Tag Archives: educational attainment

‘Tutoring for the millions’: Lib Dems plan booster classes for almost 2 million children

By The Voice | Sat 23rd September 2023 - 7:30 am

Liberal Democrats will offer free small-group tutoring to 1.75 million children a year who struggle with their learning, the party’s education spokesperson will say today (23 September).

It comes analysis by the party shows that more than one in seven teenagers fall behind with English or Maths at secondary school. These 64,000 students meet government reading and maths standards at age 11 but then fail either GCSE English or Maths at age 16.

In her keynote speech at the party’s Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, Munira Wilson MP will accuse Rishi Sunak of letting down these children by “pulling the plug” on school-based tutoring. The National Tutoring Programme ends this year.

She will compare Sunak to Mr Bumble from Oliver Twist for consistently rejecting cries “for more” investment in education when he was Chancellor. Sunak rejected bids from Government advisers and officials for greater investment in COVID catch-up lessons, free school meals and new school buildings.

Instead, Liberal Democrats will call for tutoring to become a permanent fixture in England’s schools. Schools, sixth forms and further education colleges would receive £390 million a year for intensive small-group sessions for students who have fallen behind in class.

When catching up means losing out

By Charley Hasted | Mon 17th January 2022 - 3:42 pm

Children and young people have spent the last two years trying to learn how to cope with isolation, loss and a world turned upside down. Why do we now need to harass them into making sure they’re at the same academic level as a hypothetical young person who hasn’t spent the last 2 years living through a pandemic when that child doesn’t exist anywhere on earth? We have to ask who are we trying to catch them up to and why?

This cohort of students has faced challenges to their education most of us will never experience and we have the ability as a society to decide we’re going to cut them some slack and let them adapt to yet another change in circumstances. That we are going to expect less of them in terms of pure academic knowledge and instead focus on promoting their mental and emotional well being. As long as children have the basics covered and older young people have the functional academic skills they need to function day to day let’s take anything else as a bonus, let them take fewer qualifications and use some of that time to make sure they have the coping strategies to become emotionally healthy adults. Education can happen at any time of life but the longer maladaptive coping strategies are left in place the longer it takes to recover from them.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged Covid-19 | 8 Comments

21 March 2021 – the day’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Mon 22nd March 2021 - 10:30 pm

Reverse “deadly” aid cuts, say Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats call for greater measures to increase accessibility in education
Government must commit to 10k refugees a year, Liberal Democrats say

Reverse “deadly” aid cuts, say Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Government to reverse “unprincipled, unjustified and downright deadly” cuts to international aid.

The motion passed at its Spring Conference reaffirmed the Party’s commitment to the UK contributing 0.7% of GNI on Official Development Assistance and slammed the merging of the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office.

It also demanded the UK Government play a ‘proactive role in debt forgiveness and relief initiatives’ for developing countries struggling with the economic and health impact of Coronavirus.

Speaking after the motion was approved, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development Layla Moran said:

The UK’s global reputation is disappearing fast. The decision to cut aid to the world’s poorest is not only wrong but short-sighted and strategically incompetent. The Conservatives are putting nukes before prosperity.

Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged Alistair Carmichael, daisy cooper, international aid, layla moran and refugees | Leave a comment

10 June 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 10th June 2020 - 10:35 pm

Lib Dems propose support package for employers to keep workers safe as lockdown eases (to be published here tomorrow)
Davey: UK needs Green Recovery Plan to counter COVID-19 economic damage
PM must take charge and ensure deprived children aren’t left behind
Davey: PM must abolish suspicion-less stop and search
Davey statement after call with the PM
Govt must commit to inquiry into handling of COVID-19

Davey: UK needs Green Recovery Plan to counter COVID-19 economic damage

Responding to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report that predicts the UK economy will shrink by 11.5% and experience the worst economic contraction among developed countries due to the coronavirus, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

Coronavirus has proven to be a bigger threat to people’s jobs and livelihoods than even the financial crash. People are rightly worried about their jobs, their families and their communities. We must ensure no one is left behind.

The UK desperately needs a Green Recovery Plan. We can rebuild the economy and protect the environment by creating jobs through embracing new, green technologies.

The Prime Minister must also stop the double-whammy of a no-deal by ending the uncertainly and extend the Brexit transition period, protecting access to markets across Europe.

We can also now see, by international standards, the Government failed to prepare properly for a pandemic and has been slow to act. There must be an independent inquiry to review the Government’s actions.

PM must take charge and ensure deprived children aren’t left behind

The Liberal Democrats have called on Boris Johnson to take charge of the crisis facing schools and ensure disadvantaged children are not left behind, accusing Gavin Williamson of having “dropped the ball.”

It comes after the former Head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, this morning said the Government’s failure to consult with teachers over its plans was “absolutely astonishing.”

Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran said

Parents and teachers have raised concerns from the outset about how to get pupils safely back into school, but Gavin Williamson has refused to listen. It’s no surprise this whole process has descended into a complete shambles.

Time and again the Education Secretary has dropped the ball, from refusing to extend free school meals over the summer to leaving thousands of disadvantaged children without laptops.

Boris Johnson must take charge and end the stubborn refusal to extend free school meals over the summer and provide laptops to all disadvantaged children who need them.