The coronavirus catch-up tsar has said “more will be needed” to help children recover learning lost during the pandemic as school leaders branded the Government’s extra £1.4 billion funding “pitiful”.
The money, announced by the Department for Education (DfE) on Wednesday, will be used to offer pupils up to 100 million hours of tuition as part of the Government’s catch-up programme for children in England who have faced disruption due to Covid-19.
But the £1.4 billion – made available on top of £1.7 billion already pledged – has come under fire following suggestions that the Government’s education recovery commissioner called for 10 times as much to be invested.
Woeful schools recovery plan slammed as education sec gets £12bn less than asked for Tamara Cohen, political correspondent, and Greg Heffer, political reporter
Williamson absolutely trusts education tsar
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The Department for Education received just a tenth of the cash that it wanted to fund a schools COVID recovery plan - as critics branded the package woefully inadequate .
Sky News understands the proposal put to the Treasury to help schools recover from lost learning during the coronavirus pandemic was worth around £13bn.
However, only a £1.4bn package was unveiled by the government on Wednesday, with the plans denounced as a damp squib by unions.
Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman will remain in post for a further two years to oversee the reintroduction of inspections following the pandemic.