One in six parents say holidays should be scrapped to allow children to catch up on school work
One in six parents believe the summer holidays should be cancelled this year as they believe their children have missed enough school and need to catch up, a survey has found.
Schools have been shut since 20 March as part of the government’s lockdown measures to help curb the spread of coronavirus.
Since then many parents have taken on the role of rookie teachers and have been attempting to home school their children, but new research has revealed that despite their best efforts many believe the school holidays should be scrapped this year.
The poll, of more than 7,500 parents by Childcare.co.uk, found 18% want the summer break to be cancelled.
Of those in favour of axing the break, just under 75% said their children have already spent too long away from the classrooms and need to make up the time missed.
More than half (58%) also argued that prolonging the time away from formal learning “will be very detrimental to their education”.
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Many parents also shared their support for opening more temporary schools so children can “return as safely as possible”.
Other popular reasons for wanting to scrap the holidays included admissions from some parents that their children have hardly done any work since schools were closed more than three months ago, and concerns for pupils starting new schools in September.
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However, the majority of parents surveyed (82%) are keen for the break to remain in place, with many arguing it provides a time for families to relax and take a break.
Just over half are of the opinion children will catch up quickly when they return to school, and 42% argued their own kids have been getting a good education at home and don’t need to catch up.
Just under 40% believe the lockdown measures won’t have a long-term effect on their child’s education, and a quarter say they are enjoying having their children at home and aren’t in a hurry for them to return to their studies.
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Richard Conway, founder of Childcare.co.uk, said: “After a few unpredictable months we are now starting to move out of lockdown.
“However with the summer holidays around the corner naturally the question being asked is: will children still have a summer break, or will schools remain open to catch up on time missed in the classroom?
“We wanted to find out how parents felt about the subject, with many understandably concerned about the impact school closures is having on their children’s education.
“That being said, it was still surprising to see that one in six parents think schools should open over the summer holidays to compensate for the loss classroom time of the last few months.”
Earlier this month some schools reopened to welcome back certain year groups, with parents revealing how it felt sending their children back after such a long absence.
Whether or not parents want their children to skip the summer holidays may depend on how much learning they’ve been doing at home.
Last month it was revealed that children from wealthier families have been spending 30% more time on home learning during coronavirus lockdown compared with the poorest.
The survey of more than 4,000 families in England, carried out for the Institute for Fiscal Studies, found that better-off children will have studied for around seven days more than their poorer peers by the time some returned to school at the beginning of June.
