At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, student welfare became the top priority of schools in the U.K.
Student welfare weighs more than education
Former education secretary Michael Grove is under fire from all his initiatives during his term to focus more on education-based output instead of student welfare. The pandemic has taught the Education Ministry, a thing or two on allotting government funding.
The ministry has been so focused on achieving greatness by focusing on academe based milestones, that student welfare has been disregarded and received the blow of a lower budget allotment.
During the term of Michael Gove as the education secretary, student welfare was disliked, and Gove’s action plan was geared toward academic improvement and student discipline. As proof of his alignment towards academic excellence, he changed the department’s name from the Department of Children, Schools, and Families, into plain and simple Department of Education.
Budget cut on social welfare services
Since Gove’s supervision in the education sector, teachers, psychologists, school care staff, and security officers have suffered when it comes to the budget allotment. Most attempts to seek funds in relevance to the welfare of the students were denied.
Yet, in a pandemic that the world is under right now, it is the job positions related to child welfare who is risking their lives to accommodate these children—teachers, extending a helping hand for students with difficulties and children of key workers.
Schools are open to accepting students whose parents are part of the key workforce during this COVID-19 outbreak. Some schools went to the extent of providing meals for students and families within the poverty line, who received late responses from the government. Teachers never neglected their responsibility to take care of the welfare of their students, despite the continuous budget cuts on their salaries for the past few years.
This is the time to pay tribute to these school leaders and teachers that are going the extra mile to provide welfare for students and parents having difficulty during this crisis. If the government continuously ignores the importance of these school leaders, teachers, and social welfare staff in schools, they might just leave the country, seeking for greener pastures and self-worth.
