A group of 50 Northern MPs have written a letter to Gavin Williamson for £300m worth of funding in order to give grants to the children most affected by home-schooling as a result of school closures due to COVID-19.
They propose that each child will receive £700 in order to support their education, perhaps by paying for tutoring sessions, as the most vulnerable children are affected.
In an open letter to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, they have said action is needed to prevent disadvantaged children from falling behind when schools reopen.
With no proper structure having been outlined by the Government, schools have been left to their own devices on how to continue educating their students at home. A disparity is emerging between private and state schools, with pupils of the latter seemingly missing out on support compared to the former.
Those of ethnic minority and those from poorer and working class backgrounds will suffer the most; perhaps because they lack the proper resources or because they have parents who work anti-social shifts and are therefore unable to support their home education fully. Children in these circumstances experience this disadvantage unfairly for reasons outside of their control.
They urge the Government to provide funding for tuition for poorer pupils in England as they warn the attainment gap and “the north-south education divide” will widen amid lockdown.
