Most schools already offer a 32.5-hour school week, which equates to 8:45 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, the government believes that there are discrepancies across the country, as 20 minutes less teaching time per day is equivalent to losing two weeks of schooling per year. However, education unions said they were “not convinced of the benefits” of introducing a minimum length of school weeks, as figures from the Ministry of Education show that three-quarters of schools already offer 32.5 hours a week. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said it was important to understand why some schools have shorter hours, for example, some rural schools may choose start and end times depending on transport arrangements. He said: “Adding time to the school week may sound simple, but there are many issues that need to be addressed in individual schools and we would encourage the government not to rush to change.” Paul Whitman, general secretary of the National Association of Teachers’ Association (NAHT) school leaders, was skeptical that adding less than 20 minutes to the school day would “bring much, if any, benefits” and called for the plan to be backed by a review. evidence. Labor has criticized the plans for being too limited in terms of addressing the scale of problems with educational standards, with 200,000 primary school children living in areas without schools that are rated as good or excellent and the pandemic widening the learning gap between richer and poorer children. Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said: “After two years of pandemic chaos and six years of the government’s latest strategy for schools, parents, teachers and students will be wondering where the ambition is for the future of children. . For almost eight out of 10 schools, the big idea of the education secretary is to continue normally “. Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Education Association (NEU), said the plans would not “meet the enormous challenges faced by schools that have been hit and struggled to support all their students during and after a pandemic “. He asked: “Where is the multifaceted recovery plan? What should happen in the extra 10-15 minutes that some students will now spend in school? “How will the well-being of the students and the workload of the teaching staff be improved to ensure that their time together is as efficient as they both want and deserve?” The plans are part of a series of changes to be made by the Ministry of Education on Monday in a school white paper aimed at highlighting the percentage of children leaving primary school who have achieved the expected standards in reading, writing and math by 65% to 90% by 2030. The changes are expected to include plans for all schools to join chain academies, which ministers believe will improve standards and give them more autonomy from local councils. The White Paper is also expected to include ways to make apprenticeship and vocational training paths more ambitious for young people and their parents, including revising the T-levels to become as A-level as recognized, the Mail on Sunday reported. On Tuesday, the government will also publish a long-awaited strategy on special needs education and disability in a Green Paper, which will suggest ways for general schools to better accommodate students with disabilities, followed by an open public consultation. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “During my tenure as education secretary, my guiding focus has been on creating opportunities for everyone, with strong schools and excellent teachers for every child. “Every plan and policy I will set out in next week’s white paper on schools works towards that goal.”
