In July 2022, EPI, in partnership with the Publishers Association, brought together policymakers, school leaders and sector experts to examine how we can ensure education recovery is accessible to all children and young people.
Building on a series of private roundtables, the webinar explored how we can ensure that the post-pandemic education recovery supports all students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It focused on two of the crucial issues facing the recovery – system-level disparities and school-level inclusion.
Key points raised through the discussions included:
- Disadvantaged pupils have fallen furthest behind as result of the pandemic, a trend that looks set to be compounded by the current cost-of-living crisis.
- Education technology has a role to play in both educational recovery efforts following the pandemic, as well as longer term evolutions within the UK education system.
- A digital divide does exist and there continues to be a lack of infrastructure to support the rollout of one-to-one devices and other technology.
- Publishing and edtech companies have a significant role to play in using their expertise to support schools’ choices, through offering advice and guidance to school leaders to increase their awareness of the products on offer.
- Attendees reported that teachers wish to have the autonomy to decide what works best in their classrooms, rather than it being set as national policy.
- Education technology can only build on existing pedagogy, being most effective where there is already clarity in the curriculum and within the expectations of teachers.
You can read the full event summary paper here.
