Nearly one-in-five less advantaged parents say a lack of food made home-learning more difficult for children in the first lockdown, a survey found.
Parents of children from families of lower socioeconomic status were more likely to report that aspects of their home environment – such as a lack of technology, space and adequate internet – made it harder for pupils to complete schoolwork from home, according to the University of Sussex study.
It came as pupils in schools and colleges in England – except children of key workers and vulnerable pupils – have been told to learn remotely until mid-February amid the new national lockdown.
Meanwhile anger is brewing over the Government’s free school meals programme – with devastated parents and campaigners sharing pictures of carrot stubs, halved peppers and diced onions to emphasise the paucity of what they had been given.
Child poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford tweeted “just not good enough” as the pictures came to light, while others questioned how Chartwells, who were awarded the contract to distribute food, were allowed to get away with it.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has this morning tweeted: “The images appearing online of woefully inadequate free school meal parcels are a disgrace.
“Where is the money going? This needs sorting immediately so families don’t go hungry through lockdown.”
Researchers warn that educational inequalities are likely to increase due to school closures as the study suggests that a switch to home learning can disproportionately disrupt the education of the most disadvantaged pupils.
The survey, of 3,409 parents in the UK, suggests that secondary school pupils eligible for free school meals (39 per cent) were more likely to report that a lack of technology – such as laptops and computers – made learning from home more difficult, compared to 19 per cent of pupils who are not eligible for free school meals.
The survey, which ran from May until July, also found that 19 per cent of parents of primary school pupils from households that were struggling for income said a lack of food made completing school work from home more difficult, compared to just 3 per cent of families with comfortable levels of income.
Lead researcher Dr Matthew Easterbrook, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Sussex, said: “This suggests that for some children, when the most basic of needs are not being met, their education can suffer.
“These results show that school closures disproportionately disrupt the education of those who are most economically disadvantaged, suggesting that educational inequalities are likely to rise because of the pandemic.”
He added: “The results show that parents of pupils from disadvantaged families – those who are eligible for free school meals, who have lower levels of education, or who are financially struggling – are much more likely to report that learning from home is challenging.”
Related: Outsourced free school meal parcels slammed as parents given carrot stubs in measly support packages
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .