Would it be possible to think totally “outside the box”? Education has been extremely difficult to deliver over a year by the time the summer holidays of 2021 begin. Children have not been able to learn what they are supposed to have during the school year because they have been outside the school environment for so long despite all the efforts of teachers, parents and government.
I wonder whether it would be feasible at all to make the start of the school year 2021/22 the same as 2020/21. That would mean that all children who began school in September 2020, will be re-starting the same reception year in September 2021 and thus repeat the year in which they have had so little face-to-face education.
It would also mean that children who would start reception classes in 2021, will now stay at a nursery; but since that could be made compulsory, it could be made free of charge to the parents so that they don’t lose out financially. If it is made compulsory, then trained staff could monitor this age group and discover whether they have got special needs or mental health problems due to the pandemic. Temporary buildings to house the extra nursery provision would have to be built to house this intake. I know that will be a financial cost.
Once the reception class of 2020/21 stays reception class 2021/22, the rest of the year groups automatically follow, right up to the age of 19 when they will move on to university or college education or move into the workplace. This way, all children, whether at primary or secondary school, will be able to catch up with schoolwork at a pace that will be manageable for all. And yes, it would mean one year longer in compulsory education (though most of one of those years not spent in a class room). Does that matter since this generation will live longer than the previous one and will still have plenty of years to be employed an even have a long retirement? It is well known that in countries where the academic teaching does not start until children are 6/7 years old, those children will have caught up with the rest of Europe by the time they are 10 years old.
During the year in which they repeat the education that was partly delivered on-line during the COVID-19 pandemic, there may be more provision for subjects like arts, drama music and sports to provide students with an extra dimension of skill or interest. These subjects can be very helpful in alleviating the traumas that many children may have.
This idea would work right through university as well: a 3-year degree course could become a one-off 4-year degree course for the current intake to off-set the time lost by students. In my view, the state should not charge the students for the extra year so that they will not be burdened with extra debt.
Of course this exercise would cost a lot of money. But so would treating a large part of the children suffering from mental health problems that last many years more than the extra year in education would. In my view it would save money in the long run. And the best thing of all would be a much happier cohort of pupils and students.
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