Urswick school in east London is using the £10,000 they receive for poorer students to pay for private tuition. The pupil premium money being used is an additional fund that is given to schools to help in educating students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In an interview with the BBC, Naomi Dews, the school assistant head, said they took this step to help needy students be able to afford private tutors. They argued that if such a step had not been made, these students would have been disadvantaged by not left behind academically by their peers from well to do backgrounds.
Criticism of private tuition arrangement
However, The National Education Union (NEU) criticized the move and said that schools should not resort to using funds based on the number of pupils in free school meals for private tuition. The organization, through their joint general secretary, Kevin Courtney, said schools should have enough teachers and funding to ensure that private tuition is not outsourced.
Ms. Dews pushed back against criticism by pointing out that around three in four pupils in the school are eligible for pupil premium but cannot afford the tuition fees. She argued that these students should not be penalized because they come from poor backgrounds and should be accorded the same learning opportunities as everyone else.
Ms. Dews also highlighted that they have a shortage of teachers in the math department. She also indicated that hiring new teachers has been difficult, therefore, using the pupil premium fund to provide private tuition to 35 students taking GCSE maths was the only logical choice they were left with.
One to one tutoring has been proven to raise the grades of students. Urswick school has defended itself that it took the necessary steps to help address the failing grades of these students to help them advance to the next level. The shortage of teachers has been a crisis due to the cutting of funds experienced in the UK education system in the last decade.
Featured image by Urswick School Twitter Feed
