Education: Recovery Package and Catch-up Programme
Baroness Prashar Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, perhaps I may correct something I said earlier to save me writing a letter in that regard: we have invested £579 million in the school-led programme.
The noble Baroness is right; it is what the evidence shows, and that is why in the third tranche of the recovery package we are investing £253 million in new funding for half a million teachers. Improving the early career framework for teachers by giving them two years’ professional development is an important professionalisation of the workforce. We are aiming towards that £30,000 starting salary as well.
Baroness Prashar (CB) [V]
The Government state that the catch-up funding is based on evidence. What is that evidence and how will the Government ensure that it addresses racial inequality and narrows attainment gaps?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the evidence base on which the recovery package is based is research, particularly from the Education Endowment Foundation, and the quality of teaching, which, as the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, outlined, is one of the key factors. Obviously, we have evidence as well that small-group or one-on-one tutoring is a key vehicle to help children catch up and improve. That is why £1.5 billion will go into tutoring over the next two to three academic years. That is the evidence base. We are collecting the Renaissance research on lost education, but that is geographical, not by gender or racial groups.
Education Recovery
Baroness Prashar Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
We will have to beg to differ on international comparisons; I believe I have comprehensively explained our view of those comparisons. As I said, there will be a review of the extension to the school day. In the forthcoming spending review, we will look at the ongoing need for recovery during this Parliament. We have been clear that recovery is for the length of this Parliament, and this will not be the last word on recovery, I am sure.
I turn to provision for 16 to 19 year-olds. Some 75% of colleges are reporting that their students are between one and five months behind. The tuition fund has been bolstered by a further £222 million, in addition to increased revenue funding, bringing the total over those three years to £324 million to enable these students to catch up. We have also made clear that, where appropriate, students in year 13 or the equivalent can repeat the school year, but that is up to school leaders to fund. Importantly, there has been an additional £8 million for vulnerable students who are transitioning to 16 to 19 from alternative provision, to make sure that they get to the right post-16 destination. We had very strong feedback from stakeholders that the first tranche of transition money was useful in being able to secure the correct 16 to 19 provision for those vulnerable young people.
Baroness Prashar (CB) [V]
Can the Minister assure the House that early years recovery will be a specific focus and that the amount of pupil premium will be increased in the early years sector to reflect more accurately the influence on children’s lives during this critical stage? Furthermore, will the focus on learning through play, communication skills, literacy and numeracy, and the retention and professional development of early years teachers, be prioritised? Does the Minister also agree that early learning and valuing early education teachers is a much needed, necessary long-term investment and should not be seen as a short-term catch-up?
Baroness Berridge
The noble Baroness is correct. There is evidence of loss, particularly for reception and year 1 and in the early years before that. Within the teaching section of this education recovery package, there is £153 million of funding to provide the opportunity of professional development for early years practitioners. That is investment in the workforce. Previously, in the first recovery tranche, £18 million was invested in initiatives such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, colloquially known as NELI. We have seen other initiatives, including considerable use of Hungry Little Minds, the department’s campaign to help raise communication skills in that part of our population. There is also BBC Bitesize and other facilities for the early years. Those early years pupils in reception classes within the school system have been part of the main recovery package.
Covid-19: Women
Baroness Prashar Excerpts(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, it is a key focus of the recovery from the pandemic that we see high-skilled, high-productivity, high-wage jobs. We recognise that girls are less likely to take STEM subjects, so there has been a focus that has driven up the number of girls taking STEM A-levels in particular. I am happy to say that the specialist sixth form maths schools, as part of that outreach, must reach out to girls to ensure that there are more girls taking maths at A-level, and further maths, leading to higher-paid jobs.
Baroness Prashar (CB) [V]
The Unequal Impact? report by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, which has already been mentioned, highlights the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women and states that the schemes which have been put in place in response to the pandemic did not take account of the specific needs of women. It recommends an equality impact assessment of schemes and active analysis of equality impact for every future policy. What steps are the Government taking to implement these recommendations and the other 20 recommendations of this report?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, there was an equality impact assessment of the Coronavirus Act and each government department, in relation to its legislative action, conducts an equality impact assessment of what they propose to enact. The various schemes, such as the Self-employment Income Support Scheme, have benefited millions of women. Although fewer women have benefited from that scheme, it is not out of proportion with the number of women in that sector. We are watching the data carefully.
Covid-19: Ethnic Minority Disparities
Baroness Prashar Excerpts(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the noble Baroness is correct that the report published last Friday revealed that in the second wave of the pandemic sections of the south Asian population were disproportionately affected by the virus. We have funded community champions to get the message out across certain communities through local authorities. In relation to community centres and places of worship, we have now set up asymptomatic testing centres and vaccination centres to try to increase the take-up within those communities, as getting vaccinated is the best way to protect them from the virus.
Baroness Prashar (CB) [V]
My Lords, I commend the work and the actions undertaken by the Government to respond to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on ethnic minorities. However, as we have heard, the data shows that socioeconomic factors are a major driver for disparities in infection rates. Ethnic minority communities are statistically more likely to be disadvantaged. Does the Minister agree that, as we emerge from the lockdown, we must not only ensure that we build on this evidence and develop appropriate responses but take steps to ensure that we reduce the level of socioeconomic disadvantage faced by sections of the minority communities as part of the levelling-up agenda?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the pandemic has indeed revealed many inequalities, including health inequalities across certain communities. That is not linked only to race: we also believe that certain coastal communities will have been disproportionately affected by the virus. However, we are aiming many of our schemes at those populations within the ethnic minority community; for instance, with the apprenticeship schemes we have had specific promotion to ensure that black and minority ethnic people take up those opportunities where they disproportionately do not do so.
Covid-19: Pre-school Sector
Baroness Prashar Excerpts(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge
My Lords, in relation to “test, track and trace” in this sector, all staff, children and their households are entitled to a test if they exhibit symptoms. As of the end of last month, that includes those aged under five. We realise that this is an essential part of being able to safely reopen schools.
Baroness Prashar (CB) [V]
Does the Minister agree that as crucial as supporting the preschool sector at this stage is investment in under-fives provision, as severe lifelong impacts can result from deprivation of care, stimulation and learning? Evidence shows that the literacy skills gap starts at the age of five. This deficit takes years to recover from and impacts on social mobility.
Baroness Berridge
The noble Baroness is correct that it is vital we ensure that disadvantaged children get the best start at this stage in early years so that they can fully access the curriculum when they enter mainstream school. We have invested £60 million over the last two years in specific initiatives to help the language and literacy development of young children, exemplified by the department’s Hungry Little Minds campaign, which saw over 180,000 new users at the start of lockdown.