Much fuss has been made over Covid (for many other reasons aside from education), however, the longer-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly on education, are still getting discovered.

It will probably be at least another 14-15 years before some of the true long-term effects of the pandemic on education are seen, by which time any baby born during the span of the pandemic will legally be classified as an adult in the UK.

However, the evidence tends to get published at an alarmingly frequent rate.

Constantly I am seeing pieces in my news feed such as ‘a third of students set to re-sit English or Maths GCSE’, or ‘’Bubble’ of post-pandemic bad behaviour among pupils predicted to peak’.

The theme of poor exam results being attributed to Covid is one I believe is fleeting.

Undoubtedly it has had a significant short-term impact.

Pupils learning at home and having to do alternative forms of assessment to what they are used to has clearly had an impact on their learning.

By contrast, I think the piece on behaviour is perhaps more interesting as it could potentially have longer term impacts.

The evidence in that regard is particularly overwhelming, with suspension rates for students in Years 7-10 (traditionally the most troublesome, early teen years between 12-15), increasing by 54%, 48%, 44% and 33% respectively.

I guess the one positive trend in this evidence is that it does show that as students get older and mature, suspension rates tend to decrease.

Perhaps we should be accustomed to bad behaviour in schools, and that we should not necessarily lay blame on the education system for this, but rather, wider social issues.

There are plenty of mitigating controls in place at schools to deal with bad behaviour, and prevent it, for example, increased access to mental health support professionals, free school breakfast clubs and the banning of smartphones in the classroom.

Maybe we’re also too soft with discipline in schools however…is this also a genuine possibility?

Further Reading: Richard Adams – Impact of Covid lockdowns to disrupt England’s schools into the 2030s, report says (The Guardian)