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Pupils, parents and teachers have been left “bewildered and floundering” by the government’s handling of education during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a critical new report.

The Institute for Government said that lessons were not learnt from the first COVID-19 lockdown, leading to a case of “pause, rewind, repeat” when it came to school closures and exams.

It said there were “dreadful communications” from the government, with “repeated declarations that schools would open or close, or that exams would be held – despite the evident uncertainties – until reality struck”.

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Can schools recover from the impact of the pandemic?

“The result was U-turn after U-turn, with pupils, parents and teachers left bewildered and floundering time and again,” it said.

A Department for Education spokesperson said it had “acted swiftly at every turn to minimise the impact on children’s education and wellbeing and help keep pupils in face-to-face education as much as possible” during the pandemic.

“We provided 1.3 million laptops and tablets to disadvantaged students, funded Oak National Academy to provide video lessons and made sure students could receive exam grades that helped them progress to the next stage of education or work,” they added.

“Through the tutoring revolution that will see pupils receive up to 100 million hours of free tuition, summer schools and our investment in the teaching profession we are working with schools to deliver ambitious catch-up plans so the children and young people who have been most disadvantaged during the pandemic have the support they need to catch up on their lost learning.”

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The IfG report, entitled Schools And Coronavirus: The Government’s Handling Of Education During The Pandemic, comes ahead of the release of this year’s A-level and GCSE results later this month.

It labels the period following the closure of schools in England in March 2020 “easily the most disruptive period in children’s education since at least the start of the Second World War”.

The report said: “Its most important conclusion is that the most unforgivable aspect of what happened is not just the failure to make contingency plans in the summer of 2020 but the refusal to do so – when it was already obvious that fresh school closures might well be needed, and that exams might have to be cancelled again.

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‘We’ll be ending bubbles’

“Lessons were not learnt from the first lockdown, with the result that, for both school closures and exams, the story from July 2020 to January 2021 was a case of ‘pause, rewind, repeat’.”

It added: “Well into March 2021, and indeed beyond, pupils taking GCSEs, A-levels and BTecs remained unclear about precisely how they were to be assessed. At times it felt as though the school system was in chaos.”

But the DfE disputed this, with a spokesperson saying: “Contrary to the claims in this report, contingency plans for restrictions on schools opening in the 21/22 academic year were first published in August 2020, and contingency plans for qualifications in 2021 were first discussed with Ofqual in October 2020.”

The report did praise what it said was the “commendably swift decision” on the definition of key workers and, therefore, which children could still come to school.

But it added that the “supply of laptops for remote learning was, perhaps unavoidably, slower than anyone would have liked”.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson during a media briefing in Downing Street
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The education secretary ‘appears not to have been directly involved in any of the key meetings ahead of the original decision to close schools’, the report says

And there were concerns expressed about the government’s “highly centralised approach” to dealing with 24,000 schools and “tensions between No 10 and DfE” [the Department for Education].

The IfG report also criticised what it said was a “refusal to trust local authorities and a failure to engage effectively with them, and their directors of public health, in ways that might have allowed a more nuanced and better response”.

It claimed that Education Secretary Gavin Williamson “appears not to have been directly involved in any of the key meetings ahead of the original decision to close schools in March 2020”.

The report included comments from a Number 10 source over how Boris Johnson approached contingency planning during the pandemic.

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Families reflect on home schooling

It noted: “A No 10 source says that ‘the clear steer’ that officials received from the prime minister was not to make contingency plans. Schools were going to reopen. Exams would be held.

“The view was that ‘if you prepare for these things not happening, then the outcome is that they are far more likely not to happen… people will look for the easy way out and take it’.

“According to this insider, the prime minister’s default is to bluff. To talk up things to such an extent that they will happen through the force of his own personality. Which is a very powerful tool. But the virus doesn’t listen to those messages.”

IfG senior fellow and report author Nicholas Timmins said: “Some early decisions in England were taken well. Some, which took longer than anyone would have wanted to implement, will have some lasting benefit.

“But the failure – indeed, the refusal – to make contingency plans over the summer and autumn of 2020 left pupils, parents and teachers facing a case of ‘pause, rewind, repeat’, not least over exams.”

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Embedding human rights into crypto isn’t optional, it’s foundational

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Embedding human rights into crypto isn’t optional, it’s foundational

Embedding human rights into crypto isn’t optional, it’s foundational

Embedding human rights into crypto systems is a necessity. Self-custody, privacy-by-default, and censorship-resistant personhood must be core design principles for any technology. The future of digital freedom depends on it.

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Experts say ‘just a starting point’ as Crypto Week ends on a high note

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Experts say ‘just a starting point’ as Crypto Week ends on a high note

Experts say ‘just a starting point’ as Crypto Week ends on a high note

The GENIUS Act marks a turning point for crypto regulation, but experts say true integration with finance and identity systems is only beginning.

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Labour will eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in a decade, environment secretary says

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Labour will eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in a decade, environment secretary says

Labour will eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in 10 years, the environment secretary has told Sky News.

Steve Reed also pledged to halve sewage pollution from water companies by 2030 as he announced £104 billion of private investment to help the government do that.

But he told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips this “isn’t the end of our ambition”.

“Over a decade of national renewal, we’ll be able to eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages,” he said.

“But you have to have staging posts along the way, cutting it in half in five years is a dramatic improvement to the problem getting worse and worse and worse every single year.”

He said the water sector is “absolutely broken” and promised to rebuild it and reform it from “top to bottom”.

His earlier pledge to halve sewage pollution from water companies by 2030 is linked to 2024 levels.

The government said it is the first time ministers have set a clear target to reduce sewage pollution and is part of its efforts to respond to record sewage spills and rising water bills.

Ministers are also aiming to cut phosphorus – which causes harmful algae blooms – in half by 2028.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed. File pic: PA
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Environment Secretary Steve Reed. File pic: PA

Mr Reed said families had watched rivers, coastlines and lakes “suffer from record levels of pollution”.

“My pledge to you: the government will halve sewage pollution from water companies by the end of the decade,” he added.

Addressing suggestions wealthier families would be charged more for their water, Mr Reed said there are already “social tariffs” and he does not think more needs to be done, as he pointed out there is help for those struggling to pay water bills.

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Thames Water hit with largest-ever fine issued by regulator Ofwat

The announcement comes ahead of the publication of the Independent Water Commission’s landmark review into the sector on Monday morning.

The commission was established by the UK and Welsh governments as part of their joint response to failures in the industry, but ministers have already said they’ll stop short of nationalising water companies.

Mr Reed said he is eagerly awaiting the report’s publication and said he would wait to see what author Sir John Cunliffe says about Ofwat, the water regulator, following suggestions the government is considering scrapping it.

On Friday, the Environment Agency published data which showed serious pollution incidents caused by water firms increased by 60% in England last year, compared with 2023.

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Why sewage outflows are discharging into rivers

Meanwhile, the watchdog has received a record £189m to support hundreds of enforcement officers for inspections and prosecutions.

“One of the largest infrastructure projects in England’s history will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good,” Mr Reed said.

But the Conservatives have accused the Labour government of having so far “simply copied previous Conservative government policy”.

“Labour’s water plans must also include credible proposals to improve the water system’s resilience to droughts, without placing an additional burden on bill payers and taxpayers,” shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins added.

The Rivers Trust says sewage and wastewater discharges have taken place over the weekend, amid thunderstorms in parts of the UK.

Discharges take place to prevent the system from becoming overwhelmed, with storm overflows used to release extra wastewater and rainwater into rivers and seas.

Water company Southern Water said storm releases are part of the way sewage and drainage systems across the world protect homes, schools and hospitals from flooding.

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