‘Gulf’ between poor and rich pupils widened during lockdown, teachers warn

The gap between financially disadvantaged and well off pupils in England “has become a gulf”, a top teacher has warned.

Steve Chalke – founder of Oasis Community Learning – said recent research suggests that disadvantaged children fell significantly further behind during lockdown than their more affluent peers.

The boss of Oasis, which is responsible for 31,500 children at 52 academies across England, has called on the Government to treble the pupil premium funding used to boost the education of the nation’s most disadvantaged pupils.

Mr Chalke told the BBC: “Government should respond to the need before it causes irrevocable damage by trebling this funding, at least over the next three years, and focusing it on children living in persistent poverty and facing long-term disadvantage.

“It is vital that Government makes this move now, to ensure that a generation of children, already disadvantaged before the Covid-19 lockdown but whose situations have deteriorated even further, are not completely abandoned, doomed to spend their lives struggling for opportunities their peers will have ready access to, rather than flourishing.”

‘Far too little’

Mr Chalke also called for a boost to the Government’s £350m National Tutoring Programme.

He told the broadcaster the funding for the scheme, which is aimed at helping disadvantaged pupils catch-up after lockdown, “is far too little” and does not do enough to address the “aching long-term need to narrow the disadvantage gap”.

In a statement to the BBC, the Department for Education (DfE) said the classroom was the best place for disadvantaged pupils to be, where the Government’s £1bn Covid-19 catch-up package was “tackling the impact of lost teaching time”.

The statement said this includes £350m for less affluent pupils through the National Tutoring Programme, “which is in addition to our £2.4bn pupil premium to improve these pupils’ attainment and outcomes.”

A spokesperson added: “Head teachers and school leaders are best placed to make decisions about their pupils and which of them need the most support.”

Henry Goodwin

Henry is a reporter with a keen interest in politics and current affairs. He read History at the University of Cambridge and has a Masters in Newspaper Journalism from City, University of London. Follow him on Twitter: @HenGoodwin.