Flagship social mobility programme risked ‘overloading’ schools, DfE official reveals
The disclosure came as new education secretary Damian Hinds signalled his commitment to his predecessor Justine Greening’s Opportunity Area programme by approving the delivery plans for six of the areas.
The scheme, which targets £72 million at 12 areas, aims to bring together schools, colleges, universities, early years providers and employers to improve the life chances of disadvantaged children. It was first announced by Ms Greening in 2016.
Speaking this morning at a Westminster Education Forum seminar on improving social mobility in England, Sarah Lewis, deputy director, Opportunity Areas, at the DfE, said challenges facing the programme included “capacity, including the risk of overloading the system”.
She said: “There has been a particular issue among schools. Schools’ job is to teach children – they are busy teaching children – and we are then coming in and saying, ‘Actually, can you do this as well? And can you do this as well? And, by the way, we have got a great CPD programme.
“All of it is good, but there’s a sense that we are having to be really careful – more careful than we thought we were going to have to be – about making sure that we don’t overload schools.”
Read the full article in the Tes.