The cabinet minister highlighted the problem as he said he wanted every school to ensure that its week would have at least 32.5 hours by September 2023. It is among the measures included in the Schools White Paper, which is to be published on Monday. Image: Two weeks of lost learning is a “big loss”, says Nadhim Zahawi The move is part of an effort to ensure that 90% of students drop out of elementary school after achieving the expected standards in arithmetic and literacy. While most school weeks in primary and secondary schools in England already meet the weekly target, the Ministry of Education said there were “disagreements”. Speaking on Sky News’ Sophy Ridge program on Sunday, Zahawi also defended the knighthood award given to his predecessor, Sir Gavin Williamson, who was fired twice by the cabinet and oversaw the 2020 exam fiasco. “Computational problems” Mr. Zahawi pointed out that the average school week was 32.5 hours, but in “thousands of schools” students had 10 to 30 minutes less teaching time per day. He said: “If it is 20 minutes lower … that equates to two weeks missing from school. “The loss of two weeks of learning is a great loss and that is why I want every school to do that. “I would like everyone to do it by the end of this year, but I know that some of them have logistical problems and that is why we said that they should achieve this by next year.” Image: The awarding of the knight’s prize to the former Secretary of Education was controversial When pressed for a widening gap between student funding for private and public education since the Tories took office, Mr Zahawi blamed the economic crash for “forcing us to tighten our belts and try to restore the economy”. at her feet “. He pointed out the additional investments that are now being made in education. The predecessor faced criticism and ridicule Mr. Zahawi also argued that the former secretary of education deserved to be honored for his work on skills and new technical qualifications called T-levels, aimed at educating employees on the skills employers are looking for. Sir Gavin held the position for most of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he received strong criticism for the cancellation of the A-levels and the GCSE for two consecutive years and for the closure of schools. He was also ridiculed after confusing English rugby star Maro Itoge and Manchester United player – and free-to-play school lunch player – Marcus Rasford. Acknowledging that what he said was “not universally popular”, Mr Zahawi said: “When I was in the department under Theresa May, skills were considered part of Cinderella. “Gavin Williamson’s work on skills, T-Levels, the right to lifelong learning will transform the fortunes of young people in our country who may not want to go to university. “For that alone, I think he deserves this knight.” “The government has no answers” Meanwhile, responding to Mr Zahawi’s proposals for the school week, Labor counterpart Bridget Phillipson said it meant “almost eight out of 10 schools” should “continue normally”. He said that after two years of “pandemic chaos”, the plan would leave parents, teachers and students “wondering where the ambition is for the future of children”. “Hundreds of thousands of primary school children live in an area without ‘good’ schools, the learning gap between the richest and the least affluent students has widened during COVID, four in 10 young people drop out of school without the skills needed and young people People are experiencing a mental health crisis. However, the government has no answers, “said Ms Phillipson. Subscribe to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We are not convinced of the benefits of introducing a minimum expectation of 32.5 hours for the school week.” He said the vast majority of schools had already met this expectation or had come “very close” to meeting it and that it was important to understand why some schools had shorter weeks, such as transfer arrangements for rural schools. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT School Principals Syndicate, said: “Simply adding five or 10 minutes to a day is unlikely to bring much, if any, benefit.”
