The Guardian view on tutors for all: easier said than done

The government’s plan to target catch-up funds at poorer pupils is welcome, but risks failure if it is rushed

The best thing about the news that the government is to fund a catch-up programme of tutoring in England, to compensate for learning lost due to the pandemic, is the proof it offers that ministers recognise the problem. Something must be done to make up for the months of missed schooling if some children’s life chances are not to be permanently harmed. Since pupils were sent home in March, it has been obvious that the impact would fall unequally, with poorer children suffering more than those from better-off backgrounds because of vast disparities between resources (physical space, technology, parental education) at home.

So it is good news too that the catch-up spend is to be targeted. Already, evidence suggests that pupils in the most disadvantaged areas are least likely to have engaged with remote learning, while private school pupils have received more online teaching than anyone else.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2YOIH9G