BRITAIN’s prime minister Boris Johnson has assured schools in England there will be "more coming through" after critics of the catch-up plan announced on Wednesday (2) said it was "inadequately funded”.
The Department for Education pledged £1.4 billion for post-pandemic catch-up plans that will offer pupils an extra 100 million hours of tuition with provision for extra training and support for teachers and funding to allow some year-13 students to repeat their final year if it was badly affected by the pandemic.
However, some school leaders said the money will fall far short of the help needed for children who have faced nearly two school years of disruption.
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Some headteachers said they were "hugely disappointed" by the recovery package, which amounts to £50 extra per pupil per year.
According to the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank, this support offered in catch-up funding is much lower when compared with £1,600 in the US and £2,500 in the Netherlands.
Some leaders pointed out that the allocated fund is only about a tenth of the £15bn recommended by Kevan Collins, appointed by Johnson as an adviser in February to shape recovery ideas for England's schools.
"Rarely has so much been promised and so little delivered,” Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union said, adding that the government "does not understand, nor does it appreciate, the essential foundation laid by education for the nation's economic recovery.”
Zia Yusuf looks on during the party's national conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Britain, September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
