By Gavin Mackintosh-
The Department Of Education has comprehensively criticized a report from the Institute For Government (IFG), which discredited the government for allegedly dismissing contingency plans for schools during the pandemic of 2020.
The disparaging report published on Wednesday, quoted anonymous officials from the Department Of Education and Downing Street, presenting a disorganized and immature system of rigid arrangements that viewed contingency plans for school exams as a preparation for failure.
In a step by step rebuttal of the allegations detailed in the report, the Department Of Education(D&E) has mounted a counter attack that presents the Ifg as being far off the mark of the facts that actually took place during the pandemic.
The D&E told The Eye Of Media.Com that many of the claims made in the report were either inaccurate or false, as they went into detail about the multiple claims made by the Ifg, which the D&E disputes.
The D&E said that suggestions that younger year groups were prioritized to return as ‘the PM and the Treasury wanted to prioritize the economic impact’ , are false because they made clear at the time it was because the year groups selected stood to lose the most from time out of school.
The D&E pointed out that the Secretary of State set out the rationale for inviting back limited groups of students as part of a cautious, phased reopening at the Downing Street press conference on 16 May.
It added that as part of a cautious phased return, those in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 will be allowed back into school in smaller class sizes.
The D &E said it is also planning to get some secondary school students back , referring to those in years 10 and 12 , to make sure they have the opportunity to come back to school on a limited basis and have some face to face time with teachers. The department added that it was prioritizing these children because they stand to lose more by staying away from school.
”The first years of school are pivotal for children to develop social and behavioural skills and to learn the basics that are going to have a huge bearing on how well they do in their life. Students in Years 10 and 12 need support in the run up to vital exams next year and it’s vital that we do all we can to help them succeed and help them do well, representatives told The Eye Of Media.Com.
The D&E added that contingency plans were in place from August 2020 via the cross-government CONTAIN framework
Contingency plans for schools potentially having to close to most pupils after the first lockdown were in place from the start of the autumn term 2020, but swift decisions were still required to be taken at multiple points to respond to changes in our understanding of the virus, it said.
Right from August 2020, the approach for education contingencies was set out within the cross-government CONTAIN framework. An independent contingency framework for education was then published in November 2020, setting out how restrictions – such as the ones we planned to put in place from January – would be implemented in specific geographical areas to address high levels of transmission of the virus.
The onset of the the new variant putting pressure on the NHS meant it had to take action to close schools to most students to help reduce the spread of the virus in the community come January 2021.
Since schools reopened to all pupils, decisions on the re-introduction of protective measures such as face coverings, have been made via the local action committee process as set out in the contingency framework.
Relations
The D&E also disputed the aspect of the report suggesting ‘relations were significantly worse with education [than other government departments]. There was a lack of understanding of the role of local authorities and that the directors of public health had a role with all the schools on their patch’.
It further disputed the comments, stating that the Secretary of State met regularly with unions and stakeholders throughout the pandemic, supported by a large number of regular and ad-hoc official and ministerial level meetings with unions, local authority leaders, directors of children’s services and more.
The Department said it has made significant efforts throughout the pandemic to engage with stakeholders, including through the Regional Schools Commissioners and their teams, across the country including in London.
It also conducted an internal impact assessment of the work of our Regional Education and Children’s Teams (REACT), based around our regional schools commissioners.
Beneficial Arrangements
The D&E said the arrangements helped Increase engagement with local authorities to understand the issues they were facing, and to provide support and direction.
It also helped directly influence schools to meet the challenge of the wider re-opening of the system in June 2020, and the full schools re-opening in September 2020, by drawing on daily reported attendance data to target conversations with schools on the specific barriers preventing their re-opening.
In addition to helping broker school to school support for 828 schools, matching them with system leaders to provide 5 days of leadership support on addressing a range of key challenges arising from the pandemic, it also established partnership working with teams from PHE and NHS on surge testing to respond to local covid prevalence, including in London and the North West.
