The vulnerable children must be at the heart of the government’s plans to ‘better rebuild’ after the pandemic, says the Commissioner for Children in England.
Anne Longfield calls on Boris Johnson to put children at the “center” of plans to raise the country.
In a final speech after six years in the role, she accused the Treasury of prejudice against children.
The government said protecting vulnerable children was at the heart of its pandemic response.
A spokesman added: “That is why we have enabled the most vulnerable children to continue school in person while providing laptops, devices, and data packages to those who learn at home and ensure that the children who are less disadvantaged are fed and warmed; up. . ”
This comes after warnings that children ‘may lose all hope for their future’ and as polls suggest that young people’s mental health is deteriorating, partly due to the effects of Covid-19.
In the speech, she reveals how ‘many’ government decision-makers ‘look like children as remote concepts or data points on an annual return.’
“This is how children fall through the gaps – because the people responsible for the systems they need too often just don’t see them and try to understand their world,” she would add.
She describes the £ 1bn catch-up fund as evidence of the Treasury’s “institutional prejudice against children” compared to the £ 350bn loss of earnings that could result from the school’s closure.
Me. Longfield will warn that Johnson’s promise to ‘elevate’ the country will be ‘only a slogan’ unless children are at the heart of the effort.
She will also call for a new ‘Covid Covenant’ of education and welfare support in every community, and she will also say that school holidays should be used to catch up with children with lost lessons.
‘Scandal’
Ms. Longfield will appeal to Mr. Johnson does have to be ‘passionate’ to make sure that we do not ‘define children according to what happened during this year,’ but that we must define ourselves by what we offer them.
She also says it is a ‘national scandal,’ the fact that almost a fifth of children in England leaves school or college without basic qualifications.
Emphasizes the case of a 16-year-old who died after being forced into drug trafficking, saying children exploited by gangs are failed by adults they “simply do not see.”
A government spokesman said it would combine long-term catch-up plans with an investment of more than £ 1bn to ‘ensure we make up for a lost time in education in the course of this parliament.’
He added: “Anne Longfield has been a tireless advocate for children, and we are grateful for her dedication and her challenge in areas where we can continue to raise the bar for the vulnerable.”
Lady Rachel de Souza, a former chief executive of a multi-academy trust, will take over the new children’s commissioner for England in March.