British Ministry of Education announce An investment plan of £1.4 billion (about €1.6 billion) to be applied to restore apprenticeships in the UK over the next three years.
The bulk of this funding is to provide 100 million hours of tutoring for students – including 6 million for disadvantaged children – while also earmarking for teacher training and enabling students in the final year of compulsory education to do so. Repeat without consequences.
The plan thus joins the previously announced 1.9 billion euros, for a total of 3.3 billion euros. These seem huge sums – and the British government announced it as such – but the scheme was immediately condemned by educational institutions, teachers’ associations, opposition and even a commission appointed by the executive to assess the educational needs of the country.
Boris Johnson’s government has appointed Commissioner for Education Recovery, Kevan Collins resigned his position. Because? Because according to their calculations, 13.5 billion pounds (about 15.6 billion euros) was needed to promote adequate recovery of educational needs during the stipulated three years.
The former official said in a statement – reported by The Guardian – that the announced amount was “nowhere near” what is necessary and that the government’s actions “condemn the underestimation of education” and that it constitutes a “careless approach”. “It ‘risks failure for hundreds of thousands of students’.” Collins’ words found an echo in UK teachers’ unions and the opposition Labor Party.
To compound a plan that already appears destined to become unpopular, the British chief executive is considering the possibility of extending school hours by another 30 minutes, with the idea – criticized by teacher unions – still under review but “definitely on the agenda”, as confirmed Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told the BBC.
Education Policy Institute Um think tank Dedicated to education, the British revealed an illuminating truth about the plan. By estimating that primary school pupils in the UK will lose two months of learning to read and three months to math, the announced 1.4 billion represents just an increased investment of £50 per pupil – or €58 – in space. One year, or 310 pounds (about 360 euros) over three years.
In comparison, investments made in countries that have already revealed plans, such as the Netherlands or the USA, are considered more significant, says EPI:
- After announcing a 122 billion dollar plan (99.8 billion euros), the US Department of Education invested an average of 1,857 euros in its students;
- Previously The Dutch government has gone much further. Its €8.5 billion plan means that the 6,600 primary schools will receive an average of €180,000 per school in the next academic year and 650 secondary schools will receive an average of more than €1.3 million per school. In addition, 645 million euros will be allocated to compensate institutions that will have to deal with a larger influx of students who have stopped working. The total investment will be, on average, 3,830 euros per student.
And Portugal, how do you fit into these accounts?
On the first of June, The Portuguese government announced – Through the Minister of Education, Thiago Brandao Rodriguez, and Prime Minister Antonio Costa – the long-awaited Learning Recovery Plan, called “Plano 21 | 23 Escola +”.
With a view to recovering potential learning lost in the past two academic years due to the pandemic, the plan anticipates an additional investment of approximately 900 million euros, including 140 million to strengthen human resources in schools – which means, among other things, hiring more than 3,300 teachers – 43.5 million to train Teachers and non-educators, 47.3 million to increase digital resources and 670 million to upgrade equipment and infrastructure in schools.
For now, the concrete application of these funds is still unknown, and the plan will still be subject to final approval – the Education Department will continue to hear from partners before – but was promptly criticized on the same day of submission. Finbrough.
a lamented the Portuguese Federation of Teachers Lack of clear proposals to combat structural problems and criticism of the underinvestment in faculty recruitment. However, he praised the government’s refusal to increase the workload further.
When comparing the above examples – from the UK, the Netherlands and the US – Portugal is in the middle of the table. Based on the data of primary and secondary education students in public schools for the year 2019 AD in bordata, an investment of €900 million per 1,163,413 students means an average investment of approximately €773.59 per student.
