Should the school day be longer after lockdown?
School days should be extended so pupils in Scotland can catch up on lessons missed during the coronavirus lockdown, a think-tank has suggested.
The Commission on School Reform is calling for an extra six hours of teaching during the school week, with pupils staying later into the afternoon for two years.
A report by the group, made up of current and former headteachers, politicians and education professors and chaired by former director of education in Clackmannanshire Keir Bloomer, argues "there is an urgent need to plan for catch-up of the lessons lost''.
With five months of in-school learning missed between lockdown and the anticipated return in August, the group set up by the Reform Scotland think-tank said the proposal for six extra hours of lessons was "feasible''.
It forecasts the plan would cost approximately #200 million over the two years, based on "very crude'' estimates of paying teachers the equivalent for an extra day of work per week.
The report suggests an estimated 19,000 additional staff would be needed to oversee the catch-up sessions, which could be made up of retired and trainee teachers, plus university students from other disciplines.
In its conclusion, the report states: "Pupils will have gone 21 weeks without proper schooling. Inequality will have worsened. Schools know what is to be taught and teachers have great experience of enabling pupils to recover lost ground.
"The costs of doing all this are not inordinate. The main extra ingredient that is now required is leadership.''
Professor Lindsay Paterson, professor of education policy at the University of Edinburgh and a member of the commission, added: "The start of the new academic year in August is not only about returning children to school - it must be about ensuring that they catch up on the education which has been lost during lockdown.
"While estimates of the loss vary, there is no debate that it exists, and is particularly prevalent amongst the most disadvantaged.
"Catching up will be difficult and expensive, but not to the degree that it cannot and should not be done. £100 million a year is a huge amount of money, but it will be dwarfed by the personal, social and economic cost of the loss of education during lockdown.''
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We know pupils will need extra help when schools reopen. We are investing an additional £100 million over the next two years to tackle the impact of lockdown and ensure children get the support they need and we are currently considering a range of options on how best to deploy this.
"For those who don't have the technology at home to learn effectively, we are supplying 25,000 laptops or tablets - with internet access provided - for disadvantaged children to support learning outside school. This is the first phase of our £30 million commitment to support a roll-out of digital devices to disadvantaged children and young people.
"Reducing the poverty-related attainment gap remains a defining mission for the Scottish Government. In addition to the #182 million to be invested in the Scottish Attainment Challenge this year, we will be working alongside partners to increase support to those families and communities who need it most.''
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