Education has been disrupted for children and young people across the world and the UK has been no exception. In the UK particular communities have been at an increased disadvantage. This includes economically disadvantaged children, gypsy travellers and children with disabilities, putting them at increased risk during school attendance. The Edge Foundation Report ‚’The impact of Covid-19 on education‚’ spells out the challenges learners have faced in the UK, which include great variability of provision between schools and disruption to teacher recruitment.
The impact on learners of this has not been uniform, with the most disadvantaged learners losing out the most. Those furthest behind have fallen further behind and those who typically have issues accessing education have found those obstacles exacerbated. Even after the immediate impact of the pandemic is passed, many learners can expect retarded learning resulting in reduced life choices and lifelong earning potential. Internationally, UNICEF estimates that More than 1 billion children are at risk of falling behind due to school closures aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19. They also point to widening inequality and variation in opportunity to learn due to lack of school provision, digital access or other environmental factors.
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