Education is all about learning. Not just English and Maths, Science or History. From Primary One through to final year at university, it is about learning life skills too. Forming social bonds. Feeling valued. Finding the right path through life, wherever those futures may lead.
But there is one major thing we have definitely been taught all over again, even if we all knew it before.
Prior to Covid, there had been little investment in those futures.
Head teachers told how parents had been donating toilet rolls, pens and pencils. Fewer teachers, bigger classes, stressed teachers.
Northern Ireland students have always punched above their weight when it comes to academic achievement. It is hard to keep those punches flowing when hands are tied behind backs.
Written by: Pete Henshaw | Published: 24 February 2021 Image: Adobe Stock Boris Johnsonâs insistence that all students will return to school on March 8 and the âsalami-slicingâ of the latest £702m funding for learning recovery have left school leaders and teachers anxious and frustrated in equal measure. Pete Henshaw reports
Ringfencing Recovery
There is frustration this week after the Department for Education (DfE) ringfenced much of the additional £702m being allocated to recovery support, potentially reducing its effectiveness according to school leaders.
And in true Westminster style, the £702m âannouncementâ included £300m that had already been announced by Boris Johnson in January.
Teaching unions angered over schools return move belfasttelegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from belfasttelegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Workers Revolutionary Party
Vaccinations are well underway for Covid-19 â but full lockdown will not be lifted until 21st June
âTHERE IS no credible route to a zero Covid Britain or indeed a zero Covid world,â Tory PM Johnson told Parliament yesterday, setting out his road map to ending the lockdown.
This is despite China having successfully eradicated the virus very early on, saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
Johnson said: âThe road map will guide us cautiously but irreversibly towards reclaiming our freedom while doing all we can to protect our people against Covid.
âThe threat remains substantial with the numbers in hospital only now beginning to fall to below the peak of the first wave last April.