Ian has this week written to the Education Minister and the local council following a shocking report from the Education Policy Institute revealed disadvantaged children in Wansbeck are almost 2 years behind their peers by the time they finish their GCSE’s.

Mr Lavery has called for an immediate enquiry into the gap, as the report also suggests the gap has stopped closing in the last 5 years, and has in fact widened since 2017. Worryingly this report has not yet taken into account the affect of schools closing for a prolonged period of time due to coronavirus this summer, which will only serve to widen the gap and deepen inequalities in our education system further.

Writing in the Chronicle, Ian commented:

“Far more needs to be done by the government to tackle what ought to be considered a national crisis. I have written to the Education Secretary as well as the local council asking them to outline how they plan to tackle this widening gap in our education system, suggesting they take immediate and widespread measures if they are serious about helping disadvantaged pupils.

“The shambolic handling of the coronavirus pandemic will no doubt only serve to widen this gap, as students have taken an extended period of time away from the classroom, and as usual the most disadvantaged in our society will feel the effects the harshest.”

“This summer it took a 22-year-old footballer to force the government into one of its many U-Turns to provide free meal vouchers to low income families, while schools were shut during the pandemic.”