Children’s services leaders said they had found the REACT process to be beneficial and invaluable as a system-wide forum to discuss the challenges created by the pandemic’, and had helped ‘develop much stronger relationships, particularly with the regional schools commissioner and Ofsted.
Focus
”Our focus throughout has been on keeping children in face-to-face education as much as possible, and back in the classroom as soon as possible when the nature of the pandemic meant schools could only remain open for children of critical workers and vulnerable children.
The government has always been clear that there would be opportunities to look back and reflect on lessons learnt from our response to this unprecedented global challenge’, the Department Of Education added.
It also said the Uk government has committed to holding a full public inquiry and this work will begin in spring 2022.
Addressing the suggestion in the report that: ‘Ofqual’s initial stance was that ideally exams should be held in a socially distanced manner. Failing that, they should be delayed, and failing that Ofqual should look at “some form of calculated grade” – or even simply issue teacher’s certificates for A-levels, combining that with a big expansion of university places’-
the department highlighted that other arrangements had initially been made.
It pointed to Roger Taylor’s summary of events for the Centre for Progressive Policy makes clear that the two initial proposals that were considered were socially distanced exams and leavers certificates, both of which were discounted for not being able to command public confidence.
On that basis Ofqual’s advice to the government in March 2020 here set out that grades based on teacher assessments would be necessary if exams could not go ahead. When exams could not go ahead, the government’s aim was to enable students to gain their qualifications and progress on to their next stage of education, training or employment.
All decisions taken on assessments in 2020 were based on delivering the fairest outcome for students. At all times the department worked closely with Ofqual to find solutions that would allow young people to progress to the next stage of their education or career.
On contingency planning for exams 2021
The Department Of Education revealed that contingency plans were first discussed in October, as shown in SoS’ published letter to Ofqual.
It states that the Secretary of State’s letter to Ofqual when the plan for exams was first set out in October, confirmed his request that contingency planning take place.
Just two days after the decision was made to close schools to most pupils in 2021, the Education Secretary confirmed the exams regulator Ofqual would launch a consultation – alongside the department – on the options for alternatives to the exams, with the expectation that teacher assessment will be used.
On devices and remote learning
The D&E said it set minimum standards for remote education in law from October last year, and prior to that provided guidance for schools and teachers on the quality and quantity of education, to make sure whenever children weren’t in school they could still access high-quality education.
The Department also funded Oak National Academy, which has helped millions of children with tens of thousands of remote lessons over the course of the pandemic.
”We worked at pace amid unprecedented global demand to provide devices, alongside access to free mobile data for disadvantaged families, which crucially enabled pupils to be educated from home while schools were closed to the majority of young people.
By December 2020 we had delivered more than half a million devices to support remote learning for disadvantaged pupils, and all 1.3 million were available to schools from February this year.
The IFG were contacted for comment in reaction to the many rebuttals from the department of education, but they declined to comment, despite two phone calls promising a response.
In its statement, the D&E said ”the pandemic had a huge impact across society and especially in education. We want to thank teachers, parents and pupils for their resilience and flexibility over the last 18 months. Contrary to the claims in this report, contingency plans for restrictions on schools opening in the 21/22 academic year were first published in August 2020, and contingency plans for qualifications in 2021 were first discussed with Ofqual in October 2020.
“We have acted swiftly at every turn to minimize the impact on children’s education and wellbeing and help keep pupils in face-to-face education as much as possible. We provided 1.3 million laptops and tablets to disadvantaged students, funded Oak National Academy to provide video lessons and made sure students could receive exam grades that helped them progress to the next stage of education or work.
“Through the tutoring revolution that will see pupils receive up to 100 million hours of free tuition, summer schools and our investment in the teaching profession we are working with schools to deliver ambitious catch-up plans so the children and young people who have been most disadvantaged during the pandemic have the support they need to catch up on their lost learning.”