Exams fiasco ‘will be nothing compared to brewing scandal’ of education inequality

Andy Gregory, reporting for The Independent:

“Children in state schools in the most deprived areas have lost four months of education and those in the private schools, we know from the figures, they have their classes going on with online platforms all the time,” said Professor Stephen Reicher, who also participates in the Sage subcommittee for behavioural science, SPI-B.

“That’s a massive inequality. If that isn’t taken into account in the way we think about the academic year, and in the way we organise the exams, then there will be a scandal every bit as much as this year, and like this year we cannot wait until it happens to deal with it.

The government must address this issue. It is no solution to encourage universities to be flexible on their entry criteria if students then perform badly and have their confidence destroyed because they are underprepared for university studies.

Universities do not have the resource, nor do the timetables between results and the start of term allow, for programmes to help students catchup on missed secondary education.

The solutions are in the resourcing of schools, comprehensive IT provision, school meals, study spaces, and support for teachers so that all of the supporting infrastructure is in place to allow all students to thrive.

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