed by the long-term costs of subsequent cohorts leaving education with lower skill levels.
Mr Sunak had told MPs during his Budget speech on Wednesday: ‘We’ve already announced £3.1billion to help education recovery.
‘Today, as promised by the Prime Minister and Education Secretary, we will go further – with just under £2billion of new funding to help schools and colleges – bringing this Government’s total support for education recovery to almost £5billion.’