British kids’ futures are ‘hanging by a thread’ as coronavirus school closures could ‘damage generation beyond repair’
THE futures of British kids are "hanging by a thread" as coronavirus school closures could cause "damage beyond repair for a generation of children", an education expert has warned.
It comes as a new report found children from better-off households are spending an extra 75 minutes a day studying than their peers from the poorest households during the lockdown.
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If kids do not go back to school until September, the gap between the most affluent and the poorest pupils will double to three school weeks, according to an Institute for Fiscal Studies report.
The government has said children in reception, year 1 and 6 - as well as years 10 and 12 - can go back to school in smaller class sizes as part of a phased return, starting on June 1.
Teaching unions have accused the government of recklessness and even threatened to sue schools that make teachers go back. They want schools to reopen only when the coronavirus infection rate is lower and the test and trace rate is much higher.
Accusing the unions of "setting a spurious list of unreasonable and vague demands", Professor Alan Smithers, Director of Centre for Education and Employment Research at University of Buckingham warned of "damage that may last for a generation" if kids do not go back to school.
Writing in the , he said: "The future of this country's children...[is] something which I regret to say is now hanging by a thread.
"The reality is this: if our schools are not swiftly reopened, the inequality gap that scars the British education system will become a chasm. The damage inflicted will be, quite literally, beyond repair for a generation of children.
"It is a truly desperate situation, one made all the more humiliating by the fact that we are now lagging behind Western Europe in seeking to reopen our schools."
Unions fear the government plan could put teachers, pupils and their families at risk of catching the deadly virus.
They have been backed by the doctors' union, the British Medical Association, who said unions were "absolutely right" to urge caution and prioritise testing before reopening schools on June 1.
Liverpool became the first local authority to rule out reopening its schools until at least June 15, in a major blow to the government.
Hartlepool in County Durham later joined Liverpool in saying it would also ignore the plan.
However almost two dozen academy chains teaching over 300,000 kids have backed the government proposals.
Leaders of the trusts from across the country said the impact of schools remaining shut would cause irreparable harm, particularly for poorer pupils.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson insisted the government's decision-making is based on the "best scientific advice with children at the very heart of everything we do".
He said: "The longer that schools are closed the more that children miss out.
"Teachers know that there are children out there that have not spoken or played with another child their own age for the last two months.
"They know there are children from difficult or very unhappy homes for whom school is the happiest moment in their week, and it's also the safest place for them to be.
"The poorest children will be the ones who fall further behind if we keep school gates closed.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told teachers yesterday to "look to your responsibilities".
He said: "If progressive countries like Denmark can be teaching children and have them back in schools, then so should we. The whole point about being a teacher is you love your job. It is a mission, a vocation, to be able to excite young minds."
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Meanwhile Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner for England, urged ministers and teaching unions to "stop squabbling."
She said: "We cannot afford to wait for a vaccine, which may never arrive, before children are back in school."
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