The Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns have had a detrimental impact on children’s education, particularly for children disadvantaged by socio-economic factors such as a lack of internet access or electronic devices. The attainment gap in the UK prior to Covid-19 was already shocking, with disadvantaged pupils around 18 months behind their more advantaged peers by the age of 16 (Education Policy Institute, 2020), but this gap is set to increase exponentially as the result of national lockdowns. Whilst schools have tried to adapt to lockdown conditions by teaching remotely, and the Government has attempted to ensure that pupils have the technology and devices to access remote teaching, the quality and access of remotely taught lessons, by all indications, will not be sufficient to regain what time and input pupils have lost. However, this presents an opportunity: the use of Government-funded television broadcasting to provide children with limited internet or technology/devices to access high-quality education through televised lessons.
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