Our children have the right to an education.

[NameChange738676756]

So many posts about whether schools will be safe when they reopen but I’m not seeing this point made. Lots of discussion around the childcare that schools provide and the importance on children socially.

My 11 year old has lost all interest and I can’t get him to do anything significant. We’ve had one zoom social with his teacher and classmates. So pretty much zero learning going on.

We know children are less susceptible and there is some discussion around whether they’re transmitting less. The children of key workers (i.e. the ones more likely to catch and spread it) have been at school the whole time and as far as I know there haven’t been massive outbreaks in schools.

So I think I just want to loudly shout: our children have the right to an education.

My 11 year old has lost all interest and I can’t get him to do anything significant.
That failure is on you and your child. No one else.

After all, as taxpayers, we shouldn't be paying indefinitely for an education that's not being provided and is therefore not 'value for money'.
By that logic we shouldn't pay for things like Trident - (Last year an estimate published by Reuters and derived from figures obtained by Conservative Foreign Affairs Committee chair Crispin Blunt put the cost of the system at £167 billion.) or HS2 (The cost of HS2 came under fire after a Government-commissioned review found the project could end up costing up to £106 billion)
There are lots of things as taxpayers we have to pay for that we may not use but some of you are moaning about a system that has only been in place for a few weeks.

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-chief-scientific-adviser-admits-he-hasnt-assessed-school-reopening-guidance/

An oophs moment for the DfE - maybe they are not following science after all - just their version of it

That failure is on you and your child. No one else.

Horrible comment.

Just picking up on the "right to be safe at work"
I work with covid patients. I have the standard surgical mask crappy plastic apron and gloves. I spend most of my day getting coughed on.

Safe? Like fuck.

So what's the solution then? Corona virus isn't going anywhere. A vaccine could take many more months. Keep children at home till then?

It's all FINE. No risk to kids whatsoever. Just 82 in NYC with the Kawasaki style syndrome.

@Greysparkles that is awful and I feel for you so much. My DD works on a Covid ward and has full PPE so no excuse. Does it make you feel unsafe ? Because that's how I feel about being with loads of kids every day who may be asymptotic with no PPE at all. I'd be v happy to do it with your level of protection. You should get better safety. This should not be a competition.

Well if we are going to post screen shots. This one nicked from Twitter

And again

@GuyFawkesDay between 75-100 in UK.

The tweet I posted was by the Chair of NYC health committee

Not some random.

And mine was?

t.co/E0lfGehDmI

By that logic we shouldn't pay for things like Trident - (Last year an estimate published by Reuters and derived from figures obtained by Conservative Foreign Affairs Committee chair Crispin Blunt put the cost of the system at £167 billion.) or HS2 (The cost of HS2 came under fire after a Government-commissioned review found the project could end up costing up to £106 billion).

Actually, I agree with cutting funding for both of those . But the big difference here is that we as individuals aren't being expected to provide a nuclear deterrent or high-speed transport while someone else is being given the funding specifically to do these things and isn't doing them.

Tbh, I've often thought that the present system of state education is flawed because it doesn't suit the vast majority of children, and instead parents should be given control over their children's education in the form of a voucher scheme. The current situation strengthens that argument. Give the money to those you argue have the legal responsibility (i.e. the parents). They can then choose what to spend it on, with 'outsourcing' to schools being only one option (private tuition/homeschooling being other options). If school is not necessary for education since parents are the 'primary' educators, then parents should have control of the budget.

I think there will be plenty of on-line tutors after this as everyone has 'geared' and got to grips with on-line lessons.

Hating i've heard that objectivist argument for school funding before but the problem is free market ideas like that do nothing for the disabled or less academic. You could argue that employers insistence on a degree is flawed as many people can do a job much better because of experience rather than a bit of paper that says they can do it in theory.

Ooh a voucher scheme. So lets the government still has to give something to schools to keep the settings open and then each child had a voucher for £3000 and the main proviso was that the parents had to purchase 180 days equivalent of schooling per year - so that would give parents £16.66 per school day - however schools may charge £26 per day and some very popular ones even more. Schools could offer discounts if whole terms were purchased etc. Depending upon child's age a tutoring session can cost £60 per hour (A Level Chemistry).
Plus music lessons £20 per hour. Plus sports clubs etc
Parents would need to shuffle child around between schools/clubs etc

I think that would lead to a huge attainment gap

Thanks @RedToothBrush & @Xenia, I was thinking of the 1870 act which wasn't compulsory, I didn't know there was another act in 1880 which made it compulsory as it's not on the government website that covers legislation by the looks of it yet. Education has changed rapidly. My GF was known for bunking off school as a child (grew up through WW2) to go birdwatching!

Is privatisation and the Tory ideology not whats fucked the NHS, schools, councils etc etc.

If we didn't have years of austerity we wouldn't be in this mess.

I may want schools to open, but even I can see where the blame lies......

I agree with you, OP. And I will be really interested in how schools react in the future to parents taking term time holidays and trips and so on, because the old "no, if Johnny misses these four crucial days of Year 3 next week his education will be blighted and never recover" shtick is going to be really bloody hard to defend after this!

Really? We are in the throes of a global pandemic, children and parents are suffering, teachers are scared and confused about what’s expected of them and you’re thinking about how you can sneer at schools who follow government directives to do all they can to improve attendance?

@hatingthevirtuous I get your point about funding, however a lot of home ed parents argue against funding because it would come with strings attached and interfere with the education their children receive. Especially as quite a lot of home educators have problems with their local authority overstepping their boundaries when it comes to their children's education. It's a politicial hot potato. If the government were to fund home education then they would expect to have some kind of say in how that education is carried out. In which case, why bother home educating if the state is going to dictate what your children learn anyway?

Your idea is wonderful in theory, in practice it isn't likely to pan out well for those who decide not to delegate their parental responibilities to schools and assume their reponsiblities directly. As a consequence it is unlikely to benefit the children either. As it stands currently, home educators have a lot of freedom when it comes to educating their children, including complete freedom to follow their children's interests in order to support them learning in a way that is accessible to them.

The home ed community are already seeing this with regards to EHCPs as local authorities often think they know better about how the child should be educated than the parents actually educating them. Funding is often withheld if there is a disagreement between parents and LAs, despite the fact the LA personnel will only interact with the family when the EHCP needs reviewing.

He who pays the piper, plays the tune.

@Hadenoughfornow Labour had already privatised a lot of services (and fucked up a lot of the NHS) before Tories ever won an election.

Both parties have been shit.

Aveisenim PFI was a nightmare.

But they did inherit a pile of shit.

Its what happens every time we have a Tory government for a very long time.

I am not saying Labour were great, but they did have to sort a sustained period of Tory destruction.

Just like they will need to do if they ever win power again.

@hadenoughfornow reckon we'll ever get a government that doesn't fuck shit up, or is that asking too much??