Most parents not confident home schooling their children, survey shows

'The learning environment has never been more important'.

Only in two in five parents feel confident teaching their children at home as schools remain closed due to coronavirus, a survey suggests,

According to a Sutton Trust poll, 47% of middle-class parents say they feel confident homeschooling, and just 37% of working-class parents say they feel the same way.

Founder of the social mobility charity and chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation Sir Peter Lampl said ‘the learning environment has never been more important’ and emphasised the need to reduce the impact of school closures on disadvantaged pupils.

He added: ‘Better-off parents are more able than poorer families to spend money on resources and support for their children. To reduce the impact of school closures on the most disadvantaged pupils, we’d like to see high-quality online tuition available to the most disadvantaged pupils.’

General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Geoff Barton said:’We are not surprised that many parents do not feel confident about teaching children at home as they have been put in a completely unexpected situation very suddenly.

‘We are particularly concerned about the impact on disadvantaged families and the potential for this situation to further widen educational gaps between rich and poor.’

Mr Barton said parents did not have to homeschool their children. He added that schools will still provide pupils with schemes of work that teachers can deliver remotely.

The Department for Education has published a list of educational resources online.

The BBC has announced plans to support the education of ‘every child in the UK’ and provide ‘rhythm and routine’ for their parents.

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