Jane Stevenson, MP for Wolverhampton North East, has voiced her concerns over the widening attainment gap between richer and poorer pupils as most of them continue to remain out of school.
The Government has announced that while they are working with the education sector to return all primary school pupils before the end of the summer term, not every pupil will be able to do so.
In a question to the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson MP in the House of Commons, Jane said: “I’m sure we are all concerned to hear about the attainment gap between richer and poorer students widening during time off school. What measures will [the Education Secretary] take to close this gap, and reassure parents that this Government wants every child from every background, regardless of covid-19, to reach their full potential?”
In response, Mr Williamson said: “My honourable friend is correct in terms of how we support [children], and as I keep touching upon, there is no magic simple solution that we can put something in place for a short period of time. This has to be over a long period of time; how we support their learning, how we close that gap and make sure that children, from whatever background they come from, have the maximum number of opportunities as they go through the school system and especially as they face exams in the near future.”
Officials at the Department for Education have said that school closures would almost certainly have had a significant impact on the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children. There have been reports of varying differences in the work pupils are required to do at home, and how much virtual contact time they are having with teachers.
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